Dems catching on, catching up to ‘micro-targeting’ effort

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The Democratic Party, optimistic about retaking at least the House this fall, is also hoping that it will break the Republican monopoly on sophisticated get-out-the-vote techniques.

Both parties have spent millions on “micro-targeting” — a Madison Avenue advertising style of electioneering, in which database software breaks down census tracks so that parties can tailor pitches to individual voters.

The Republicans have used the technology for years and have privately claimed that it was their micro-targeting efforts that helped them hold Congress in the 2002 elections.

But the Democrats say they’re catching up. The party uses programs with names like Demzilla and DataMart to reach old loyalists and to make new ones.

“There is an unprecedented effort on targeting and getting out Democratic supporters this cycle,” said Andy Fois, a Democratic consultant and former aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Micro-targeting works the same way that micro-marketing does. The parties’ databases are built from magazine subscription lists, credit card sales records, union membership lists, census data and voters’ lists.

It helps the parties find sympathetic voters and tailor pitches. If, for instance, a man in Arlington subscribes to Field & Stream magazine, the Republicans may target him with pro-gun mailings. The Democrats, meanwhile, might focus on animal rights or conservation in their appeals.

“It’s allowed us to reach voters in a way that we’ve never reached them before,” said Steve Smith, spokesman for the AFL-CIO, which has developed a database of 13.5 million voters in 32 states.

The Democrats acknowledge that they’re behind the Republicans in micro-targeting. But some say that it’s not a vital gap.

“If you’re a pipefitter and you’ve been laid off because your job has gone overseas, it really doesn’t matter if you subscribe to Field & Stream,” said Sarah Feinberg, spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Smith, the AFL-CIO spokesman, said that micro-targeting has changed even the old-fashioned door-to-door canvassing.

“We’ve been able to get to voters in Republican precincts,” he said. “We don’t necessarily have to skip over that cluster because of resources. We know exactly where they are and how to get to them.”

bmyers@dcexaminer.com

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