Voter Vault

The Republican strategy in the 2004 Presidential Election focused on using technological tools and traditional marketing plans to establish central command and control functions that directed the efforts of volunteers on the ground. It was a “centralized localization” strategy modeled after Amway and supported by vast amounts of data and new technologies.

The Amway strategy involved a cascading torrent of volunteers, from region, to state, to county, to precinct. The volunteers on the ground floor registered voters, talked with their neighbors, and gathered information. Ground level volunteers then transmitted all of this data upstream to campaign headquarters, where it was added to the Republican National Committee’s Voter Vault database.

Work on the Voter Vault database began in the mid-1990’s and it was not until 2002 that it became operational in the field. The RNC system remains years ahead of the DNC.

Although neither party organization is willing to reveal much about their databases (the DNC database system equivalent is called Demzilla/DataMart), published reports indicate that Voter Vault combines publicly available data, such as voter registration and political contributions, with consumer data and personal information gathered from phone calls and door-to-door canvassing. All data in Voter Vault is continuously updated, and because the database records information in a common format and utilizes a web interface, it is universally accessible online to all elements of the coordinated campaign effort.

Seat 29E

Stink Shield

This just needed to be posted for anyone who hadn't yet seen it...

JesseNet

Jesse Ventura's gubernatorial bid in Minnesota was a watershed moment for use of the internet in a political campaign. Running as a third party candidate, Ventura relied heavily on a younger, anti-establishment demographic to get elected. In the initial stages of the campaign, Ventura did not even have a bricks and mortar campaign office. Instead, he used the internet as an organizing and fundraising tool. His success on the internet allowed him to build up a traditional campaign establishment, and his online presence remained a key element of his strategy once the campaign had solid footing. His online effort buttressed a relative lack of resources by allowing him to reach voters (and his targeted demographic) in an effective and low cost manner.

A classic insurgent campaign, Ventura's message and targeted audience were symbiotic with the people he reached online, and the organizing and fundraising impact of his online strategy was crucial to his election.

Online Fundraising: A Field of Dreams?

Most Americans don't contribute to political campaigns. In 2004, a highly energized and record setting presidential election saw less than 600,000 citizens contribute $200 or more across all of the candidates. There are 296,324,505 Americans. The intrigue about online fundraising is the possibility that huge numbers of previously unengaged citizens will use the internet to cough up cash. The idea is that small donations, if flowing in high enough volume, can be very powerful.

Though it is a new frontier, online fundraising is not a Field of Dreams. You can't just build it and expect them to come. Citizens must first be engaged in the political process, and then in the candidate him/herself before there is much chance they will open their wallets. That's why fundraising, particularly online, must be integrated with internet campaign strategy in a way that is engaging, energizing, and appeals to as many people as possible. It is also crucial to incubate prospective voters (i.e. everyone who visits the site) through quality relationship management so that hesitant contributors can be brought along to the confirmation page at a later visit.

An Opposition Party?

It's been awhile since the Democratic Party has been out of power in Washington, DC, but there doesn't seem to be a strong indication that they have embraced the idea of being the Opposition Party. That is a tough hump to get over. It took decades for Republicans toiling in the minority to reach the self-discovery phase that ultimately provided the ideological foundation for the Republican Revolution in 1994.

A true opposition movement is what is required to overturn a solid Republican majority in both houses of Congress. The internet culture embraces an anti-establishment, power-of-the-people philosophy that may be harnessed for political gain by a true opposition party intent on changing the way business is done in Washington. A few progressive organizations on the left understand this dynamic, and have been successful in attracting support (see MoveOn), though their support is not broad based. An intraparty struggle over the direction of the Democratic Party has left it listless and incoherent in its opposition. Rest assured, Republicans will use this to paint their opponents as obstructionists with no ideas or alternatives. Not a recipe for short term success.


Not Getting the Job Done

The Golden Mouse

We touched a little bit upon the differences between strategic internet plans for challengers and incumbents.

Incumbents have always had a distinct advantage, from name recognition to franking privileges. The internet and websites provide incumbents with huge advantages by way of generating data and opening meaningful lines of communication to constituents.

Official in nature, Congressional web sites are first and foremost informational, and they lack the onus on fundraising that is present on campaign sites. If managed correctly, however, an official site enables Members of Congress and Senators to gather email addresses, phone numbers, mailing addresses, and issues of interest for countless constituents.

The Congressional Management Foundation's Congress Online Project provides best practices for Congressional web sites. Every couple of years they come out with the "Golden Mouse" awards, presented to the best web sites in the House and Senate. This may be a good resource for anyone putting together a strategic plan for an incumbent.

Not That I Visit the Huffington Post, But...

There was a very interesting piece by former Colorado Senator Gary Hart on the disintegration of the traditional party system of politics. An astute analysis, I thought. The point is that the world has changed so fast and so dramatically that old structures for understanding and operating within the world are fast becoming anachronistic.

Evolving and dynamic coalitions of interest meet the needs of today's active citizenry much better than rigid party doctrine. As connectivity increases, so will the ease with which citizens join to advance a specific cause or interest.

One of the values of the major national Parties is their ability to exert a moderating influence on the political debate. But recently both the Republican and Democratic parties have veered fringe due to the disproportionate influence of the wingnuts on each side.

If this erosion of moderating influence continues, the respective "bases" will be all that is left. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But it would certainly be a far cry from the party machines of previous centuries.

Vous les idiots contemptable prendrez votre direction du Politburo et l'aimerez

You contemtable idiots will take your direction from the Politburo and like it. I've been asking anyone who would indulge me, or who might have an understanding of the dynamics, why I should ever have wanted the people of France or the Netherlands to ratify the EU Constitution.

I haven't found someone able to convince me that it is a good thing for citizens of these countries to empower a bureaucratic elite light years removed from their daily concerns or any meaningful accountability.

The EU trend, which to date has been in favor of consolidating power in Brussels, may be in for a reversal. The individual western European has grown rightfully accustomed to self determination and a power to do something about perceived problems. The power of the individual pervades society and culture and has only grown with the internet. However, this social and cultural trend runs completely contrary to the political trend of the last 5 years that has moved the levers of power farther and farther from the individual.

So maybe the political leadership in Europe can ramrod this Constitution through. The recent referendae are a clear setback, but in all fairness, it is the first time the people were asked for their opinion.