Microtargeting and Politics

If you click on the link in this entry's title, you can read an interesting article in the Washington Post about the person who convinced the 2004 Bush campaign to engage in microtargeting of voters. The interesting relevation about this effort was that it was carried out in Ohio. The article credits microtargeting with Bush getting 16% of Ohio's black vote as compared to 11% nationwide.

Microtargeting is a concept of using a different message for voters based on what demographic models tell the campaigns about certain type of voters. Typically the means of delivering the message is direct mail, personal appeals, or robo-calls as opposed to television ads. Direct mail and personal appeals are what could be called "narrowcast" medium while television ads are examples of a "broadcast" medium.

Microtargeting has been used in business for a long time and what also used by Mitt Romney's successful 2002 campaign for governor in Massachusetts. Interestingly Romney has an MBA and is known to be intersted in applying business techniques to politics and government.

The Democratic consultants quoted in the article seem somewhat skeptical of microtargeting, although Democrats are also using microtargeting. In the past we have urged Democratic candidates to use consultants who come from a business background as opposed to a political background. This article is one more example of why Republicans are often successful in campaigns even though a majority of voters don't back their agenda.

People don't vote logically, they vote emotionally. Democratic consultants and Democratic candidates often don't seem to, or don't want to, recognize that fact. Republicans, who often come from business backgrounds, don't heistate in recognizing that fact.