burlingtonfreepress.com

Sponsored by:

vt.Buzz ~ a political blog

Political notes from Free Press staff writers Terri Hallenbeck, Sam Hemingway and Nancy Remsen


11.19.2007

 

The book on you

At the Democratic state committee meeting Saturday, those assembled watched part of a video (they skipped the part with former Gov. Howard Dean talking, figuring they've heard him before) on grassroots politics. It featured some interesting tidbits. To wit:

It's harder to reach potential voters by traditional means. No longer is TV the great hope for reaching voters, as the average American has 155 channels (that struck me as high, given that there are actual Americans who get no channels, but that's what the Democratic dude said) and that DVR machines allow a good many people to avoid commercials. Radio listening, too, is in decline and phones have changed significantly. First, people have caller ID and second, a growing number of people rely solely on cell phones, which are not conveniently listed in the phone book.

As for mail, well, that brings in one vote for every 400 mailings. Personal phone calls bring in one vote for every 460 calls.

The most efficient method of reaching a voter? The personal visit. That brings in one vote for every 14 visits. It's something, the Dems were told, that the Republicans have used successfully since 2001.

Which means the Dems this year will focus on personal greetings. Party members will reach out to voters in their neighborhoods/towns/regions, make the case for Democratic candidates and keep going back to those people until Election Day. Each activist will be asked to adopt 25 people and to recruit two new activists who will do the same.

They'll take the information they glean from those voters (likely to support our candidate, hell-bent against our candidate, worried about X issue, etc.) and put it into the party's voter file. That will help the party better focus its efforts - not bothering perhaps to call a solid Democratic voter or a solid Republican.

It struck me as I listened to the video that this means Democrats will be fanning out into Vermont neighborhoods over the next year, pumping their neighbors for information about their political views, writing them down and recording them back at headquarters, keeping a sort of book on every Vermont voter they possibly can. Eerie?

This is not new - the parties have been keeping voter files for years - but it is a pumped up version. And, as the guy on the video indicated, Republicans have been beating them at it, so it's not just one party keeping the book on you.

Seems to me, the party activists who are going to be doing this work might not be the most popular people in their neighborhood before the election is over.

- Terri Hallenbeck

Comments:
1984, brought to you by Ian Carlton.
 
Too bad there's not a "do not contact me" list for people who can make up their own minds who to support and don't want to be bothered by the politicians.
 
If you give your personal information to someone, it's their right to record it and use it.

If you don't want them to have your information, don't give it to them.

How hard is that?
 
If you don't want to talk to them, don't.

It's a free country. They have the right to ask you questions. You have the right to tell them to buzz off.
 
I agree. We have the right to just say no.

But the "activists" are not selling laundry detergent or land in Florida, they are encouraging voters to share their views, here about the candidate's positions (directly, not through 30 second ads), and perhaps get more involved. Candidates and their volunteers are not looking for information about your personal life or buying habits (that's already on file), only to learn what's on your mind and guage your level of interest.

We all sometimes find this intrusive but many complain (understandably) that politicians don't listen and that we have no power or influence. You can't have it both ways

If we want the system to get beyond our reliance on soundbites and attack ads, we have to talk to each other. Frankly, I'm more concerned about how many don't vote than being in a "voter file".

And while voting is private, we need more public conversation about issues, not less.
 
Well said.

My point was just that it's silly to liken this to "1984".

It's also silly to say that it's only one party that does this.

Anyone who wants to win an election is going to collect data regarding what is on the minds of voters.
 
Let's see if I have this right -- The GOP has already been doing this but Bubba thinks this is a "socialist" idea.
 
Why should we talk to our elected officials about what we think ??

Next thing you know, they'll be encourgaging us to vote ... I just don't want to live in a democracy like that!!
 
I don't mind getting contacted by campaigns if the people doing the contacting are Vermonters who are volunteering their time to work for the candidate they support.

What I don't like is getting solicitations to give money to candidates from out-of-state telemarketers. For example, one evening about three weeks ago, I got a call from a paid solicitor working in a boiler room operation in Boston on behalf of Hillary Clinton. The Red Sox were playing in the World Series at the time, so I told him I'd rather watch the baseball game than tell him my opinions on Hillary. He said he'd call back another time and I told him he would be wasting his time and to call someone else.
 
bubba said...
"Wonderful. A bunch of morons trying to give me their socialist-free lunch-tax the rich garbage just as I sit down to whatever I still can afford for supper thanks to the tax policies of these same idiots. Time to get a pit bull."

This is the most well-reasoned, factually-substantiated thing you've said in 5 days, bubba.

And therein lies the rub.

Ya best take your PB and quit while you're ahead, sport.

Always a pleasure.
 
Mrs. Coop, please come down and pick up your son at the bar. He's slurring incoherent drunk. Keeps muttering something about "shhport" and always a "pleshher."
 
Ian Carlton better not come to my neighborhood to collect "info".
 
What are ya gonna do, little buddy, invite him in, kidnap him and force him to look at your Hummel figurine collection for 3 days?

Always a pleasure.
 
"What are ya gonna do, little buddy, invite him in, kidnap him and force him to look at your Hummel figurine collection for 3 days?"

Whoa, this is a little too self-revealing there, sport. The cops do monitor these blogs now and then. You might not want to be talking about all the door-to-door salesmen you've got buried under the basement subfloor, ya know?
 
By the way, jwpoop, do you happen to have a poodle named "precious"?
 
The Democratic Party has bigger problems than this.
 
Post a Comment



<< Home

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Archives

June 2006   July 2006   August 2006   September 2006   October 2006   November 2006   December 2006   January 2007   February 2007   March 2007   April 2007   May 2007   June 2007   July 2007   August 2007   September 2007   October 2007   November 2007   December 2007   January 2008   February 2008   March 2008   April 2008   May 2008   June 2008   July 2008   August 2008   September 2008   October 2008   November 2008   December 2008   January 2009   February 2009   March 2009   April 2009   May 2009   June 2009   July 2009   August 2009   September 2009   October 2009   November 2009   December 2009   January 2010   February 2010   March 2010   April 2010