Campaign Tip
Microtargeting
Sophisticated political campaigns use microtargeting to reach voters in various niches or demographic groups to give the campaign an extra edge. In a recent column (turn to page 54) in Campaigns & Elections magazine, campaign guru Michael Cornfield defines microtargeting as “the process of data acquisition, analysis and testing which culminates in narrowly tailored messages delivered to narrowly defined groups of voters.”
Microtargeting improves on traditional targeting by using consumer purchase data to find extra voters. Voters with hunting licenses care about gun laws; voters who drive hybrid cars care about the environment, and so forth. “Consumer data and computer power help campaigns identify voters who don’t live in precincts traditionally identified via voter files and demographic data.” Cornfield says, “Job one for a campaign is ensuring that it has high-quality voter files.” Because accurate voting data is sometimes hard to find, Cornfield says, “The best move a campaign can make with respect to microtargeting is to put its field operation to work compiling its own database.”
Local Government Watch
Corroon's Stadium Decision
The Salt Lake County website has posted Mayor Peter Corroon's soccer stadium statement.
UDOT Open House
UDOT is hosting an open house this Wednesday to discuss the I-15 NOW expansion project, which will widen 10 miles of I-15 from Riverdale to Farr West in Weber County. The open house will be from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Farr West City Offices, 1896 North 1800 West (see press release).
Regional Politics
Wolf Delisting Proposed
Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett announces "that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is removing the western Great Lakes population of gray wolves from the federal list of threatened and endangered species and proposing to remove the northern Rocky Mountain population of gray wolves from the list. The two separate actions are being taken in recognition of the success of gray wolf recovery efforts under the Endangered Species Act" (see press release and related Billings Gazette story and Amaroq Weiss op-ed).
Wise Words
“Why pay money to have your family tree traced; go into politics and your opponents will do it for you.”
-- Author Unknown (Source: Quote Garden)
Today in Political History
Jan. 30, 1798: On the floor of the House of Representatives, Matthew Lyon of Vermont sharply insults Representative Roger Griswold of Connecticut and proceeds to spit in Griswold’s face; two weeks later, Griswold attacks Lyon by beating him over the head and shoulders with a hickory cane. (Source: National Journal 2007 Calendar of American Politics)
Blog Watch
At Out of Context, Matt Canham reports: "Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble may be the tough guy in the Senate, but he is no match for a horse. Bramble is on crutches after getting kicked in the leg during a team penning contest sponsored by Tooele County Saturday. His left thigh is pretty inflamed, but he promised he was not legislating on pain killers. Bramble's colleagues teased him at the start of the floor session, with Senate President John Valentine even pushing through a motion requiring Bramble to avoid all hazardous activities. He has a point. Right before the session began, Bramble was hospitalized with blood clots in his legs and chest. He was told to take it easy. Apparently, he didn't listen" (see also this Senate Site post by Senate intern Jeff Bramble) (for more Legislature-related posts, see Paul Rolly, The Senate Site, Phil Windley, GamePolitics, UAC Blog, Reach Upward, The Utah Amicus, Simple Utah Mormon Politics, Davis County Watch, and The Political Spyglass).... Utah Taxpayer explains why "Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon made the right call [yesterday] by rejecting Real Salt Lake's request for taxpayer subsidies for a soccer stadium" (see also mullentown and SLCSpin).... COL Takashi says of the proposed Divine Strake bomb test: "You will get millions of times more radiation from sleeping next to your spouse than you will ever get from Divine Strake. Anyone who is so paranoid about radiation exposure that they want to prevent the Divine Strake test should also forsake all CAT scans, dental X-Rays, microwave ovens, non-thin-screen televisions, travel on aircraft, marriage, and residence in Utah, where the natural uranium in the granite (such as was used to build the Salt Lake Mormon Temple) and the high altitude expose you to even more natural radiation".... Ed Partridge says of the anti-war demonstrations over the weekend: "I absolutely loathe Jane Fonda and everything about her. I don't care about her so-called 'apology' for her behavior during Vietnam. It was inexcusable. I can excuse what John Kerry and the other protesters did then, and what the people did the other day in D.C. and even here in SLC, but it was not effective then, and it is not effective now. ... [T]he people who are going to change the misguided policy of the Bush administration and its devoted followers (like Utah's entire GOP delegation in Washington) are going to be politicians who have been there, done that, and got the tee shirt to prove it." (see also UNCoRRELATED).
Bad Joke of the Day
Retired People Have More Fun
(Source: Floating around the Internet)
Working people frequently ask me what I do to keep life interesting. Well, for example, the other day I went downtown and into a shop. I was only in there for about 5 minutes and when I came out a cop was writing out a parking ticket. I went up to him and said, "Come on, man, how about giving a retired person a break?"
He ignored me and continued writing the ticket. I called him a Nazi. He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tires. So I called him a "doughnut-eating Gestapo." He finished the second ticket and started writing a third. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more I abused him, the more tickets he wrote. Which was OK with me. I came downtown on the bus and the car that he was putting the tickets on had a "Hillary in '08" bumper sticker. I try to have a little fun each day now that I'm retired. It's important to my health.
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