Technology in campaigns
Frank E. Watkins’ essay, Technology, the Internet and Progressive Politics, is a little dated but still worth a read. His personal experience using technology in Jesse Jackson Junior’s congressional campaign is articulated well. I have only worked the fundraising side of a primary, so it was interesting to hear how the software they used helped them target their voters so specifically. In general campaigns it would be difficult to do this so precisely.
Side note: I hope Mr. Watkins received some money from the makers of Monarch. A few times I thought I was reading a commercial. But hey, if I thought a piece of software made the difference in a campaign I would be singing its praises as well.
I have used Monarch, along with other campaign software packages. This type of Contact Management software can be crucial, but I think another benefit this technology can offer is not being taken advantage of.
From my experience, the biggest hurdle facing political campaigns, and therefore political managers, is the necessity to “re-invent the wheel” every campaign.
A perfect example of this is the last State Senate race I ran in Tennessee. We started from nothing. Sure we got some voter data from the Party but it was the general stuff: Name, address, known issue, vote history. What we needed to know was: Who are the volunteers in the area? Who has a house perfect for a fundraiser? Who knows all the school teachers in Fentress County?
This is the kind of information that a campaign needs. This is also the information that the last campaign in the district has (or had).
I dream of instituting a process that will allow information to be not only used to run strong campaigns but then be preserved to allow for a quicker start of the next campaign in that district.
All politics are local, right? Well imagine what would happen if the information collected on a local level, State Senate district, was then transferred to the National level, Presidential campaign.
I may be way off base but I think this could increase the ability of Presidential Campaigns to target there voters.
Side note: I hope Mr. Watkins received some money from the makers of Monarch. A few times I thought I was reading a commercial. But hey, if I thought a piece of software made the difference in a campaign I would be singing its praises as well.
I have used Monarch, along with other campaign software packages. This type of Contact Management software can be crucial, but I think another benefit this technology can offer is not being taken advantage of.
From my experience, the biggest hurdle facing political campaigns, and therefore political managers, is the necessity to “re-invent the wheel” every campaign.
A perfect example of this is the last State Senate race I ran in Tennessee. We started from nothing. Sure we got some voter data from the Party but it was the general stuff: Name, address, known issue, vote history. What we needed to know was: Who are the volunteers in the area? Who has a house perfect for a fundraiser? Who knows all the school teachers in Fentress County?
This is the kind of information that a campaign needs. This is also the information that the last campaign in the district has (or had).
I dream of instituting a process that will allow information to be not only used to run strong campaigns but then be preserved to allow for a quicker start of the next campaign in that district.
All politics are local, right? Well imagine what would happen if the information collected on a local level, State Senate district, was then transferred to the National level, Presidential campaign.
I may be way off base but I think this could increase the ability of Presidential Campaigns to target there voters.
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