Internet technology uprooting campaign stump

Mailing lists and fliers have become part of the campaign stone age. Envelope-stuffers have given way to tech-savvy bloggers, and volunteers are just as likely to make their own candidate videos as they are to canvass neighborhoods for voters.

Welcome to the brave new world of campaigning, but don’t get used to it. It can change at the click of a mouse, thanks to the ever-increasing use of online tools and other electronic gadgetry.

“More and more, people are getting their news from a variety of outlets, including the Internet,” said Stacie Paxton, press secretary for the Democratic National Committee. “And whether it’s YouTube, blogs or Web sites, the Internet is transforming the way we do politics.

“It’s given the average person a much louder voice in the political process and created an opportunity to have more of a two-way conversation with voters,” she said. “The two-way conversation is critical because it invests people in the process.”

In recent years, candidates have been turning more and more to Web technology — blogging and other online communications platforms, such as instant messaging, e-mailing, text messaging and social networking — to organize campaigns, build support and let the public know where they stand.

And all this instancy has another much-valued attribute.

“The operative word for the Internet is free,” Ms. Paxton said.

Both Democrats and Republicans have nonpublic online national voter-registry databases, which allow them to sync data quickly to give them precise information about potential voters and supporters, which they can share with state parties.

They also offer online instruments that help people connect on issues, with the hope of leading them to organize rallies, receptions or other events.

“We continue to upgrade our efforts every year to bring in new technology that is effective,” said Chad Barth, a staffer in the National Republican Committee’s strategy department.

Ms. Paxton acknowledged that, for a time, Democrats were trying to play catch-up with Republicans in campaign technology.

“But we now believe we are at least where the Republicans are, and we think we’ve surpassed them,” she said, citing the Democratic sweeps in the November midterm elections.

The micro target

Thinking big technologically really means thinking small. Very small.

“The biggest campaign technology that’s out there is [online] targeting technology that can find people on a particular block,” who are likely to vote in a certain way or become active in a campaign, said Erick Erickson, managing editor of Redstate.com, a popular conservative blog.

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