Some areas of the map are colored in purple. These are the areas that Mr. Dreschler's team thought would support Barack Obama. The gray areas on the map are those they thought would probably not support him. Campaign officials used these maps to help them decide where to advertise and send volunteers.
ANDREW DRESCHLER: "This is just a good example of a visual that we often give to campaigns just showing -- mapping -- where the support is, generally speaking. A lot of times campaigns know that, but it just helps illustrate where they need to focus and where, frankly, they don’t need to focus."
Dianne Bystrom at Iowa State University studies political campaigns. She says that in Iowa, the Obama campaign used data to target people who did not usually vote in the political meetings called caucuses. By bringing in new voters, she says, Mr. Obama was able to win that state.
DIANNE BYSTROM: "And that's what really won him the caucuses. He turned out more than the traditional Democratic caucus-going base in the state of Iowa."
BARBARA KLEIN: Ms. Bystrom is director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State. She points to the way Ronald Reagan's campaign used data in nineteen eighty when he ran for president. She says the data helped his Republican team target messages to women based on the issues most important to them.
That year, women voted at a greater rate than men for the first time. That change helped close the “gender gap” and send Ronald Reagan to the White House. Professor Bystrom says stories like this show the value of data, even if some people might be concerned about personal privacy.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
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2013-11-25