Catalist for Victory How Nonprofits and Unions Have Struggled to Re-Elect President Obama

Catalist for Victory How Nonprofits and Unions Have Struggled to Re-elect President Obama

By Neil Maghami

Summary: Supposedly nonpartisan nonprofi ts on the Left and their union allies have exploited the latest “microtargeting” technology as they’ve worked feverishly to elect Democrats. The most powerful weapon in their arsenal is Catalist LLC, a state-of- the-art data fi rm that services both “nonpartisan” nonprofi ts and every would-be Democrat offi ceholder who can afford it. (Note: This study went to press shortly before the election.)

inning in war, quipped a Southern leader in the Civil War, is all Wabout getting to the battlefi eld “fi rstest with the mostest.” That’s a formula for victory in presidential politics, too. When it comes to mustering all possible support on Election Day 2012 for the Democratic Party, unions and tax-exempt left-wing groups have played a critical role in the party’s get-out- the-vote strategy. Since 2006 a high-tech Harold Ickes: mob lawyer, political power broker, president of Catalist LLC. operation called Catalist LLC has helped contact over 46% of the U.S. adult population. over 20% of all votes cast. Furthermore, both unions and tax-exempt groups fi ne-tune Contacts were delivered in-person, over the 82% of progressive activities occurred in their electoral infl uence to the point that they phone, by mail and over the internet.” 16 highly contested states. Progressives may well provide the Democrats the edge contacted 37% of all the people who voted they need. Catalist says that “data stored by all pro- in the 16 battlegrounds.” gressive groups (over 90 organizations, Catalist boasts it was vital to President campaigns and committees) working with Obama’s 2008 victory. By its own admission, [us] in the 2008 cycle shows that presidential November 2012 “over 90 organizations, campaigns and com- [voter] ID activity alone reached 15,452,954 CONTENTS mittees” used the company’s services. “Based people—a difference of over 80% [compared on data that was loaded into the Catalist to 2004]. Overall, Catalist customers were re- databases and then standardized,” a Catalist sponsible for generating over 7 million voter Catalist for Victory analysis of the 2008 cycle says, “progressive registration applications. They completed Page 1 organizations, the Obama campaign, and over 127 million contacts to over 49 million federal party committees attempted to contact unique individuals. Of these individuals, 28 Briefl y Noted more than 106 million people. This means million voted on Election Day, representing Page 8 that the progressive community attempted to OrganizationTrends

If this is what Catalist and its allies could behaviors collected from widely diverse representatives would ask for old voter IDs achieve in 2008, imagine their goals for sources synthesized into easy to use compiled from canvassers and phone banks. 2012, after four more years of refi ning their and potent variables for targeting your The best-case scenario was often being in- techniques. This edition of Organization communications. troduced to a desk drawer fi lled with records Trends examines the who’s, why’s, and how’s from past elections that the groups had never of Catalist. We’ll also explore Catalist’s link Catalist maintains a 270+ million 50 synthesized into a permanent fi le. In Catalist’s to George Soros, the Left’s Daddy Warbucks. state and DC database of voting age hands, each individual ID would be another And we’ll look at some of Catalist’s known persons that combines the best in class data point that the algorithms could use as customers in the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt com- commercial data with the most rigor- they profi led individuals. Catalist’s ‘ballots munity and among labor unions. ous and thorough national voter fi le. cast’ table—the simple voter-fi le category of Catalist is nationally recognized for the who voted in which election—quickly had What is Catalist? superior quality of its voter database, well over a billion pieces of data.” Acccording to its website (www.catalist. and has distinguished itself nationally us), Catalist is for world-class database matching abil- Soros wasn’t the only person enthusiastic ity.… We carry data on more than 180 about this new approach. The leadership the data ‘utility’ to support progressive million registered voters, including their of the now-notorious Association of Com- organizations—large and small; local, party registration, vote history, as well munity Organizations for Reform Now regional, and national; advocacy, is- as other variables from offi cial voter (ACORN) was so taken with Catalist that sue, and election focused. We compile, rolls, such as date of birth, registration they rhapsodized about it in a 2006 internal enhance, store and dynamically update date, race, and political geography. document. Under “Goals and Objectives person-level data for the entire U.S. Unregistered adults are also carefully for 2007,” ACORN declared “our access adult population and provide the tools screened, and Catalist carries over 85 to sophisticated data has taken a giant leap and expertise necessary to plan, analyze, million unregistered adults. We then forward through our involvement with and execute data-driven progressive combine the best commercial, census, the [data] warehouse Catalist.” Catalist’s programs. and specialty data available, producing services would augment ACORN’s already- over 700 fi elds of data for modeling and strong ability to produce “research on eligible As a unique national data consortium, analysis purposes. voting age populations, voter turnout, and Catalist provides an unparalleled com- voter demographics.” bination of dynamically updated data Catalist, a for-profi t company, was created in from billions of actual individual civic 2006 after the Democrats’ electoral wipeout Catalist and “the real world of politics” in 2004. Left-wing activists felt Republicans The nonpartisan Campaign Finance Insti- Editor: Matthew Vadum owed George W. Bush’s re-election victory to tute (CFI) at George Washington Univer- heavy investments in voter contact technol- sity highlighted some important aspects of Publisher: Terrence Scanlon ogy, including databases. Catalist’s work in a 2009 report, taking a Organization Trends “top-down” view of Catalist’s activities. is published by Capital Research Harold Ickes, a former Clinton aide, can This top-down perspective is vital, because Center, a non-partisan education and claim credit for Catalist’s creation. As Sasha if you think of Catalist merely in terms of research organization, classifi ed by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Issenberg writes in The Victory Lab: The Se- its client base, or its funders, you miss the cret Science of Winning Campaigns, Ickes’s larger story of how it works to enshrine the Address: arguments in 2006 for a “data utility” found political power of the far Left in Washington. 1513 16th Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20036-1480 a receptive audience in billionaire George Soros, the fi rst to commit $1 million to the The report emphasized that America’s “cam- Phone: (202) 483-6900 new venture. Ickes says Soros wanted to paign fi nance regime” is so complex that it Long-Distance: (800) 459-3950 help Catalist because he “comes from the “obscure[s] political reality and obstruct[s] E-mail Address: European mentality and I think he was very coherent thought about” how that regime [email protected] enthusiastic about voter contact, much more works: than media—he didn’t give the back of his Web Site: http://www.capitalresearch.org hand to media but thought voter contact was Real world political actors see the world something that we ought to, as progressives, more clearly. An instructive example Organization Trends welcomes let- get involved in.” is provided by Catalist, a three-year- ters to the editor. old limited liability corporation which Reprints are available for $2.50 pre- Issenberg continues the story: “When cli- produces a national database of approxi- paid to Capital Research Center. ents signed on [in 2006], Catalist account mately 230 million voting age Ameri- 2 November 2012 OrganizationTrends

cans. This voter fi le integrates data on concentrated on “infrequent Democratic In the 2008 cycle, SEIU claims over 3,000 individual voting history with consumer voters” and “African American and Latino members, leaders, and staff “voluntarily information, helping campaigns defi ne voters,” particularly in two key congres- took time off of their jobs to go into the their target audiences and produce ef- fi eld” and work for Obama’s victory. “They sional districts. fective messages. were joined by more than 100,000 of their fellow nurses, janitors, childcare providers What conclusion can we draw? (Admittedly, “Based on the targeting model built through and other workers who volunteered after this may not be CFI’s intended conclusion.) Catalist, SEIU members knocked on 118,765 work and on weekends in battleground states In the “real world” of politics, Catalist is doors, made 186,145 calls and registered and districts.” a key, perhaps even central element, in a 14,003 voters” in these two districts. Armed well-thought-out, well-integrated strategy to with Catalist’s analysis of voter informa- What is microtargeting? mobilize specifi c interest groups on behalf To understand how Catalist and its data tion, SEIU could direct its efforts where of partisan interests seeking power. Catalist services help SEIU deploy resources more ef- is serious about its goals, clear-eyed about they would most aid Obama. Catalist sig- fi ciently, we need to understand “microtarget- who it has to mobilize, and what instruments nifi cantly improved the accuracy of SEIU’s ing.” We all know the blizzard of ads, phone it can use to mobilize them. outreach. calls, and door-knocking campaigns that both parties bring to bear during presidential How Catalist works Did Catalist’s assistance make a difference? election years. “But in races decided by one or two percentage points, or less,” Stephen To understand how Catalist works with SEIU certainly thinks so: “In a state [Indiana] unions, nonprofi ts, and political campaigns, Baker writes in The Numerati, “the party that where Obama won by only 25,836 votes, let’s look at a real-life example using a pinpoints a few thousand individual voters our work in Lake County made a difference. Catalist client—the Service Employees In- here and there could come out on top.” That There were 23,000 more Democratic votes realization has fueled an emerging industry ternational Union (SEIU). SEIU has praised in 2008 than in 2004, combined with 4,000 of political number-crunchers who try to Catalist’s aid in the 2008 election: fewer Republican voters.” And “in Indiana, identify pockets of in-play eligible voters after subtracting the work of the Obama and then help campaigns fashion winning “Over the past two years, Catalist has become appeals to them. This “microtargeting” is campaign, more than 40 percent of all voter such an integral part of the way in which [the Catalist’s specialty. SEIU] communicates with our members and contact was done by SEIU. SEIU also had the general public on politics that it is now large shares of unique contacts in other highly One of the best defi nitions of microtargeting truly indispensable. Catalist’s talented staff contested states, including New Mexico (30 appears in Dancing without Partners: How Candidates, Parties, and Interest Groups and enriched data have helped SEIU target percent), New Hampshire (15 percent), and Interact in the Presidential Campaign: the right voters in the right place at the right Oregon and Colorado (10 percent).” time when it really matters.” Based on Catalist’s nation-wide post-election Microtargeting combines voter analysis, SEIU believes its 2008 voter con- registration information (some In the 2008 cycle, Catalist provided data tact efforts: demographics, party registration, services to SEIU. This means, for example, voter history) with data collected through large surveys seeking to that as SEIU collected voter ID information *increased vote share for Obama by identify likely supporters [of a can- from its voter contact list work, the union about 1 percent to 4 percent; *increased Obama favorability by didate]. This additional information updated the information gathered to a Catal- about 5 percent to 6 percent; includes demographic information ist database. Catalist, in turn, helped SEIU *decreased McCain favorability by such as marital status, number of analyze this data so that the union could about 8 percent to 10 percent; children, religious affi liation, and better focus its outreach efforts. *increased the belief that Obama is religious observance. Policy views better suited than McCain to deal on topics likely to impact voting behavior are also included in such In its internal analysis of its 2008 work, with the issues of jobs and economy surveys. Together, the combined SEIU uses the example of Indiana to show by 7 percent to 9 percent; and *increased the belief that Obama is database allows parties and inter- how Catalist helped SEIU concentrate its better suited than McCain to deal est groups to microtarget specifi c energies and boost voter turnout for Obama. with the issue of healthcare by 2 audiences. Using Catalist’s breakdown of voter informa- percent to 5 percent. tion and projection of voter behavior, SEIU November 2012 3 OrganizationTrends

Once you have a large enough database, you churches, or nonprofi t groups active on issues Although not a Catalist client per se, the U.S. can segment the population into subunits. like the environment or abortion. Justice Department has a link to the company For example, the Nathan Cummings Foun- worth noting. In March, the department ruled dation’s 2009 update to its “Roadmap for And it makes Catalist, which can help all that a Texas law requiring voters to show a a Progressive Majority” document divided these groups sharpen their appeal to their state ID card violated federal law. Justice’s the U.S. voting population into no less than supporters, valuable indeed. lawyers claimed the state law effectively 15 subgroups. The paper helpfully adds that disenfranchised Hispanic voters. A court “working in partnership with Catalist, LLC, Who funds Catalist? battle between Justice and the state govern- we now have the ability to help progressive Who funds Catalist? We already mentioned ment ensued. groups fi nd individual voters in each of the George Soros’s $1 million seed money. We 15 segments on the ground.” also know the shadowy Tides Foundation has During that court battle, according to a July assisted unknown parties to shift money to 5, 2012 letter from Rep. Lamar Smith (R- The fi ve voter segments most closely aligned Catalist, to help subsidize the cost of Catal- Texas) to Attorney General Eric Holder, “the with the Democratic Party were called: ist’s services to unspecifi ed nonprofi ts. Tides Department of Justice hired … Catalist to “Engaged Optimists”; “Adamant Activists”; disclosed $1,025,000 in funding to Catalist in provide the data by which it is justifying its “Fast Lane Progressives”; “Marginalized 2006; $1,008,880 in 2007; $801,000 in 2008; decision to block implementation of Texas’ Fatalists,” and “Hopeless Dreamers.” Those nothing in 2009; and $811,823 in 2010. voter identifi cation law. According to reports segments most opposed to the Democrats submitted by the government’s expert wit- were “Town Square Sociables”; “Obedient Another source of information on Catalist’s nesses in the case of State of Texas v. Holder Shelter-seekers”; “Self-assured Champs”; links to activists comes via the IRS Form 990s … the Department of Justice directly paid “Consistent Conservatives”; and “Country that all tax-exempt bodies must fi le annually, Catalist to provide the data on which the Club Patriots.” Finally, swing voters were disclosing the “fi ve highest compensated Department’s experts based their analysis.” divided into fi ve streams: “Non-ideological independent contractors that received more (Smith is referring to Harvard academic Ste- Neighbors”; “Unleashed Materialists”; “Re- than $100,000 of compensation” from the phen D. Ansolabehere, retained by Justice to signed Believers”; “Practical Opportunists”; nonprofi t. For example, Sierra Club disclosed bolster its case against Texas; Ansolabehere “Anti-authoritarian Tribalists.” it paid Catalist $200,000 in 2008 for serv- acknowledged using Catalist data in a formal ing as a “data provider.” In an endorsement deposition.) This approach creates an incentive for that once appeared on Catalist’s website competing candidates to stop appealing and has since been taken down, the Sierra Charged Smith: “Though Catalist is techni- to the general public (or average voter, if Club described Catalist as “an invaluable cally a private, for-profi t company, it is re- you like), and instead take more of a single resource that has helped us better pinpoint ally an agent of the Democratic Party. And issue approach. MoveOn’s Eli Pariser has the targeted universes we need to reach ac- Catalist’s involvement in the Department’s written, “if a congressional campaign can cording to the specifi c theme and messaging election law litigation against Texas creates determine [which issue is] most likely to of our programs.” a clear confl ict of interest.” Smith expressed persuade me, why bother fi lling me in on concern as well that “nothing in the record all the other issues?” The League of Conservation Voters’ Edu- indicates that the Department conducted cation Fund disclosed that it paid Catalist an open bidding process when it obtained In addition, the fewer voters one is trying almost $265,000 for a “voter list.” The Na- Catalist’s data services.” to reach, the less attractive TV commercials tional Abortion Rights League and Planned become and the more reliant campaigns Parenthood are also known clients, though Who is Catalist? become on direct mail and other tactics less how much they’ve paid Catalist is not public Harold Ickes, President – former top aide public in nature (and therefore less likely to knowledge. to President Clinton; described on Catalist’s come under direct media scrutiny). website as “an architect of the President’s In another endorsement that no longer ap- 1996 re-election campaign (the fi rst success- Whatever long-term effects these develop- pears on Catalist’s website, Planned Parent- ful re-election campaign of a Democratic ments may have, the important point for hood and its Action Fund called Catalist president since FDR), the 1996 Democratic this article is the way microtargeting lets “an indispensable tool for targeting voters, National Convention, and the 1997 Presi- campaigns and candidates identify different supporters and even volunteers. Using Catal- dential Inaugural”; trained as a lawyer, with messages for different demographic groups ist, we were able to build a national model particular expertise in election law and labor and then shape appeals to voters through of pro-choice women voters, then reach a law (on the union side). email, regular mail, phone messages, etc. For million of these women in targeted states to the Democratic Party, this increases the value help elect Barack Obama, make substantial CRC editor Matthew Vadum has observed of interest groups, whether they are unions, gains in Congress.…” that “as a lawyer Ickes represented Local 4 November 2012 OrganizationTrends

100 of HERE (Hotel Employees and Res- Will Loman, General Counsel – veteran of Catalist. Starting with his youthful interest taurant Employees International Union) BearingPoint, the management consulting in baseball statistics, Podhorzer has, in his which DiscoverTheNetworks reports ‘was company. own words, always thought intensely about jointly controlled by the Colombo and “probabilities and statistical outcomes and so Gambino crime families.’ He acted for the Amy C. Young, Chief Client Offi cer – former on.” This habit grew into regularly seeking Gambino-controlled New York City District Executive Director for Women’s Voices out ways, over multiple election cycles, to Council of Carpenters, and for Teamsters Women Vote; “has also worked for ACLU, maximize turnout of AFL members at the Local 851, ‘which ran the air freight rackets Voices For Working Families, the Democratic polls. At the same time Ickes & Co. were at JFK airport for the Lucchese crime fam- National Committee, and SEIU, among other fostering Catalist in 2006-2007, Podhorzer ily.’” Vadum quotes Dick Morris on Ickes: national organizations. A native of Ohio, was helping build the Analyst Institute, a kind “Whenever there was something that [Bill Ms Young worked at nearly every level of of think tank where the Left’s microtargeters Clinton] thought required ruthlessness or politics in Ohio, from the state house to the and data whizzes can privately update each vengeance or sharp elbows and sharp knees state party.” other on their latest work and swap techniques or, frankly, skullduggery, he would give it and tips. Cooperation between Catalist and to Harold.” Robert Blaemire, Director of Business De- velopment – came to Catalist after Blaemire Ickes’s work in the 2012 election involves Communications—a “political computer Please remember CRC in much more than just Catalist. He serves services fi rm serving Democratic campaigns, as president of the Priorities USA Action progressive organizations and political con- your estate planning. Super PAC, which produced the vicious ad sultants” that he founded—was purchased by in which a widowed steelworker blames his Catalist in 2007; from 1991 to its purchase wife’s death from cancer on the Republican by Catalist, Blaemire “managed more Demo- A simple, commonly used method presidential nominee. cratic state party voter fi le projects than any to ensure CRC’s legacy is to name other vendor.” Laura Quinn, Chief Executive Offi cer – has the Capital Research Center as a led Catalist’s “day-to-day management since Yair Ghitza, Senior Scientist – before joining benefi ciary in your will. You can do its inception in 2006”; was “founding partner Catalist “played a key role in the prolifera- of QRS Newmedia,” whose clients have tion of microtargeting models throughout the this in several ways, such as giving included “the DNC [Democratic National Progressive community, producing dozens specifi c assets or a percentage of Committee] and every Democratic Presi- of models and analyses for Gubernatorial, dential campaign from 1996 through 2008; Senatorial, and Congressional campaigns.” your estate. Whichever method you a wide of range of progressive organizations choose, if properly structured your and non-profi ts; and other corporate and Catalist Board Members: academic institutions.” Quinn previously bequest will be fully deductible from worked for Vice President Al Gore and Sens. Patricia Bauman, Co-Chair -- President of your estate, thus decreasing your Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), Jay Rockefeller the Bauman Foundation; Vice-Chair of the (D-W.Va.), and Carl Levin (D-Mich.). Natural Resources Defense Council (listed tax liability. The estate tax charitable on Catalist’s website as a client). Since 1997, Gayatri Bhalla, Chief Operating Offi cer – Bauman has donated $436,149 to Democratic deduction is unlimited. has primarily worked in the private sector, candidates and pro-Democratic political ac- with an early stint on Capitol Hill. tion committees, according to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). For more information, contact Jeff Crigler, Chief Technology Offi cer – technology industry veteran. Michael Podhorzer, Co-Chair – Political Di- rector, AFL-CIO since 1997; “most recently Gordon Cummings Gary Gruver, Chief Financial Offi cer – for- designed and managed the AFL-CIO’s pio- Capital Research Center mer Comptroller and Assistant Treasurer of neering 2004 ‘swing voter program’ which the Gore 2000 Presidential Campaign and combined voter fi le database analytics and 1513 16th St. NW the CFO of the Joe Lieberman 2004 presi- clinical trial-style message testing for direct Washington, DC 20036 dential campaign; also “served as the CFO mail, telemarketing, email and neighborhood of America Coming Together during 2004 canvassing. (AFL-CIO is a Catalist client.) 202.483.6900 and 2005, and most recently at America Issenberg’s Victory Lab includes helpful ad- Votes.” ditional details about Podhorzer’s links with November 2012 5 OrganizationTrends the Analyst Institute, Issenberg writes, was litical Director of SEIU MN State Council. Party would give the Left an edge in 2012: “destiny.” According to the FEC, since 2004, Before joining SEIU in 2003, Stevens worked “Another way Democratic interest group Podhorzer has given only one political dona- at the Offi ce of the Minnesota State Auditor teammates provide more support going into tion, $1,750, to America Coming Together, and as a fi eld advisor on electoral campaigns 2010 and 2012 is through their active and the disgraced “527 group” forced to shut at the local, state, and national levels. involved membership organizations. Unions, down after it was revealed it had violated teachers, and members of environmental and campaign fi nance laws. “Since joining SEIU, Stevens has played pro-choice groups are predictably active for key roles in presidential, gubernatorial, Democrats. These groups not only provide Andrew Hohns – Principal of Cohen and congressional, and legislative campaigns money but also volunteer hours and personal Company, a Philadelphia-based asset man- developing electoral and legislative strate- contacts with friends and work associates— agement company. Since 2004, Hohns has gies. In addition, she has been on the front networks that have historically helped the donated $80,200 to Democratic candidates lines of integrating state-of-the-art technol- Democrats more than the Republicans … and pro-Democratic political action com- ogy into SEIU’s political operation, and as we look to the next set of contests, the mittees. has served on national advisory committees Democrats must clearly be favored.” spearheading the effective integration of Harold Ickes – President, Catalist. Ickes has voter data, targeting, polling, research and Magleby stresses how tax-exempt groups, given $203,393 to Democratic candidates and voter contact.” Since 2004, Stevens has given unions, churches, etc. function as “campaign PACs since 1997, according to the FEC. $2,750 to Democratic candidates and PACs, intermediaries” and can be more effective according to the FEC. than offi cial campaigns. Consider: If you’re Tom Novick – Executive Vice President a candidate who wants environmentalists’ at M+R Strategic Services, a Washington, Michael Warren – Chief Operating Offi cer votes, instead of writing voters yourself, DC-based fi rm offering “campaign strategy and Managing Director, Stonebridge Inter- it’s usually better to have environmentalist and services to leading nonprofi ts working national (a “global strategy fi rm”). Placed by organizations issue direct (or subtle) state- on behalf of the public interest.” Novick is Obama on the board of the Overseas Private ments supporting you. a former Oregon legislator. He once worked Investment Corporation, an “independent” for the far-Left Oregon State Public Inter- government agency, he earlier served in the Jarol Manheim, Emeritus Professor of est Research Group as Executive Director. White House Offi ce of Presidential Personnel Media and Public Affairs and of Political According to M+R’s website, Novick “has and on the Obama-Biden transition team. In Science at George Washington University, evaluated and consulted on dozens of cam- the Clinton administration, he was Executive observes that using simulations of voter paigns and movements including America Director of the President’s National Eco- behavior based on data started much earlier Coming Together, America Votes, Center for nomic Council and also worked for the U.S. than many people think. Take the Simul- Community Change, League of Conserva- Labor Secretary. matics project of the early 1960s, where tion Voters, Health Care for America Now, university researchers carried out a study Clean Energy Works, and many others. He Nonprofits and their roles for John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign has conducted assessments for dozens of in presidential elections to project possible voter behavior. Based funders and philanthropists including the Although the U.S. tax code in theory limits on Simulmatics’ fi ndings, the Kennedy Beldon Fund, the Energy Foundation, Pew nonprofi ts’ partisan activities, the reality, as camp invested in TV commercials directed Charitable Trusts, the Packard Foundation, political scientist David Magleby has ob- towards self-identifi ed Catholic voters, to Atlantic Philanthropies, and many more.” served, is that nonprofi ts and other interest mobilize them for the presidential contest. groups “have also been important cue givers Laura Quinn – CEO, Catalist. to voters in U.S. elections. Endorsements, “This whole notion of voter targeting, and newsletters to particular groups comparing of gathering data on voters—these tools are Gerald Rosenfeld– Senior Advisor and Vice candidate positions on issues of interest, and being used to manage the risk element that Chairman, US Investment Banking, Lazard invitations to candidates to speak to mem- is always present in the kinds of mass com- LTD. Since 1998, has contributed $91,200 to bers of a group all are means groups use to munications used in political campaigns,” Democratic candidates and committees. signal to voters which candidates will best Manheim says. That is, targeting gives cam- represent their interests. Often endorsements paigns another way to “control the message.” Luchelle Stevens – Data and Technology are conveyed personally by a member of the Director, SEIU. Catalist’s website says she same religious congregation or by a fellow Thus, a group like Catalist helps “maximize “serves as the Data and Technology Director volunteer in an activist group.” the effectiveness of money towards its desired of the Service Employees International Union impact.” Manheim adds that “microtargeting (SEIU), after years of work in Minnesota In 2009, Magleby predicted that the galaxy of techniques are becoming more effective over where she was Executive Director and Po- interest groups aligned with the Democratic time, and databases could be refi ned to the 6 November 2012 OrganizationTrends point that someone can approach a specifi c say, “there is a political campaign on.” It is Viguerie cautions those who see micro- individual with a specifi c message, based on “giving meaning and credibility to candidate targeting as a kind of political wonder data indicating what that person will want to messages that are already independently weapon: “As important as having the latest hear about. This is called ‘nano-targeting.’” circulating in public, and that are already technology is, you cannot fall in love with known to voters.” A group can do so, for the technology. You have to know it and What makes a tax-exempt group’s member- example, by highlighting candidate state- understand how to use it, of course. At the ship list potentially very powerful in an elec- ments on an issue important to its members, end of the day, it is the ideas you convey tion? Manheim explains that they spend mon- and giving those statements favorable atten- that move people. Some people think it is ey attracting “people who have expressed an tion in a members-only newsletter or mass suffi cient just to have the technology, but affi nity for their organization’s goals.” And so e-mail. “But more importantly,” Manheim to assist a political candidate, “the group can says, “and more to the point, a group can you must have content. You have to speak send out a pre-framed message to an audience accomplish this simply by identifying itself to issues that people feel strongly about.” made up of like-minded people, with little (and by extension its members or those who “If all you do in your direct mail is beat up risk that that message will leak out or reach feel an affi nity) with those statements.” on the other side, without getting into real unintended audiences, or create negative specifi city and actual ideas, then this content- effects. The more narrowly you can target a Measuring Catalist’s effectiveness free direct mail will be unsuccessful. You message, the less likely that specifi c message How do political marketing experts gauge can’t be bland. You can’t be weak on the will attract the attention of the other side.” Catalist’s strength? We turned to the leg- issues. Feel-good direct mail won’t work. endary Richard A. Viguerie, political direct And the Left generally avoids that mistake.” Manheim adds that in a political campaign, mail pioneer and chairman of American “you use surrogates mainly to motivate Target Advertising, for his perspective. “I sometimes give a hard time to Washington and mobilize your supporters. So when consultants on this aspect of their direct mail. we look at the role of non-profi ts in voter “Catalist is effective, and a strong asset for the Many of them come from the big business mobilization efforts, we need to remember— Left,” Viguerie said in an exclusive interview. community, and so they don’t want to talk it’s not the money [that goes into those Refl ecting on his decades of experience in about the hot-button issues such as abortion, efforts] that counts as much as the brand the fi eld, Viguerie says that “to this day, in same-sex marriage, and so on. This transfers that these groups can put on well-timed my opinion, the Left generally does a better over to their political TV commercials, their messages to their members. The money pro- job of political marketing than conservatives. radio spots, their direct mail, and so on. But vides the means to facilitate the branding.” Conservatives have produced very good if the other side is constantly attacking you marketers, but the Left can often call upon on those hot button issues, and you do not The role of surrogate nonprofi ts is not to what you might describe as ‘better quality’ push back, then those attacks will inevitably marketers, and Catalist is in that tradition.” stick.”

Please consider contribut- “The political direct mail industry is very ing today to the Capital Re- Love it or hate it, Catalist—thanks to the mature, in terms of the lists compiled by people behind it, the funders moving money search Center. both the Left and the Right. There’s no to it via the Tides Foundation, and the activ- doubt that the more sophisticated you are ist groups and unions using its services right We need your help in the in your approach, the more successful you now in hopes of ensuring a second Obama current difﬁ cult economic are going to be in your microtargeting. term—has emerged as a major asset for the climate to continue our im- far Left. portant research. “We are talking about something very powerful here, the ‘sleeping giant’ of political Will its microtargeting work for the Left Your contribution to advance marketing, if you will. We’re talking about provide the edge the President needs to our watchdog work is deeply a form of political marketing that, with the win? Soon after I write these words, we’ll know. appreciated. right list, for example, allows you to target a strong message to registered independent/ undecided voters—instead of hit-or-miss ap- Neil Maghami, a freelance writer, is a fre- Many thanks. proaches, like TV commercials or radio spots, quent contributor to CRC publications. reaching audiences made up 95 percent of Terrence Scanlon OT people who have already made up their minds President about a candidate, and will not shift.”

November 2012 7 OrganizationTrends Brieﬂ yNoted All throughout ACORN’s terminal scandal that began with the undercover videos in 2009, Democrats ran away from the toxic radical leftist group as fast as they could. No more. At the Democratic Party’s summertime convention in Charlotte, a video tribute honoring the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) was played. The video shows Kennedy speaking at an ACORN-sponsored minimum wage rally with an ACORN logo right beside him. President Obama represented ACORN in court and worked for its voter mobilization arm, Project Vote, in Chicago in 1992.

Did a George Soros-funded, left-wing magazine spike a story because it placed Soros in a bad light? Mother Jones initially reported on its website in late September that Soros was “panicked” that Mitt Rom- ney, then gaining in the polls, could win the presidential election. Less than 24 hours later, the magazine abruptly took down the story, claiming its anonymous source recanted, but the editors never explained what exactly the source took back. The magazine’s 501(c)(3) nonproﬁ t, Foundation for National Prog- ress, has received funding through Soros’s philanthropies, Open Society Institute ($225,000 since 2008) and Foundation to Promote Open Society ($100,000 since 2010).

The left-wing Latino racial grievance group, National Council of La Raza, was accused of voter fraud last month. Florida Division of Elections spokesman Chris Cate told the Tampa Bay Times that La Raza and another group were involved in “potential irregular voter registration activities” that “constituted a legally sufﬁ cient complaint of voter registration fraud.” Hundreds of dubious voter registration forms have been found in a dozen counties across Florida.

The Left’s war against the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) continues: Common Cause and the Center for Media and Democracy now claim in a lawsuit that ﬁ ve Republican members of the Wisconsin legislature have violated the state’s public records law by allegedly withholding emails that may or may not have referenced ALEC, which encourages lawmakers to promote pro-free market model legislation. State Rep. Pat Strachota (R-West Bend), who is named in the lawsuit, said she has never introduced ALEC-backed legislation and doesn’t understand why she was targeted. “I don’t feel this is a real complaint,” she said. “I feel it’s a political witch hunt. I think it’s unfortunate they’re wasting people’s time and energy. It just dumbfounds me.”

The Obama administration may soon classify Arab-Americans as a “socially and economically disadvantaged group” entitled to receive taxpayer-funded business assistance from the Commerce Department. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), founded by far-left former U.S. Sen. James Abourezk (D-S.D.), petitioned the Minority Business Development Agency for special status on January 4 of this year. It’s not clear how Americans of Arab ancestry are disadvantaged. They enjoy a mean individual income that is 27 percent above what Americans typically earn. Their median household income weighs in at $59,000, which is more than 10 percent higher than the national average. Almost half of Arab- Americans hold a college degree, and they are twice as likely as a typical U.S. resident to have earned a Ph.D, National Review reports.

Former Congressman Artur Davis (D-Ala.) explained to a Heritage Foundation audience why state laws requiring voters to present government-issued photo identiﬁ cation in order to cast their ballots are eminently sensible. Americans have to present photo ID to enter federal buildings and board an airplane, Davis said. “How can it be a burden to ask people to do something they do all the time?”

8 November 2012