You can talk about strategy.
You can talk about technology.
You can talk about volunteers and how many offices you open.
But at the end of the Election Day, it all comes down to one thing …
Votes.
One, two, three, four … Start counting and the highest tally wins.
Period.
And votes come down to turnout.
The Washington Post recently published an article analyzing the turnout efforts of both President Barack Obama’s and Mitt Romney’s campaigns.
“For much of the last half-century, presidential campaigns have been waged over the airwaves of television and radio. However, in the last two elections, fueled significantly by political science research, campaigns have turned to the “ground game,” using get-out-the-vote (GOTV) methods such as door knocks, direct mail, and phones calls to encourage their voters to show up at the polls. The Obama campaign largely embraced these methods in 2008 and 2012, and Republicans, with an eye to the next election, are reportedly now trying to catch up. However, the actual effect of these new GOTV methods remains disputed: many political scientists have argued that these efforts had little effect on the election, and many think that whatever effects there were advantaged Obama. Both conclusions are premature.”
The article points out that GOTV “was deployed at an unprecedented level” in the 2012 cycle, and Majority Strategies was proud to deliver the Romney for President campaign’s GOTV direct mail plan.
The authors came to two conclusions:
1) GOTV works and is reshaping the electorate each cycle, increasing turnout in 2012 by approximately 7 percentage points.
“ … GOTV plays a very important role in modern elections and the uneven deployment of these interventions means that campaigns are dramatically altering the size and shape of the electorate compared to previous campaigns when such tactics were not used.”
“We conclude that GOTV increased voter turnout by approximately 7 percentage points in the most heavily targeted states.”
2) Despite what the media says, the Romney for President campaign’s GOTV effort was just as effective at turning out supporters as the Obama campaign’s.
“… both campaigns appear to have been very effective in mobilizing their supporters, and there is no evidence that Obama’s campaign was more effective than Romney’s.”
“Both campaigns deployed significant resources in the traditional forms of GOTV, and both campaigns were extremely effective.”
Our direct mail for the Romney for President campaign played a role in increasing turnout in ’12 by 7 percentage points. We’ve seen increased turnout with our mobile advertising as well.
In the 2014 primary election, Majority Strategies delivered 2 weeks of mobile advertising for former Speaker John Boehner’s re-election campaign.
Turnout increased 14.66% and Boehner’s percentage of the vote increased 1.2% in targeted vs. non-targeted precincts.
Majority Strategies can get you in the ground game and help you get your targeted voters turned out on Election Day. Click here to get started with us today.
Don’t Miss These Popular Posts!
GIF: It’s Pronounced Jif, Just Like the Peanut Butter: Everything you need to know about mobile advertising.
The Eyes Have It: Mobile advertising is here … and here to stay.
First and Last is Everything: Mobile is the first screen.