ABSTRACT
Chapter 9: Data-Driven Campaigning, Jesse Baldwin-Philippi
This chapter aims to describe the state of data-driven campaigning as it has been taken up by campaigns that have fewer resources—in skills, labor, money, and sometimes all three. Following an overview of what data strategy has looked like over time and the concerns that have accompanied its rise, this chapter gives an account of the evolution and status of data campaigning across Field Operations—the team behind voter registration and often volunteer outreach, making contact with likely supporters via phone and in-person canvassing, and getting out the vote (GOTV) on Election Day—and Communications—those who craft email, traditional and digital advertising, and most often have a hand in producing social media content. Overall, it argues that data-driven campaigning is a more limited practice that many popular accounts of contemporary campaign strategy acknowledge, and that beyond presidential campaigns and the most competitive of senate runs, staffers limit data-driven strategy to field operations and advertising.
