ABSTRACT
Given the amount of money invested in electing candidates to office, it is perhaps surprising that campaigns often fail to spend much money on researching the moods and attitudes of voters. In this chapter, I argue that smart campaigns systematically probe and track their electorates using a mix of qualitative and quantitative data. Nowadays, those who seek to learn about the people who will elect them are aided by the combination of lists of current voters and technology that facilitates contacting them and their recording preferences. Increased knowledge about voters reveals the difficulty facing the contemporary campaign (as well as the broader political system): a citizenry that is deeply cynical about politics and politicians, especially those from the other party.
