Briefs

May 19, 2004 -- By CHARLES POPE -- SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

... With unprecedented intensity and sophistication, both political parties are using data-mining technology and vast databases to find "persuadable" voters and tailor messages that they hope will win crucial votes this fall.

This small community of pollsters, statisticians and direct-mail mavens make elegant tapestries out of hundreds of disconnected pieces of information with the help of sophisticated software and "list brokers" who offer to rent databases from hundreds of sources, ranging from magazine subscription lists to the warranty card you sent in for your new television.

The result is a remarkably accurate and detailed list of voters, including swing voters, who will be the most coveted and besieged targets in what analysts predict will be an incredibly close election.

...

Republicans decline to talk in detail about their operation, called Voter Vault, out of concerns that it will betray a closely held operation. Republican National Committee spokeswoman Christine Iverson, said, however, that Voter Vault is more advanced than Demzilla, which is the name the Democratic National Committee has stamped on its data mining operation. Consultants who use or follow data mining believe that Republicans and Democrats have battled to a draw.

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