Missouri Senate race gives financial lift to Democrats
2006-10-20
Source: Kansas City Star
email this
print this
del.icio.us
digg this
rss feedWhether or not Claire McCaskill is elected to the U.S. Senate in a few weeks, the Missouri Democratic Party will be a winner.
That's because national Democrats poured money into Missouri to help the state party build an up-to-date, comprehensive voter identification list - a project Republicans have fine-tuned for years in building a formidable get-out-the-vote machine.
"We know that they beat us on that," Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, told reporters this week. "They have a great operation. It's hard to do. We don't have a list in every state, a voter file in every state, the way they do. - Missouri and Montana will now have DSCC-paid-for voter files, which will benefit Democratic candidates down the road."
The committee's total national investment in the get-out-the-vote effort, including the lists, will top $20 million, Schumer said.
What does it buy?
In Missouri, volunteers and party staffers are using voter registration lists to make phone calls and go door to door, determining which way voters lean. They supplement that with consumer and demographic data purchased from commercial and public sources, such as magazine subscription lists and hunting and fishing licenses.
Such efforts are especially important in states such as Missouri, where voters do not register by party affiliation.
Click here to see the full article.
