The Rise of Microtargeting: How Voter Data and Predictive Analytics Fuel Political Campaigns
Political campaigns today wield unprecedented power to tailor messages to individual voters. By harvesting vast troves of personal information and deploying predictive models, strategists can pinpoint persuasion levers—yet with that precision comes profound ethical questions. Where Voter Data Comes From Campaigns draw on multiple streams of information to build detailed profiles: Voter registration records (age, party affiliation, voting history) Publicly available social media activity and “likes” Consumer data from commercial brokers (purchase habits, interests) Geolocation and mobility footprints via mobile apps Each dataset layers nuance onto a voter’s preferences and vulnerabilities. The Mechanics of Predictive Analytics Turning raw data into actionable insight involves several steps: Data Cleaning and Integration Merge diverse sources into a unified voter profile Remove duplicates and correct inconsistencies Feature Engineering Extract key variables (issue ...