Direct Mail, Robocalls Don't WorkThe revised edition of Get Out The Vote: How to Increase Voter Turnout by Yale political science professors Donald Green and Alan Gerber concludes that using direct mail and robocalls for GOTV purposes are generally ineffective.
Gee. Ya think? Since I don't answer the phone unless I know who's calling? CallerID must be a curse to these people. Which is a good thing. But here's my proposal to make that work again: Any solicitation call (of any kind: GOTV, political pollsters, charities moneygrubbing, and so forth) to my phone number should be treated like a 900 call, and accrue $50 per call to my account. Good idea?
Bueller?
"Direct mail is expensive, and its capacity to mobilize voters is typically rather limited." As for robocalls, the authors say they "might help you to stretch your resources in ways that allow you to contact the maximum number of people, but don't expect to move them very much, if at all."
I dunno...for $50 per call I might be moved. As far as direct mail is concerned, the only part of "direct" that applies in this house is "direct to the trash".
What works? Door-to-door canvassing is by far the most effective form of getting voters to the polls. There is also some evidence that newspaper ads might be effective.
Door to door doesn't work with me. I'm as likely to answer the door with a gun in my hand as I am to answer it at all. Stay the hell off my property unless you're prepared to pay cash for my time.
As far as newspaper ads are concerned, I have trained myself not to see them.
If you work on campaigns, this book is a must-read.
Not that the types who come up with this crap actually read.