[Data backed microtargeting] According to the analysis, those registered voters contacted by Catalist member groups turned out at a rate of 74.6%; the voters who weren’t turned out in proportions roughly equivalent to the national average — about 60.4%. In four states, the number of new votes cast by liberals exceeded Obama’s victory margin: in Ohio, Florida, Indiana in North Carolina. If you assume that only 60% of these voters chose Obama, the margin was still greater than Obama’s in North Carolina and Indiana, both essential to his victory. With the caveat that correlation does not equal causation, the report provides convincing, if not absolute, evidence that the progressive/Democratic data-mining and targeting operation measurably helped elect Barack Obama.
October 22, 2009