Romney campaign shows itself clueless

Now I have more insight into why I keep getting these mailers:

All targeting carries the risk of missing the mark, and there are regularly voters whose actual attitudes defy the predictions of statistical models. But regular misfires by Republicans -- which at best only waste resources and at worst mobilize Democrats who might not have voted otherwise, or provoke a backlash among those still persuadable -- illustrate a gap between how the right and left practice politics in the 21st century. Contrary to the wishful intimations of ... Post and Times stories, while the groups on the right could conceivably catch up with Obama and his allies in the scope and funding of their ground-level activities, in terms of sophistication they lag too far behind to catch up in 2012.

Sasha Issenberg

I sure hope this assessment is correct. That I -- a long time registered Democratic dyke in San Francisco -- have been getting Romney fund appeals all year certainly suggests it might be. When you make yourself ignorant of science, as contemporary Republicans have, you are tying your own hands.

Issenberg's article is fascinating if you want to understand how data-rich campaigns work to get out the vote these days. I'm lucky enough to be using some of this stuff in our current campaign. After the election I'll try to summarize what this old time field warrior learned about contemporary possibilities -- and what I think we all still have to learn.