Where the Voters Are; The line between politics and marketing blurs as new software makes canvassing more sophisticated than ever.

Publication: Newsweek

Publication Date: 29-MAR-04

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Byline: Holly Bailey

If you're a registered voter in Missouri, you probably don't know John Hancock, but he knows you. He knows your age and race, your party registration and voting history, your property taxes and income. For Hancock, an adviser to the state Republican Party, this comes courtesy of a $1,000 software program called Caliper's Political Maptitude, which merges voter-registration files with Census data and other records. Hancock and his team have mapped virtually all of Missouri, a key battleground state in the November elections. The result: a pointillist rendering of the electorate that will help the party...

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