The Democrats and Mobilization

An article that ties in wonderfully with our discussion of the 21st Centruy Campaign (chap 9, BSS) and with the Hacker and Pierson, appeared in the Washington Post Wednesday March 8.

Democrats' Data Mining Stirs an Intraparty Battle
With Private Effort on Voter Information, Ickes and Soros Challenge Dean and DNC

By Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 8, 2006; A01

A group of well-connected Democrats led by a former top aide to Bill Clinton is raising millions of dollars to start a private firm that plans to compile huge amounts of data on Americans to identify Democratic voters and blunt what has been a clear Republican lead in using technology for political advantage.

The effort by Harold Ickes, a deputy chief of staff in the Clinton White House and an adviser to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), is prompting intense behind-the-scenes debate in Democratic circles. Officials at the Democratic National Committee think that creating a modern database is their job, and they say that a competing for-profit entity could divert energy and money that should instead be invested with the national party.

The Democrats also looked more like Republicans in a Texas primary Tuesday: an incumbent moderate Democrat faced a stiff challenge from a more liberal Democrat, paralleling the story Hacker and Pierson told about Marge Roukema in chapter 4.

the race was close, but the incumbent survived a scare, winning 53%-41%-6%. Also consistent with the 21st Campaign, and with the conclusion of Off Center, liberal weblogs played an important role in fundraising for the challenger, while the more centrist Democratic Leadership Conference supported the incumbent. Both stories then demonstrate the a party's efforts to define itself, master new methods of campaigning, and be able to be a competitive party in the larger political environment.