Geolocation has been around for years now and is commonly used in online advertising. Campaigns have been able to target specific locations through Facebook ads, Google AdWords and GoogleBlasts. But the future of campaigning will be using GPS technology in mobile devices to coordinate and execute GOTV programs and voter identification efforts.
The Scott Brown for Senate campaign, when faced with more volunteers than they knew what to do with, had a group create a smartphone application called “Walking Edge.” Using the phone’s GPS, the app would access the campaign’s updated walking lists to help direct Brown volunteers to the nearest door to knock on. The only downside, from what I understand, is that the data captured from “Walking Edge” went to a separate database instead of VoterVault (the GOP database of voter files that is constantly updated and used for voter targeting). Even so, this means the technology is only one step away from truly revolutionizing door knocking.
While I worked on the McCain for President Campaign, we constantly had volunteers go out for 30 minutes and then come back because they didn’t know what to do. If our volunteers could have easily accessed a map on their phone, I believe they could have tripled their production. Campaigns have revolutionized the way they perform on the Internet, but their ground games, in many ways, remain the same. Geolocation technology is the tool that could turn a campaign’s boots-on-the-ground army into a 21st century political machine.
–Chris Walling, Political Editor
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