On average, it costs $34 to produce a new voter who votes on races up and down the ballot. Two thirds of those people will be on the rolls in 2008, so the cost drops to $18 per vote measured over two cycles and $15 over three. Less than $10 million is being spent for progressive groups to register voters this cycle, versus hundreds of millions on persuasion, which is much more expensive and can run into the hundreds or thousands of dollars in highly contested districts.
In other words, effective voter registration produces base voters for a fraction of what it costs to persuade a voter on TV or direct mail, and it builds the base for future elections, creating structural strengths for Democrats. The Chamber of Commerce is registering voters, as are church networks.
Yet our voter registration efforts are basically the black sheep of the family, because no one makes huge amounts of money on them and donors don't really understand them.
One of the best relatively new groups is Women's Voices. Women's Vote, a group dedicated to registering single women, which are the largest single unregistered voting bloc in the country. The group is rigorously analytical, and is now running several funny Public Service Announcements encouraging women to vote.
Right-wingers have two giant fears. The first is if evangelicals stop voting, as they did from the 1920s until the late 1970s. The second is if single women start voting. Watch Women's Voices. Women's Vote. And contact your local TV and radio station and ask them to play these ads.
|
|
|
Permalink :: 14 Comments :: Post a Comment
|
In order to post a comment, you must be logged in. If you have a member account, please log in to comment.
If not, you can make an account right here. It's quick and free.
