Election Ramblings

With all this talk about the elections in the U.S., as we go state by state through the primary season, I’ve been thinking lately about the value of IP intelligence in political campaigns.   Every candidate seems to tailor his or her message to the different demographics and political realities in the audience as he or she travels the country, but it seems like online, each candidate’s web site fails to ignore the political realities of geography. Why don’t candidates instantly show me issues that are particularly relevant to me when I visit their web sites?

Why don’t candidates conduct online polls on their web sites and then break down the results on a state by state basis using IP intelligence?    ESPN does this on its web site for sports related polls, you would think geography is more relevant for political polls!

Why don’t candidates instantly show me supporters in my area who I can meet up with to discuss issues or help with their campaigns?

I know ads have caught my eye during the election season when I’ve visited content web sites (such as CNN) and seen geo-targeted advertising from a candidate.  It’s a wonder that candidates don’t use this technology on their own web sites.

Maybe I’m too close to this because I’ve been living, breathing and eating geo-targeting for 9 years (and, yes, I’m quite aware of how pathetic that sounds!), but objectively I think candidates have been dropping the ball when it comes to using state-of-the-art technology to hone their messaging to voters.

Anyway, that’s enough spouting…I need to go back to my heaping plate of grilled IP addresses, while they’re still hot.  And, before you ask: they taste like chicken.