First POST: Brewing
BY Micah L. Sifry | Monday, December 22 2014
How Democratic tech firms are jockeying for 2016 presidential roles; the FEC inches back into regulating the Internet; why Tumblr is a social justice movement hotbed; and much, much more. Read More
First POST: Dirty Socks
BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, January 14 2014
The one thing you should read about Emma and Bill Keller's "cancer-shaming" columns; the privacy issues embedded in the "internet of things"; Josh Cohen's Open Supporter Data Initiative; and much, much more. Read More
Surveillance Scandal Casts a Shadow Over Data-Driven Dems at Netroots Nation
BY Sarah Lai Stirland | Monday, June 24 2013
Image: g4ll4is/Flickr
The subject of personal privacy in the digital age loomed large in the minds of many attendees of this year's Netroots Nation in San Jose as the national debate continued over the ethics of the Obama Administration's national security surveillance techniques. So perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise that the political operatives who capitalized on the American electorate's personal data to achieve victory in 2012 felt a bit defensive last week as they celebrated their cutting-edge strategies to beat back state-level conservative initiatives, and to elect Democratic candidates. Read More
The Political Right is Looking to Reclaim Data Superiority
BY Nick Judd | Wednesday, November 9 2011
On Monday, the Guardian's Ed Pilkington hinted at the creation of a new database — either a "voter file" or "a database connecting millions of Americans" — to support the political causes and campaigns backed ... Read More
The Fine Art of Data Husbandry: A Look at What Catalist is Teaching Democrats
BY Nancy Scola | Tuesday, October 6 2009
The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder is digging into an "after action" report from Catalist, the progressive data firm. Read More
Catalist-DemocracyInAction's Deal and the Progressive World
BY Nancy Scola | Thursday, October 16 2008
DemocracyInAction and Catalist have just made a remarkable new deal. Let me back up. DIA is one of the core components of the progressive political infrastructure, providing online advocacy tools to a wide range of ... Read More
May the Best Database Win? A Look at the Voter Files Powering the '08 Race
BY Nancy Scola | Friday, September 19 2008
The Atlantic's Mark Ambinder has a post up on voter files that's got us here at techPres and PdF thinking. Mark's post reports on how Rock the Vote, the 501c3 voter registration group, is making creative use of data from ... Read More
Voter File 2.0: Catalist, Democratic Tool
BY Micah L. Sifry | Friday, May 9 2008
I'm in a breakout session at the New Democratic Network's daylong conference on "New Tools, New Audiences," listening to Vijay Ravindran, the CTO of Catalist, talk about web 2.0 and its development of an "Enhanced Voter ... Read More