The other reason to restart rallies: Trump #MAGA events are voter data gold mines
By David M. Drucker
Washington Examiner, Published 06/16/2020
Trump’s high-wattage stadium rallies are intricately choreographed political revivals, with the president’s habit of ad-libbing provocative comments often sparking days of public discussion. But underneath the hood, the Trump campaign is using interest in the “#MAGA” events to gather reams of granular data on voters. That information, in turn, is used to recruit grassroots volunteers, test messaging, and decide how and where to invest in manpower and money to increase the president’s vote share.
“The rally lists are an invaluable source of data that help power volunteer efforts and small-dollar fundraising,” said Chris Wilson, a Republican pollster and data consultant who advised the Ted Cruz presidential campaign four years ago.
“You have people who have already gone out there and taken a public action to support the president,” Wilson explained. “Those folks are a lot more likely to continue doing things than are your typical list targets who have just signed up as supporters online.”
Trump is scheduled to hold a campaign rally this Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma — his first since mid-March, when in-person political activities were suspended because of the coronavirus. Capacity at the arena, Bank of Oklahoma Center, is just under 20,000. But Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale bragged Monday in a Twitter post that more than 1 million people submitted an RSVP to attend the event.
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