…right down to the way you vote.
Apparently the information collected from your grocery store’s rewards card can determine which political candidates you’ll recieve mailings or phone calls from. Part of me thinks that this signals an Orwellian crisis in our political system. When candidates can market themselves in such a fine-tuned and precise manner, is there too much money and sophistication in our political system? Perhaps, but this New York Times article on the subject is fascinating nonetheless.
Do you like…
fig newtons, white wine, starbucks? then you probably support Hillary Clinton.
granola, olive oil, and lattes? I bet you’re backing Obama.
bourbon and frozen pizzas? McCain’s your man.
It is definately creepy and a little alarming to think that somewhere out there people analyze what you buy to predict all sorts of things about you, but it seems a little different when it encroaches on the political system rather than just determining what catalogs show up in your mailbox.
It isn’t just Presidential campaigns where this sort of consumer data is used either, several congressional and gubernatorial candidates such as Washington Governor Christine Gregoire have found success with the method.
To some extent you can’t blame the politicos for capitalizing on this technique, it seems obvious that having a ford truck-driving, domestic beer-swilling, pizza-hut eating white guy on your mailing list isn’t the best use of funds for a progressive democrat. With this information readily available, who can blame campaigns for using it?
And… If you haven’t seen it yet, you simply must check out this amazing footage of Hillary swilling beer and Crown Royal Whiskey at an Indiana bar during a campaign stop. You know this shit was well thought out, nothing this rich happens by accident. This was possibly the best campaign decision she’s made in months. I think it would have been a better choice for her to take a shot of Kentucky Bourbon. Crown Royal is universally understood to be old person whiskey, but I suppose it’s much better than a single-malt scotch.
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