Case Study

Like most large companies, political organizations have reams of information about voters. They collect information like age, sex, address, education and income levels. And increasingly, they also collect lifestyle data.

Apparently, a lot can be discerned by the cars people drive, the TV shows they watch and the publications they read. As a result of analyzing consumer lifestyle habits, the Republican Party dramatically altered its advertising strategy. In 2000, the party spent 95% of its media budget on network TV. In 2004, just 70% of their budget went to network stations, and the rest went to cable, radio and the Web, because, as it turns out, Republicans don’t watch much network television, preferring Speedvision and The Golf Channel.

Republicans who stay up late enough to watch weeknight television programming, and apparently not many do, overwhelmingly prefer Jay Leno. While Democrats—who do stay up late—watch David Letterman. Interestingly, Republican women ages 18 to 34, are big fans of “Will & Grace,” a sitcom about gay life in New York. While the Bush team was sewing up the conservative vote by supporting a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages, its media buyers were spending big bucks on a program that “celebrates gay culture.”

Democrats are more likely than others to watch major-league soccer and women’s basketball, while Republicans watch college football and basketball and car races.

Speaking of cars, politicos claim they can tell how people are likely to vote by the cars or trucks they drive. According to a survey of 200,000 car owners conducted by Scarborough Research for the Republican National Committee, if you see a Ford F-Series pickup truck, you can pretty much count on the driver being a dyed-in-the-wool Republican. Those not buying trucks are buying midsize and large American cars or, for the sportier set, Porsches. Drivers of Land Rovers and Jaguars also skew Republican.

Democrats are more likely to consider environmental issues when making auto purchase decisions and those with means buy high-end cars. Saab, for example, is a decidedly Democratic auto choice. The less affluent buyer with a similar point of view might select a Saturn or Volkswagen.

When it comes to information gathering, Democrats turn to The New York Times, Republicans to The Wall Street Journal. Independents read both. Independents are also 21% more likely than the general population to read U.S. News & World Report, and 14% more likely to read Time or Newsweek. It seems Independents want to gather information before making a decision, compared to party loyalists who want to read publications written by like-minded journalists.