It hadn’t even occurred to me that they would use the data this way, but this is exactly the kind of thing that Big Data is supposed to make possible. Between this and the promise if not the actuality of amnesty, this is why the Left thinks they have a chance of turning Texas blue within four years, and there’s a plausible chance that they’ll manage it too.
Those living in TX had better be on their toes in the upcoming election season. Get involved, and walk your shoes off to GOTV. The Left has two “legitimate” unfair advantages this time in addition to the usual vote tampering and ballot box stuffing, and they’re going to milk them for all they can. More than a few Texas districts are more “purple” than most are willing to admit. All the Left has to do is shift just enough of them by just enough, and they can manage a skin-of-the-teeth color change. It might not make all that much of an impact in the state house there, but it might buy them enough additional seats in the US House. Not to mention the psychological impact of a plausible “Blue Texas” for 2016.
A common refrain suppressing general election voter participation is that “aw, they’re all bums on the ballot, why should I care.”
I’d like to see primary campaigns stressing that “Primaries Count” and backing that up with graphic charts showing the typical anemic vote. My gut sense from political science is that people who bothered to vote primary are more likely to want to vote general election too, if the final candidate is halfway decent, or even better, the one they wanted in the primary.