wgadget
10-01-2007, 05:41 AM
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SalenaZito/2007/09/30/quantum_politics
Or some such fluff....
Focus groups are given hand-held devices to measure -- on a scale of 0 to 100 -- agreement or disagreement with candidate statements. Crunched, those numbers give strategists data on how their candidates' messages are connecting with voters.
"You are recording literally in the moment people's responses to a speech," said Rich Thau, president of Presentation Testing, who has dial-tested eight of the presidential debates this year. "It is a way to get a level of audience responsiveness that would be impossible in a traditional focus group."
Dial-testing has been used by ad agencies for years: Those cool Super Bowl beer commercials aren't created in a vacuum; they are tested inside and out before they hit the tube. The same theory applies to campaigns.
Two candidates that have dial-tested consistently high in their party's presidential debates are former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney also have scored well.
Two who have not are Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel. Also near the bottom: Sens. Joe Biden, John McCain, Chris Dodd and Sam Brownback.
Or some such fluff....
Focus groups are given hand-held devices to measure -- on a scale of 0 to 100 -- agreement or disagreement with candidate statements. Crunched, those numbers give strategists data on how their candidates' messages are connecting with voters.
"You are recording literally in the moment people's responses to a speech," said Rich Thau, president of Presentation Testing, who has dial-tested eight of the presidential debates this year. "It is a way to get a level of audience responsiveness that would be impossible in a traditional focus group."
Dial-testing has been used by ad agencies for years: Those cool Super Bowl beer commercials aren't created in a vacuum; they are tested inside and out before they hit the tube. The same theory applies to campaigns.
Two candidates that have dial-tested consistently high in their party's presidential debates are former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney also have scored well.
Two who have not are Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel. Also near the bottom: Sens. Joe Biden, John McCain, Chris Dodd and Sam Brownback.