3 ms·

Democrats relied on one company to power its campaigns. Now its facing collapse

20 points by jaredwiener 3y ago

CarbonBasedUnit 3y ago
It's a wise dog that scratches its own fleas.
bwestergard 3y ago
I worked at this company (NGPVAN) as a software engineer for several years early in my career, leaving in 2015. It is hard to overstate how central it is to the Democratic voter turnout organization nationally. It is difficult to say how important GOTV efforts are in deciding Presidential election outcomes today. But I am fully convinced of the impact down-ballot.
- jfengel 3y ago
  I've participated in GOTV efforts, and I've gotta say it's pretty demoralizing. I don't believe that I've gotten even a single extra person to the polls. I know that it's never going to be as simple as somebody smacking their head and going, "Gosh, is it November already?" But I've knocked on a lot of doors on election day and practically every one of them was "Yep, already voted". Those that weren't were "Nope, not gonna." We weren't out there to change the minds of the latter group; that's what months of campaigning are for. In theory I could arrange transport for somebody who wanted to vote but had logistic issues, but I never once actually had to. We were sent to houses that they knew were likely to vote for our side -- presumably this software, though I was much too far down the process to see that. Often, it was obvious from the yard signs. They'd done an impressive job: I never once knocked on a door and was told, "Nope, I'm voting for the other guy". I did notice that the coordinators had a good understanding of the outcome, presumably due to internal polling. I knew the result in 2016 at a time when the opposite was still considered pretty much a done deal, on the day. I certainly gave up on doing phone banking, where the median response was "please stop calling". I didn't do GOTV in 2020 with the pandemic. I don't know if I'll show up next year, but probably not.
Simulacra 3y ago
NGPVAN also provides advocacy CRM's for nonprofits. The UI is terrible and support just as bad, but its one of the few catering their CRMs to just nonprofits.
lsaferite 3y ago
Why wouldn't the Democratic Party just buy the company if it's so central to the party operations? Letting a PE firm buy it and squeeze it seems like bad planning.
boeingUH60 3y ago
Acquired by private equity last year; https://theintercept.com/2022/05/10/democrats-campaign-tech-ngp-van-apax/ https://theintercept.com/2022/05/10/democrats-campaign-tech-....
bsder 3y ago
This is the kind of thing where you must grow your own tool. Managing your donors and voters is your central competency. Outsourcing it is the height of folly.

20 points by jaredwiener 3y ago

It's a wise dog that scratches its own fleas.

I worked at this company (NGPVAN) as a software engineer for several years early in my career, leaving in 2015. It is hard to overstate how central it is to the Democratic voter turnout organization nationally. It is difficult to say how important GOTV efforts are in deciding Presidential election outcomes today. But I am fully convinced of the impact down-ballot.

jfengel 3y ago
I've participated in GOTV efforts, and I've gotta say it's pretty demoralizing. I don't believe that I've gotten even a single extra person to the polls. I know that it's never going to be as simple as somebody smacking their head and going, "Gosh, is it November already?" But I've knocked on a lot of doors on election day and practically every one of them was "Yep, already voted". Those that weren't were "Nope, not gonna." We weren't out there to change the minds of the latter group; that's what months of campaigning are for. In theory I could arrange transport for somebody who wanted to vote but had logistic issues, but I never once actually had to. We were sent to houses that they knew were likely to vote for our side -- presumably this software, though I was much too far down the process to see that. Often, it was obvious from the yard signs. They'd done an impressive job: I never once knocked on a door and was told, "Nope, I'm voting for the other guy". I did notice that the coordinators had a good understanding of the outcome, presumably due to internal polling. I knew the result in 2016 at a time when the opposite was still considered pretty much a done deal, on the day. I certainly gave up on doing phone banking, where the median response was "please stop calling". I didn't do GOTV in 2020 with the pandemic. I don't know if I'll show up next year, but probably not.

Simulacra 3y ago

NGPVAN also provides advocacy CRM's for nonprofits. The UI is terrible and support just as bad, but its one of the few catering their CRMs to just nonprofits.

lsaferite 3y ago

Why wouldn't the Democratic Party just buy the company if it's so central to the party operations? Letting a PE firm buy it and squeeze it seems like bad planning.

boeingUH60 3y ago

Acquired by private equity last year; https://theintercept.com/2022/05/10/democrats-campaign-tech-ngp-van-apax/ https://theintercept.com/2022/05/10/democrats-campaign-tech-....

bsder 3y ago

This is the kind of thing where you must grow your own tool. Managing your donors and voters is your central competency. Outsourcing it is the height of folly.