Donald Trump is Playing Catch-Up in the Data-Driven Ground Game, But Does It Even Matter?

[Commentary] With a big mouth, plenty of buzz, and a yuuge media presence, does Donald Trump still need a data-driven get-out-the-vote operation to win in Iowa and New Hampshire? The real-estate developer has disrupted the presidential campaign like few other candidates in history and has shown an amazing ability—through the sheer forces of his personality and a populist movement receptive to his message—to survive the outrage over some of his offensive statements and to dodge bullets fired at him by powerful politicians and "fair and balanced" media outlets. But now that there's a real likelihood of him winning the nomination, the Trump campaign is being forced to suffer the tedium and drudgery of the ground game, which involves hiring geeks to crunch the data and comb through voter lists.

The Trump campaign has been secretive about the extent of its get-out-the-vote operation in those two key states, but insiders believe that it’s far from the high-tech enterprises of the Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX), Jeb Bush, and Sen Marco Rubio (R-FL) campaigns and that they're playing catch-up.