Politicians Tap Sophisticated Online Tracking Tools

Politicians are deploying sophisticated new technologies to track Internet users -- sometimes by name -- and identify their political leanings. Officials and consultants with both major parties are using the techniques ahead of next month's election, which include matching voter names from registration rolls with online profiles and studying voters' online "body language." "As political professionals, the more data we have, the happier we are," said Kristen Luidhardt, a Republican consultant in Indianapolis. "We'd love to know absolutely everything about you." Technology can be key in close elections. Republicans in 2004 used their Voter Vault database -- which combined voter registrations with consumer marketing data -- to help George W. Bush win reelection. Four years later, Barack Obama used social-networking tools.