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First Place -The Automated Phone Calls #72
- Legislative Category
Democratic candidate, Mike Machado, ran for the open State Senate
District 5 seat in Sacramento and San Joaquin Counties, California.
Machado faced a negative attack late in the campaign and needed
an immediate response to the distortions. With a next day turnaround,
using a purely automated calling campaign, we responded to the opponent
in a timely and effective manner. The campaign needed a credible
endorsement, and a message delivered by an anonymous telephone agent
was not enough. A celebrity endorser was desired to combat the "smear"
campaign and to explain to the voters what the candidate's election
meant to each of them.
Senator Dianne Feinstein was selected as a highly recognizable
and reputable endorsement for State Assemblyman Mike Machado's
campaign for State Senate. Specific precincts were targeted based
upon Dianne's strengths within these communities. Senator Feinstein
recorded a seemingly extemporaneous automated message in which
she talked about personally working with Mike on issues of importance
that effected the voters' area. These issues included water, gun
laws, and choice. Senator Feinstein said that Mike Machado had
all of the makings of a good politician. Her message truly demonstrated
her confidence in him as a Legislator and that the voters should
too.
 We
rapidly contacted 87% of the targeted voters on the calling list
with Senator Feinstein's endorsement message for Mike Machado.
We won by a small margin:
Michael J. Machado Dem. 142,392 48.1%
Alan S. Nakanishi Rep. 141,013 47.6 %
It is believed that the automated calling played an integral
part in increasing Mike Machado's margin for the win.
With Machado's win, it provided Democrats with their
26th seat in the 40-member Senate, which is only one short of
a two-thirds majority.
The vote counts were too close to call on November 7th. When
early absentee and regular ballots were counted at the close of
the election, Machado and Nakanishi were virtually tied with 49.7
percent of the vote each. No winner was declared on Election Day.
Late absentee ballot and provisional votes were counted in the
subsequent weeks. Without Senator Feinstein's automated call,
we might have lost the election. It was an election that was too
close to call from early in the campaign.
Senator Dianne Feinstein was on the ballot herself and regardless
of any possible repercussions to her own campaign efforts, she
willingly recorded the automated call for Mike Machado.
The automated calls were conducted with state-of-the-art technology
that leaves the message in its entirety thereby creating the impression
that Senator Feinstein could have personally took the time to
make the call to each voter's household.
Automated calls were an efficient and cost-effective marketing
tool for countering the negative campaign, delivering the proper
message, and winning this close election.
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