SAN DIEGO — Are you already tired of all the political ads being delivered to your home? Analysts say it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. That's because candidates are hoping the post office can help deliver a big win on election day.
“Mail continues to be an effective way to reach voters,” said Laura Fink.
Fink, a political analyst, said even though times have changed, some things remain the same.
“We have a lot of voters that are older and they read their mail and with younger voters often the saturation on social media will leave campaigns wondering - 'well - should we just try it? Maybe we'll be the only thing in their box,'" said Fink.
Ironically, a lot of younger voters will base their decisions on issues surrounding the environment, so wasting all that paper can actually be a negative. However, for many voters, the most annoying way to reach them is mass texting.
“If you have placed your phone number into a voter file - odds are campaigns are going to be texting you and reaching out to you in that way,” Fink said.
Here's the thing - most of the ways candidates reaching out to voters don't actually persuade many of them to change their minds. Fink said campaigns know that, but it's also not going to stop them from trying.
“You don't want to risk not contacting some voters so you can prove what works and what doesn't, because, at the end of the day, you want to win,” said
Fink.
In fact, when it comes to persuading a voter to change their mind, Fink said there's really only one way that's proven effective time and time again, but it's also extremely expensive and time-consuming.
“Dollars to donuts," said Fink. "The research shows that door-to-door campaigning and face-to-face contact still has the greatest persuasive opportunity for candidates and ballot measures.”
If you'd like to learn more about the upcoming election, such as San Diego's mayoral race, click here.