Last-Minute Mailers

We've all come to expect last minute postcards from candidates in the waning days of their campaigns. They are as much a fixture in politics as yard signs. Most everybody tosses them away without ever reading them. So what good are they?

Even though people throw them away like junk mail they still leave an impression with a targeted audience. They have become a must do in a campaign because of a single fact.

• Last-minute mailers create a prisoners dilemma for both candidates fighting for a single position. Should both candidates do a mailer there is minimal increase*.
• There would be no increase should neither candidate do a mailer.
• Should only one put out the mailer it increases that candidate's turnout by 5-7% while doing nothing for the candidate who didn't put out a mailer.

Its obvious to see why most campaigns put out a mailer. They have a lot to gain by doing it and just as much to lose if they don't.

* a candidate can receive a boost when both put a mailer out if one of them does something stupid in their mailer. But usually the content of the mailers will only cause a marginal increase for one of the candidates