Alex Gage is a fidgety man. In the first five minutes visiting his office, you're likely to see him slide back in his chair, run his hands through his thinning red hair, flip randomly through his 2004 Florida research, and then lean forward to make his next point. All the while, a steady breeze blows in from his office's deck overlooking the Potomac River. It's the luxe of fice you'd expect of the guy credited with inventing political microtargeting. And the restless spirit of someone who knows he's got a lot of new competition.
"We've made most of the mistakes that can be made," he says about the ongoing research at his firm, TargetPoint. That's what it takes, though--a ...