Among the first to go were Metromail, a direct-mail-database company, and Donnelley Enterprise Solutions, which ran copy departments and mail rooms for law firms and the like.
While the Republican Party has long had directmail backed up by a database of voter information, Rasiej points out that Obama's list, when combined with the Internet, offers Democrats an easy way to communicate efficiently with their base -- something they have not had on terms comparable with the GOP.