I just got a call from Dunn Data Co., formerly Mal Dun Associates. The Brewster, NY, based company suffered a power outage over the weekend and does not expect it to return until late this afternoon.

A company spokesperson said that it wanted clients to know that e-mails and phone calls to the company cannot immediately be returned. The company’s Web site is also temporarily disabled.

Lightning over the weekend disabled several Nassau County homes and businesses.

As the de facto manager of DMNews‘ always burgeoning lists@dmnews.com inbox, I have of course noted the amount of political lists that are available on the market. This year, like every Presidential election year, means that political awareness in the US is spiking and that political appeals will appear in nearly all media so as to capitalize on the amount of people going to the polls — I would imagine that the companies with political lists available are receiving multiple inquiries.

Which is why I found this article that Yahoo picked up from Politico so interesting. I think it does a good job of showing the importance of auditing data, segmentation and thinking outside the box when targeting. Here are some excerpts:

In the past two presidential cycles, the Republican national voter file allowed them to more efficiently locate, communicate with and galvanize voters. Democrats, by comparison, relied on a disjointed compilation of national and state party data files that varied widely in quality.

…[as] George W. Bush sought reelection, consumer data enabled the GOP to locate regular churchgoers who were not Republican, as well as identify a group of Hispanic mothers particularly supportive of the No Child Left Behind law.

Burns voters were also more likely to participate in outdoor activities, gardening, investing, to be religious contributors and to have an interest in golf. Tester voters were more interested in health products and more likely to have a retail credit card.

This week saw two announcements from traditional marketing companies offering online expertise as well. Lighthouse List formed a new division for e-mail and SMS lists. And just today Direct Media Inc. announced that was launching an eMarketing Group to handle its online marketing services.

Increasingly traditional marketers have told me that the online world has everything to gain from traditional direct marketers using the channel. Perhaps one of the latest campaign examples of this is Valassis using its new RedPlum channel to deploy a classic sweepstakes. The Dooney & Bourke purse giveaway, done in partnership with Macys.com, allows visitors the chance to win Dooney & Bourke Chiara handbag, and Dooney & Bourke wristlets for up to 10 friends.

It’s lead generation; it’s viral; it’s a compelling offer from a well known brand. But perhaps most interestingly it’s one of the best known co-op marketers making good on its promise to be an online marketer as well.

Is your company putting traditional know-how to use on the Web? Tell me about it! I’m at cara.wood@dmnews.com

Kathryn Pearson of the DMA has advised me that the List Leaders’ “Fast Forward