Democrats to launch new voter database with Dr. Howard Dean at the helm

Dean called it "a big breakthrough" that will match what Republicans have established. "I'd sort of given up that we could get it done," Dean said.

The arrangement would allow the national party, state parties and independent political action groups on the left to share voter data in real time during campaigns. That means, for example, that a field worker for a congressional campaign in Iowa and another for an independent political action committee knocking on doors in Florida could update a master voter file essentially as they work. When a presidential campaign spends big money on consumer data to update voter profiles, the new information would go into the central file as well. And all participating organizations would have access to the latest information.