surveying the democrats

this is an argument for conducting surveys to try to find out as many details as possible about the democrats' opinions on a broad range of issues. not so much how to do it [basically, redirect some of the resources from polling during campaigns to polling now], but WHY.
on the dean blog in the primary, there was endless debate about the efficacy of various proposed strategies [should we try to appeal to the gun-racked, confederate flag-flying southern man?, move to the left or the right?, talk about your religious beliefs or not?, why is the DNC so out of touch with the base?, should we accept corporate money?, etc.] and there were many well-founded replies, but there also was often a lack of data.
[more below]

if we acquire the data, we can argue about it less and move forward sooner. not that the discussions aren't valuable, just that it's hard to come to satisfactory agreements and too easy to splinter, lacking the data to either confirm or deny that pursuing any particular tactic would tend to increase or decrease support.
the following is assumed:
1. the republican way of coalition-building is fundamentally different. they manage to assemble support from moderate to extreme right by offering to take care of particular wants. we're never going to do this because it just doesn't fit -- it's power brokering over stewardship, it's moral relativism, the kind of thing that leads to sanctioning torture and making the poor poorer.
2. the base is equally capable of defining direction and formulating strategy as the party leadership.
3. the DNC, DLC and others at the top actually care and are curious to have the results of opinion surveys.