Assignment 7: Obama

Obama uses technology for campaigning!

The use of technology and the internet was unprecedented in the last American election. When Obama announced John Biden was his vice presidential running mate, supporters who had previously registered their phone numbers received the news through text message and email way even before the news media got it. Though both McCain and Obama campaigns have used the Internet and other technologies, Obama is by far the leader in the use of technology today. Obama is also the only presidential candidate to buy ad space in video games, including “Guitar Hero” and “Madden 09.″ He also featured in-game ads from the Obama campaign that appear on billboards and other signage in the game. “Within days of the launch of the iPhone 3g the Obama campaign released a special iPhone applet that allowed his supporters to receive up-to-date campaign news on their iPhone.”  Online social networking sites provide an easy way for like-minded people to connect with one another, share ideas and form communities. This enables people from different parts of the world to come together on a common platform. Online sites, such as facebook and MySpace helped others to connect and reach one another. The Obama campaigns has his presence on Facebook and MySpace. The Obama camp has an official presence on 16 networking and information sharing websites. These range from networking sites such as “LinkedIn” to the photo-sharing site “Flickr.”

Extensive use of online video sharing through sites such as Youtube and Brightcove by both candidates and supporters is another feature of the 2008 presidential race and every speech, TV interview and gaffe is publicly available on the web. Both the candidates have dedicated Youtube channels and thousands of supporters have also posted home-made video clips on the web. In fact, the most-viewed election-related video on Youtube is not by any of the candidates but a small clip by a McCain supporter Iraq war returnee. The clip titled “Dear Mr Obama” attracted 11 million hits. The official Obama campaign website provides registered volunteers a detailed script and a list of voters to call. These voters are largely from swing states and volunteers have the option of selecting the state they want to call. Such tools have revolutionized the extent to which a campaign can take advantage of the volunteer network. Obama’s official site claimed that volunteers using the “online voter contact tool” made 431,645 calls on Nov 1.

Thanks to such online tools, volunteers are no longer required to deal with their local campaign offices and can canvass from their homes. The new technology  has made the election much more interactive and placed more control in the hands of the individual volunteers. The candidate websites have also evolved since the last elections and both Mccain and Obama have campaign websites that act as one-stop shops for supporters. Besides giving information including videos about the candidates and their views on various issues, these also provide online volunteer registration and online fund contribution. Obama’s official website Barackobama.com has sections addressing specific groups ranging from “Mediterranean Americans” to “People Of Faith”. It also features an “Obama Store” selling campaign T-shirts, mugs, sticker and buttons. The site also has an “Obama-Biden Tax Calculator” by which one can find out how much tax cut to expect if Obama wins.

Though technology is no substitute for real-life interaction its use for attracting youth, bringing together people with little effort and cost, organizing volunteer operations and providing an alternative fundraising route is most likely to increase in the future. Also, more groups or videos from fans and the candidates themselves should probably be used more often as well.