World Wide Webbed: The Obama Campaign’s masterful Use of the Internet
The Obama campaign clearly learned from these previous efforts, and then took them to a newer, more sophisticated level. A short four years later in 2008, the internet tools already had morphed, as have the strategies they allow. As the internet tools continue to develop, so will the campaigns. Deploying all the many tactics used in his insurgent campaign, Barack Obama won the Democratic Party caucus in Iowa on January 3, and then beat Hillary Clinton in 13 of 22 states on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008. Over the next month, with his legions of mobilised supporters, he racked up win after win in Democratic primary states, putting together a lead that was insurmountable when Clinton finally won a few important primaries, especially in Ohio, later in the primary season.
On August 23, Obama announced the selection of his running mate Joe Biden via text message, then he took that momentum and rolled it into the presidential election against Republican nominee John McCain. By election day, more than 1 million people were signed up for the campaigns text messaging programme, each receiving 5 to 20 targeted messages per month. The final days before November 4 saw the Obama campaign sending daily emails and texts exhorting supporters to vote with friends, participate in phone drives, and volunteer at campaign events near the supporter’s home. They even offered a contest in which last-minute donors could be selected to attend Obama’s election-night party. And on election day itself, every battleground state voter signed up for Obama alerts received at least three text messages.
With its internet-based campaign strategy, Team Obama transformed his early fledgling campaign into a steamroller that rolled up one of the most impressive presidential victories in decades. Barack Obama’s campaign was successful at converting online geek activism into real-world organising, including political rallies, videos on YouTube, and most important, donations and votes. By using interactive Web 2.0 tools, Mr. Obama’s campaign changed the way politicians can mobilise supporters, raise money, advertise to voters, defend against attacks and communicate with constituents.
President Obama: The First Internet President?
Since winning the election, Team Obama has continued to utilise the many internet tools and resources that helped get him elected. The Obama administration is applying them to the earliest stages of governing and shaping policy, as well as to maintaining its connections to its supporters.
Well, Obama clearly targeted the younger segment of society. And he has done so effectively. But as the author has rightly said, if there wouldn’t have been a massive financial crisis and if Americans, especially the youth, would not have yearned for ‘change’, it is hard to say what impact this strategy can generally have in other circumstances.
The thing though is that the segement of internet savvy voters will become bigger an bigger as the older generation that is not familiar with the web leaves the secene. The use of these campaigning tools will become more and more important.
I think it was just brilliant the way he used the internet to get people behind him, money in the bank and win the US presidency,
Congradulations to him and all his supporters around the world, including me.
I’m absolutly conveinced that using the internet for a political campain is absolutly necessary to gain success. But the crucial point is, that you have to obtain social recognition if you want to be successful. And this is a long way and one will need a lot of discipline and patience to walk along and become an accepted member of the community.