How Web Sparked Obama Win
The Obama team's Web savvy made all the difference.
NEW YORK - A Pew survey released late yesterday showed that more than half of all adults in the U.S. used the Web during the 2008 race for the White House for "political purposes," from checking for news to sharing videos or Facebook postings. It also revealed that Obama's backers used the Web far more extensively than McCain's supporters, for everything from planning meetings to donating money.
These are not exactly shocking facts and they do not really do justice to the full impact of the Web in Obama's victory last year.
When the nearly two-year presidential race ended on Nov. 4, 2008, the solid win for Obama no longer seemed a surprise. Going back one year, however -- and finding Hillary Clinton labeled the clear front-runner -- puts the Obama victory in perspective. Joe Scarborough wasn't the only pundit back then to pat Obama on the head for a nice effort and tell him to prepare to get ground up and "spit out" by the unstoppable double-Clinton machine. Instead, Obama, with the help of an unprecedented grassroots funding and organizing effort, battled that machine to a standstill, then knocked out McCain a few months later.
How did that happen? The Democratic insurgent made few poor moves, remained calm while avoiding, or wiping off, the mud thrown at him, and continually surprised the pundits, who overestimated both Clinton and McCain (and Sarah Palin) past the point that most voters abandoned them.
Then there was the Web.
A major party's nomination of an African-American for president, and the Republicans' first selection of a female candidate for vice president, were not the only historic aspects of the 2008 election campaign in the United States. This was also the first national campaign profoundly shaped -- even, at times, dominated -- by the new media, from viral videos and blog rumors that went "mainstream" to startling online fundraising techniques. You might call it Campaign 2.008.
http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/agency/e3ief6bd78f4bc262dbb38e4349eecd332b?pn=1
The Obama team's Web savvy made all the difference.
NEW YORK - A Pew survey released late yesterday showed that more than half of all adults in the U.S. used the Web during the 2008 race for the White House for "political purposes," from checking for news to sharing videos or Facebook postings. It also revealed that Obama's backers used the Web far more extensively than McCain's supporters, for everything from planning meetings to donating money.
These are not exactly shocking facts and they do not really do justice to the full impact of the Web in Obama's victory last year.
When the nearly two-year presidential race ended on Nov. 4, 2008, the solid win for Obama no longer seemed a surprise. Going back one year, however -- and finding Hillary Clinton labeled the clear front-runner -- puts the Obama victory in perspective. Joe Scarborough wasn't the only pundit back then to pat Obama on the head for a nice effort and tell him to prepare to get ground up and "spit out" by the unstoppable double-Clinton machine. Instead, Obama, with the help of an unprecedented grassroots funding and organizing effort, battled that machine to a standstill, then knocked out McCain a few months later.
How did that happen? The Democratic insurgent made few poor moves, remained calm while avoiding, or wiping off, the mud thrown at him, and continually surprised the pundits, who overestimated both Clinton and McCain (and Sarah Palin) past the point that most voters abandoned them.
Then there was the Web.
A major party's nomination of an African-American for president, and the Republicans' first selection of a female candidate for vice president, were not the only historic aspects of the 2008 election campaign in the United States. This was also the first national campaign profoundly shaped -- even, at times, dominated -- by the new media, from viral videos and blog rumors that went "mainstream" to startling online fundraising techniques. You might call it Campaign 2.008.
http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/agency/e3ief6bd78f4bc262dbb38e4349eecd332b?pn=1
1 comment:
I think Obama's campaign was smart to use the internet as part of their campaign and reach voters in a new way. The media was the biggest platform that could have been used for Obama because you can reach a majority of the population that otherwise would go untouched. I think we will see a trend of future presidential campaigns using the internet because it is such a huge platform to get their messages across.
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