Political campaigning will never be the same again. The highly successful Obama campaign has rewritten the strategy and conduct of presidential campaigns for the foreseeable future.
Obama’s new media team used several platforms in very innovative ways. The use of text messaging and YouTube was only the beginning. Other forms of social networking through the Internet were also harnessed—including Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and many others—to research, reach and organize volunteers and voters. Blogging proved to be a very effective way in mobilizing public participation and maintaining active interest in the political process.
The use of new media was most effective in raising campaign finance. The Obama campaign’s use of the Internet enabled a huge network of contributors to be built up. Obama’s phenomenal fund-raising success alone should lead any future candidate to think differently.
The use of new media was in full display during election night. I listened to NPR radio and surfed several TV channels at the same time. I was also on the Internet tracking several conservative and liberal blogs.
NPR Radio periodically announced that it had a Twitter feed where voting problems can be reported. As recent as 2004, this was a much slower process through traditional media. Content from blogs was also being quoted, although I may have missed actual interviews with bloggers since I was surfing continuously through various media sources.
Huffington Post carried a Live Blog on election results, where you can enter your name and send questions or comments. It also had links to the Election Maps of MSNBC, Daily Kos, and Google, among others. There were also Live Video Streams of CNN Live and MSNBC, as well as Electoral College Widgets. It was very exciting to have so much information in one place, and be able to contribute content at the same time.
Politico.com constantly updated its Election Central. Firedoglake hosted a thread on Presidential results. RealClearPolitics provided an easy-to-read tabulation of projected electoral college results by the half hour.
TV graphics also showed a quantum leap compared to only 4 years ago. TV reporters were clearly using Web-based databases to provide touch screen visuals to viewers that drove home very clear messages in short succession. The use of graphs and color-coding for the various states were stunning in their ability to predict how various states may be leaning. The classroom is now in the living room juggling alternative hypotheses for election outcomes.
It was a historic night for me, in terms of Obama’s victory, and discovering the primacy of new media in presidential elections to come.
