The Internet in modern political campaigning Introduction to the future of politics.
-
Upload
amber-mcgee -
Category
Documents
-
view
215 -
download
0
Transcript of The Internet in modern political campaigning Introduction to the future of politics.
The Internet in modern political campaigning
Introduction to the future of politics
Candidates face a number of problems communicating with voters
• Less and less attention to the news• Less and less news of politics to pay attention to
– Anything other than presidential/senatorial is almost ignored• “Transaction costs,” especially in contributing to
campaigns• Inability to provide more than ‘sound bite’ explanations
of their policies• Negative campaigning/advertising• Members of electorate as “audience” rather than as
constituents
The Internet
• The low costs and versatility of the Internet allow the candidate to address many of the problems outlined above
• The main Internet actions by candidates themselves have focused on:– Fundraising (brilliant success for Dean, Obama, Tea Party
candidates)– Providing extensive explanation of candidate positions– Political organization and social networking
• Obama
– Distributing political advertising, etc. to targeted groups
Internet options
• Traditional websites– Great majority of candidates now have them
• E-mails to partisans• Social networking– Facebook– Twitter
• Podcasts• Distribution of advertising– Targeting– Broadcasting
• https://donate.barackobama.com/page/content/splashsignup_welcome
• http://www.johnmccain.com/splash32615.htm
Content outside of candidate control
• YouTube• Facebook• Blogs• News sites– Newspaper– TV
• Webcasts of talk radio, etc.• Chatrooms/listservs
Candidate online strategy
• Speak to your existing support– Provide updates, encouragement, information for them to use on
your behalf• Issue positions/information
– Campaign blog (personal touch)– Critique of opponent
• Organization– Information concerning campaign activities– Provide opportunities for independent organization by supporters
• Meetups
– Rallies, marches, groups watching political video together in bars, etc.
Candidate online strategy
• Solicit donations– Effective way of generating small-donation money
• Has increased the importance of small donations
• Sign up, encourage volunteers– Provide ability to engage in voluntary action
• Provide info, persuade undecideds• Provide info to press and get them to publish issue
positions, critique of opposition, etc.– Online ads, video– Respond quickly to opposition attacks
Obama online strategy
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7412045.stm