The Internet has changed the shape of the elections with candidates now having more outlets to put their name out there and gain recognition. With the the candidates having more press and giving more people the ability to recognize who they are and what they stand for, and more press time also means more votes. I think President Obama did a wonderful job of utilizing all outlets in his campaign this past year, and that alone really did increase his popularity and probably won him a lot of the younger tech-savy vote.
As far as candidates running a campaign that was based upon what their party thinks, and not necessarily according to what they believe I feel as if both candidates ran based more on their party. Recently John McCain came out and said he felt that he was more of a "puppet" for the party, rather than running the way he wanted to. I also feel in a way Obama ran a similar campaign based a lot upon what his party thought, but I also do feel he ran a campaign that seemed much more personal. I think he ran such a personal campaign because he had a large fan base on the internet and could connect with people on the internet, which automatically made them feel a personal touch much more from President Obama.
Remembering the Obama campaign I think he did follow the guidelines described by Teachout. He created a small community atmosphere on the internet, and brought people into his personal life, he connected with them on many levels. I think he did the same thing by allowing magazines like People and US come into his home and photograph him and his family, showing that they are just a normal family which is what every American can connect with.
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How can Sen. McCain honestly claim to be a "puppet" of the party?! He was sooo far from that and did his own thing its amazing to think he feels that way. Had he gotten pissed during the campaign about Americans financial situation and portrayed that to them and actaully had a plan to go after the people who let it happen, he would have done far better. But instead, he came off w/ the image of being out of touch and not knowing how bad it really was. The GOP could have fared a lot better in this past election had McCain not been so much of a "Maverick" and actually taken some GOP talking points. By doing so, he could have excited the party and who's to say what would have happened then. Instead, the GOP wasnt even that excited about him, and if they arent, the voters sure arent going to be either.
ReplyDeletePresident Obama on the other hand has a legitimate argument. He just happens to be an articulate and charasmatic person who was able to give the Democrats talking points w/ great success. However, as I've made note before in my blog, I still feel he's more of a puppet now than ever in the Oval Office; eople like Speaker Pelosi will use him to no ends to get what they want.
Eric, perhaps one only feels like a puppet when one dances in another direction than the puppet master directs. Otherwise one would never feel the pull of the strings.
ReplyDeleteTalk more about what you think the candidates did to utilize technology in their campaigns... What about the primaries? VP selections?
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