The Emotionally Driven Internet
Has the Internet become such a critical part of a political campaign that it can decide the outcome of an election?
Jakob Nielsen's article "Email Newsletters During the Last Week of a Presidential Campaign," argues that a candidate's Internet usability has decided the outcome of elections. Nielsen found that during the last week of the 2004 presidential election, Bush used the Internet as a get out the vote tactic. During that same week, Kerry used the Internet to continue to fundraise. Nielsen claims that Bush's strategy enabled him to reach voters emotionally rather than asking them to reach into their pockets.
Although Nielsen makes a good point I do not think Bush's usability was the turning point in the election. I think that he was able to successfully reach voters emotionally as part of his overall strategy. The way the campaign used the Internet to reach voters was a part of this overall strategy. Bush was able to get into peoples' hearts, and through this he got into their wallets.
2 Comments:
I agree that Bush reached out to people emotionally, and the Internet was just one part of that. The website focused on the “Strong, steady leadership vs. Kerry the flip-flopper” message. His platform details were readily available online, but they weren’t the prime focus of the site. That same message was obviously heard on TV, reinforced on the web, and then heard again through the newsletters. The message was so prevalent that when placed against the background of the War on Terror, it resonated among voters. I think that many of the swing voters said to themselves, “You know what, he’s right!” This is what won many people over.
First, I believe that the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth," combined with the fact that we were at war, helped Bush a lot.
Second, my previous professor told the class that Kerry had $25 million left over after the campaign! A lot of good all that asking for money did! (A web search shows me that it may have been $15 million: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1282827/posts)
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