Blogging. . .Still doesn't beat field
The rise of internet based campaign communications has created a frenzy of everyone trying to get on the web, make a website, start a blog, send emails out etc. So why are we all wrapped up in this hype? Simply put. . .Because everyone else is. John McCain showed how to raise $ on the internet in 2000. . . Howard Dean did the same in 2004. They all know what they wanted to accomplish with their internet strategies. Campaigns now seem to have the internet. . but not a strategy.
My point is. . .the internet will not win you an election. It will not change the direction of the campaign if the candidate or message is bad. A great blog won't create a base of core supporters. To do this , even the most modern hi-tech campaign still needs good ole fashion organizers. Folks who pound the pavement, work the phones, host the fundraiser, enter voter data, and drag out the vote on election day. Once you have that. . .an solid internet strategy can be icing on the cake.
My point is. . .the internet will not win you an election. It will not change the direction of the campaign if the candidate or message is bad. A great blog won't create a base of core supporters. To do this , even the most modern hi-tech campaign still needs good ole fashion organizers. Folks who pound the pavement, work the phones, host the fundraiser, enter voter data, and drag out the vote on election day. Once you have that. . .an solid internet strategy can be icing on the cake.
6 Comments:
I agree with you your point; use of the Internet and any new media has to be in sync with the overall campaign strategy. If used effectively, it can be a powerful tool to mobilize voters, raise money cheaply, and disseminate up-to-date information.
I work in education, and just like education technology can be a powerful tool if used as a part of the overall goal, political technology can open doors for candidates and voters alike. For campaigns to be successful in using technology, everyone needs to be on the same page, operating with the same playbook.
Admittedly, Dean is a touchy subject for me, but I'd say that Dean's campaign did much more than prove that we can raise money online. Even though Internet organizing is in its infancy, Dean proved that using tools the Interent provides can propel a longshot into a frontrunner. His campaign introduced a smidget of decentralization in presidential campaigns -- which still seems almost unheard of.
Today, I agree with you: the Internet can help, but it can't win it for you. Tried-and-true organizing techniques, as both Bush and Kerry proved, are still essential. What Dean did, however, was bring us one big step closer to wedding the two campaign realms into something larger than the sum of its parts.
I agree with your point that a Web site will not make or break a candidate's campaign, but I do believe that the Internet must be used within a strategy. Just as you point out that the old fashioned pavement pounding, grassroots mobilization and fundraising components of elections are important, so too is an internet strategy. I believe that Internet components are not the icing on the cake, but another critical component of any campaign large or small. Just as a phone call may help to sway a voter, I believe that the Internet has the potential to do the same. While the Internet will not make or break a campaign on its own, it will work in conjunction with the traditional components to help shape an election cycle when used to a candidate's advantage.
All that matters on Election Day is how many of your voters turn out in relation to how many of your opponent's voters turn out. This requires a highly effective organization. To that end, the internet provides countless tools that enable the crucial organizational groundwork to be laid.
Will the internet ever replace the impact of legions of volunteers going door to door? Doubtful. But it can serve to provide data to those volunteers, thus improving their ability to target the doors that need to be knocked upon.
A modern election campaign, much like any major marketing campaign, requires gobs of data. Campaigns have only scratched the surface of data's power, and the internet provides an unparalleled set of tools to efficiently gather and utilize information.
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I agree with your point that the use of the Internet does not win elections alone. I think that Dean taught us how powerful a role that Internet can play in a campaign, particularly in organizing. But, I argue that the media's coverage of Dean's use of the Internet also somewhat contributed to his success on the web.
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