Spring Break
Campaigning in cyberspace
Internet emerges as critical medium for connection
Paul Petrone
Issue date: 11/3/08 Section: Election Special
The Internet's pervasiveness has extended into the political arena, with Web sites, e-mail and Facebook being used as campaign tools.
By any measure, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has used the Internet significantly more than Republican cnadidate John McCain. The examples are endless. Obama has 475 linked sites on his Web site, 396 of them blogs, while McCain has 18 linked sites with no blogs, according to TechPresident.com.
Obama garners far more hits on YouTube than McCain, and performing a simple Google search reveals twice as many sites dedicated to Obama than McCain. Obama has also ventured out in other forms of new media, such as recently advertising in Xbox games and releasing a new iPhone application, according to epolitics.com.
"Obama kind of put the pieces together and formed a way to reach to the younger community," said Jeffrey Ladewig, an associate political science professor at UConn. "He's saying, 'I'm out there, I understand this, I am part of the new wave of the future.'"
Ladewig also contends that Obama's huge fund-raising success, with $150 million raised in September alone, has been due in large part to the Internet. Most of Obama's donations are submitted online, with most of the money coming from small donors, characterized as giving $250 or less, according to TechPresident.com.
"I think that one of the reasons Obama is so successful with the youth vote is his ability to master the Internet," said Lauren Ellis, president of the UConn College Democrats.
Jennifer Miller, president of the UConn College Republicans, feels that, while the Internet is good at reaching the youth vote, other, more traditional media outlets are superior at reaching people over 24, which is the majority of Americans.
She also notes that McCain's Web site is "very organized," complete with a graph comparing both candidates' stances on major issues, allowing the average person to see the differences between the two quickly and easily.
By any measure, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has used the Internet significantly more than Republican cnadidate John McCain. The examples are endless. Obama has 475 linked sites on his Web site, 396 of them blogs, while McCain has 18 linked sites with no blogs, according to TechPresident.com.
Obama garners far more hits on YouTube than McCain, and performing a simple Google search reveals twice as many sites dedicated to Obama than McCain. Obama has also ventured out in other forms of new media, such as recently advertising in Xbox games and releasing a new iPhone application, according to epolitics.com.
"Obama kind of put the pieces together and formed a way to reach to the younger community," said Jeffrey Ladewig, an associate political science professor at UConn. "He's saying, 'I'm out there, I understand this, I am part of the new wave of the future.'"
Ladewig also contends that Obama's huge fund-raising success, with $150 million raised in September alone, has been due in large part to the Internet. Most of Obama's donations are submitted online, with most of the money coming from small donors, characterized as giving $250 or less, according to TechPresident.com.
"I think that one of the reasons Obama is so successful with the youth vote is his ability to master the Internet," said Lauren Ellis, president of the UConn College Democrats.
Jennifer Miller, president of the UConn College Republicans, feels that, while the Internet is good at reaching the youth vote, other, more traditional media outlets are superior at reaching people over 24, which is the majority of Americans.
She also notes that McCain's Web site is "very organized," complete with a graph comparing both candidates' stances on major issues, allowing the average person to see the differences between the two quickly and easily.
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