Web Helps Put Politics in the Middle

In today’s Wall Street Journal, there was an interesting article about politics’ gradual shift toward the middle and American citizens’ increasing unhappiness with the current political polarity and seeming inability to accomplish anything.

They interestingly noted that the Web is helping this trend of politicians finding middle ground. Because so many more people are donating money to campaigns online, politicians are finding themselves less depending on special interest groups for the cash they need to run for office. This allows them to be more independent in thinking.

Another great benefit of the Web!

Getting Political

In an article in the Charleston (SC) Post & Courier today, the reporter notes a well-known political blogger lauds South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint as the most Web savvy U.S. senator. Kudos!

DeMint, who previously owned a market research company, obviously understands the power of PR and marketing and has tapped the power of the Web to further spread messages on issues he he’s supporting. He notes he regularly sends email press releases and pitches bloggers (the likes of the infamous Matt Drudge) and ultimately sees his messages end up in the mainstream media.

“When these radio talk show hosts come in, they’ll sit there for 30 minutes reading the blogs before they go on the air. It used to be the newspaper, but now it’s the blogs,” says DeMint in the article.

It’s true that journalists nowadays scour the Web for information and story ideas. If you can get your message out there and get bloggers to write about you, it’s very likely you’ll end up in traditional media as well. And the reverse is true too — if you secure a major story in the media, bloggers will jump on that and write about it too (exactly what I am doing here).

Case in point: a Wall Street Journal article in its small business section noted a man who sold bean bag chairs and who hadn’t been successful with his business. On a whim, he sent a pitch to the write of Engadget.com, a popular technology blog, who didn’t write about him, but traded advertising on the blog for some free chairs. What do you know? Within 48 hours, the editor of Playboy saw the ad and wrote about him in the magazine, after which he sold 500 chairs within a week. Pretty powerful stuff.

So whether it’s politics or bean bag chairs, don’t forget about the Web when it’s time to spread your message.

Politics and Web 2.0

The presidential candidates for 2008 would certainly be remiss to ignore the emerging Web technologies as they campaign and raise money to become the next president of the United States and as you might have guessed, most of them are NOT ignoring it. Here are some cool examples of how the candidates are using these tools to their advantage:

• John Edwards’ Pecan Pie Video on YouTube — The John Edwards campaign has smartly come up with a video that is funny and clever that they’ve posted on YouTube and on his Web site. It features two aides attempting to make Edwards’ favorite pie for his birthday. The best part: Contribute to his campaign and get the recipe for yourself.
• Barack Obama’s Social Networking site My.BarackObama.com — Here you can join other Obama supporters by joining groups (for example, Students for Barack Obama or Women for Barack Obama, or by geographic area), find or plan an event, start a blog, track funds you are able to raise and more.
• Rudy Guliani’s Blog Widgets — A selection of support banners you can post on your blog that includes a running ticker of how much various people have donated to the campaign.
• Mitt’s Online Video Channel — Click here to view a variety of channels with Romney’s TV interviews, hear him address key issues and even a total online show where you can “Ask Mitt Anything” (you post questions into a chat box online). Of course, you can subscribe the channels via RSS feed, too.
• John McCain’s Daughter’s (and friends) Blog — These three women are traveling with McCain and offer firsthand accounts of their experiences along the way. A great way to hit the younger demographic.

So, as you can see, there’s no shortage here of creativity and use of these tools. Howard Dean started the Internet revolution last time around to raise funds and the 2008 candidates are taking it to even greater heights.