Eight months down; fourteen to go: since the online component of campaign 2008 kicked off in January, we’ve seen Hillary as Big Brother, Ron Paul as favorite son, Mike Gravel as crazy uncle, Obama drawing admiring eyes, a talking snowman drawing ire, McCain for gay marriage, Romney for abortion, Giuliani for prom queen and every candidate for as much online sugar as he or she can raise.
What have we really learned, though, about the challenges of political communications in a networked world? The era of broadcast communications is fast fading, and a world of niches and low barriers lies ahead. At the moment, the presidential campaigns are feeling their way across the same foggy ground as every other online communicator. Where have they stumbled? What obstacles and opportunities lie ahead? What will it take at all levels of politics to win in 2008 and beyond? This series of articles will look at these questions, using our experience of the last 8 months (and a dozen or so years) of online politics as a guide.
- Part 1: Will TiVo Kill the Political Ad?
– cpd