Election '08
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[edit] The Internet's influence on the 2008 Election
With the rise of blogging sites, social networking sites, and YouTube, the internet has given a new voice to the people and it is heavily influencing this years primaries and more than likely will be very influential in the general election later in the tear. We saw the beginings of this in the '04 primary where Howard Dean, one of the initial Democratic front runners, gained major popularity and started his initial rise (and subsequent fall) to the top of the democratic party by starting an online movement. With the rise of youtube in '06 and gaining popularity and accessibilty of the internet, the web has been even more influential on the '08 election. Republican candidate Ron Paul's campaign was almost solely internet based which resulted in him fairing considerably better than most people expected and gaining an astounding 4 million dollars in donations in one day. Furthermore, many scathing political smear ads (esp the hilary clinton 3 am ad and the obama ad that was a spin off of the famous mac ad from the 80's (featured below)) have been made exclusively for youtube and have received many hits, which has heavily influenced voters especially with clinton and obama's neck and neck race.
This vehemently anti-Hilary ad was created by a member of the Obama camp and was leaked onto YouTube. The creator was fired for leaking the ad, which the Obama campaign did not want to use, and subsequently joined the Richardson campaign (before he dropped out).
[edit] Campaign Fundraising and the Internet
The rise of the Internet has completely transformed the way in which politicians raise funds and garner support. We saw the beginnings in 2004. Early democratic frontrunner Howard Dean’s innovative online fundraising campaign allowed Dean to start an online movement that spurred his initial success. Furthermore, in the third quarter of 2004, Dean shattered the record for most donation dollar in one quarter by a Democratic candidate, with an amazing 10.5 million, demolishing the old record previously held by Bill Clinton, the husband of ’08 hopeful Hilary Clinton. Despite Dean’s utilization of the web, the other candidates at the time, which included George W. Bush, Al Sharpton, John Kerry, etc, did not utilize the web nearly as much and stuck to the old way of campaigning which includes receiving mainly large money from rich, influential lobbyists.
With the ’08 primaries we saw the Internet have an even larger effect on the political spectrum. In the 2007 primaries, Republican long shot Ron Paul, a major advocate of net neutrality and internet supporter, managed to destroy the one day fundraising record by amassing an unheard of 6 million dollars in a single day. Furthermore, the majority of these donations were obtained online. Without Paul’s embracement of the Internet, he would not have been able to start such a successful grassroots movement, which is virtually unheard of in these days of questionable big money donations and corrupt lobbyists. This utilization of the Internet allowed a candidate, who had been virtually shunned by his party due to his highly classical conservative views, to fare rather well in the primaries, even managing to come in a respectable second to Mitt Romney in the Nevada primary.
Paul is not the only candidate to utilize the Internet in an effort to raise funds and support. Democratic hopeful, Barack Obama has also used the Internet to his advantage and make the fundraising process more legitimate. Obama started his campaign with virtually no money and he managed to stay true to his statement on not receiving funding from lobbyists, political action committees, people under the age of 16, and foreign agents by amassing many small money donations through the Internet. [1] Not only has this strategy kept Obama in the race and now, at the head of the race, but it has put major pressure on Clinton to increase her online fundraising in response to Obama’s success. In addition, Republican nominee John McCain has also began to rev his online funding in response to his party’s concerns with the online following Clinton and especially Obama are amassing.
[edit] E-fundraising: good or bad?
A major question that comes to mind with this new form of fundraising is how it will affect the political processes. There are many concerns on both sides. On one hand, one can perceive this switch to online campaigning and fundraising as distancing politicians from the people they are trying to support, due to reduced face-to-face human interaction. On the other hand, utilizing a nationwide interactive forum, accessible to virtually all United States citizens, will allow politicians to spread their message to more people, get more people to participate in the political process, and get more donations from supporters and not rich lobbyists. Through my research I have concluded that the rise in Internet accessibility and popularity has led to an increase in online donations, which in turn is making the fundraising process more honest. Furthermore this online involvement is creating a more democratic society because it is taking the campaign funding out of the hands of the rich, persuasive, lobbyists and into the hands of the American people.
[edit] The future of Online Fundraising
It is clear that online fundraising will have a major impact on the way politicians go about raising funds, but the question still remains: What does this mean for future elections? Will these advancements in technology lead to a more democratic society or will it just be another tool for politicians to mislead the population in order to win votes? While online donations will gain in popularity and will likely be one of politicians’ primary ways of campaigning, it will never fully take the place of off line donations and there will always be some level of corruption involved in the process. In an article in The Economist entitled “The road to e-democracy”, the author makes a strong point on this very issue when he states: “The story so far is that technology intensifies the democratic process, but does not fundamentally change it. For example, the Internet is now a vital way of raising money for political campaigns in America, but it has not supplanted the public meeting. Howard Dean's campaign for the Democratic party nomination in 2004 was a huge success in the blogosphere, but failed to translate into votes in real life.” [2] This point is very interesting because even though the Internet is completely changing the way elections are run; they will never replace all of the old practices. However while the Internet may not be the answer all to the problems involved with elections, as the Internet is utilized more and more in future generations, it will definitely have a positive influence.
[edit] The pathway to E-Democracy?
As the Internet seems to be the final frontier of freedom of speech, it is the last refuge for many activists seeking to spread their message on political atmosphere and their opinions on the election. Web technological advancements are vital to the advancement of the movement. The increasing number of online outlets makes online activism easier and easier and allows more and more people to voice their opinions on the election. With the ability for politicians to receive donations from people all across the country at any time, it will lead to campaign funding by the American people who truly support their candidate. Rich donors who are giving their money in order to influence politicians to adhere to their interests will lose power. The Internet represents all that is democracy and as the larger the influence the Internet has in elections, the more democratic our elections will become.
[edit] Links
History of Campaign Fundraising and Electoral Reform
Analysis of Ron Paul's use of the Internet
Analysis of Barack Obama's use of the Internet
Analysis of Hilary Clinton's use of the Internet
Analysis of John McCain's use of the Internet
Election '08 Research Paper
Election '08 Blogosphere Annotated Bibliography
Election '08 Indy Media Blogs
Election '08 Gallery
Election '08 Blog
Election '08 Outline based on Charles' Tilly's model
- ↑ Sweet, Lynn. "Obama Begins Fund-Raising Drive." Chicago Sun-Times 1 Feb. 2007. <http://www.suntimes.com/>.
- ↑ "The Road to E-Democracy." The Economist 16 Feb. 2008: 17-18.
