So I have been reading the first few chapters of Bruce Bimber and Richard Davis’s Campaigning Online. They basically argue that the internet has acted more as a reinforcer of the base than a coverter of the undecided.
I can see that being true in the past…but I don’t think it represents the future. Check out this blog entry ‘Blog’s All Here: Let the 2008 Presidential Race Begin!’ on blogcritics.org.
It highlights this website, the 2008 Presidential Wire, which is counting and compiling all the stories on, and tracking all the players in, the 2008 election.
I think in the 2004 election we saw a more involved populace because we saw a more involved web and blogging community. With more everyday people acting as checks & balances on the government and on the politicians, more people were involved with the outcome of the election.
2008 will be interesting…and at the rate the media is playing it up it will be here tomorrow!
Loading ...
In 2008, candidates will need to use the internet far more effectively than it was used in 2004.
For the first time in half a century, the Republican presidential nomination will truly be up for grabs. The candidates will need every edge they can get as they scrap through the primary. An effective web operation will be especially important for a guy like John McCain, who will need to use it to reach beyond the Republican base voters who naturally tend to disproportionately influence the primary process.
You have to think that Hillary Clinton will have a savvy, top knotch web operation (rivaled only of course by the vast right wing conspiracy assembled on the Web in opposition to her).
Well one thing is for sure it will definitely be interesting to watch the ways things unfold between now and 2008 and see the way the Internet evolves between now and then.
The Internet will undoubtedly play a major role in all candidate’s campaigns and I wonder if we will see major Web site revamps of the candidates as Emi described happened in 2004.