The differences between the two campaigns and how they use technology is astounding, and I think very telling. No matter what the outcome of the election is, I think the Obama campaign has set the bar for the future.

Good post! John McCain doesn't know how to email... he's not equipped to be president in the 21st Century. Palin is a very bad joke.

The intelligent, informed, global community needs to be involved in this election.

I'm in total agreement with Larry David (about this election):
www.huffingtonpost.com/.../...ov-4th_b_137029.html

Vote Obama/Biden. In Florida, Vote NO to Amendment 2, which presumes to defend marriage from loving relationships. Vote. Vote against bigotry. Vote for hope, change, heart, health, pride, decency, wisdom, clarity, peace.

Let's hope America doesn't elect a person of mediocre talent as president just because of the way he looks. Which candidate comes to mind when you read the previous sentence? Enough said.

I can't wait for this week to be over...

Great post. I think more people need to look at how Obama (and to give credit, Dean really) applied the same principles of EMILY's List to online media. Plus, all of the cool polling blogs that are sprouting up, it's an amazing use of media for the political campaign.

Very true, the facebook strategy works. Check out one of the key people for Obama:
www.nytimes.com/.../07hughes.html%20campaign%20internet&st=cse&oref=slogin

I knew it was over this summer when my husband remarked, "Obama is the first president to email me every day."

Organized, tactful, and repeated electronic communications have take then battle off the TV and onto the computer monitor for many of us. I just hope the other guys won't have caught on by the next election.

Obama has been generating a prolific amount of relevant content in many forms for a long time...utilizing all digital means at his disposal. Clearly a killer strategy overall and his use of today's social tools is but one example of a very good campaign execution.

For those who are interested, I created an "Obamavision" widget that combines a feed of his YouTube videos, blog posts at barackobama.com and his Twitter posts ("Tweets") into one embeddable "app." Put it on your myspace, facebook or blog pages with a couple mouse clicks.

Building this "widget" was fun and easy because Obama has so much good content, available via convenient feeds and web services.

tx

m

Oh, here's the link to the Obamavision widget:

http://mikesommers.com/obamavision.htm

tx

m

Both are pathetic..Is this the best that we can produce? The Dems won the election as soon as Mcain becme the Republican nominee..

Great post! McCain's desperate final weeks of "Robo-calls" and direct mail pamphlets make it look like he's running for President in 1988. I've heard many older Democrats (my own Father included) doubt the validity of current polls because they insist that young people never actually follow through and vote on election day. Like McCain himself, they simply don't understand (because they have never experienced) the power of online communities. I believe the early voting numbers we see are already validating the motivation and follow-through inspired by the Obama campaign's online outreach.

That is a telling observation about getting political information online. By the time you read some political analysis in the New York Times it is yesterday's news - literally.

Great Blog Blair! Please people.. get out and vote

We should note that the Obama campaign is an example of community organizing to the 10th degree. Leveraging the power of viral enthusiasm with clean/clear execution of integrated marketing tactics.

What a message! What a campaign! It will be referenced by scholars for years to come.

I read a lot of blogs and subsequent comments. Being in the marketing field I'm always curious how people use this platform. Sometimes it's succesful, often it's not. What I think is interesting about this blog post (as the vareity of comments illustrate) is that it is really, really RELEVANT for this moment in time. Both campaigns (albeit the obama model is really the paradigm to match) have ventured into 360 marketing campaigns now more than ever before and the game has changed. This is what so many of our companies/instituions are struggling to do well and many of us are challenged to explain the merits of interractive elements within a marketing campaign.

Thanks for opening the dialogue and using a blog to do it. Well done.

Great post. Loved the comment about Palin seeing Canada! All she can see now is 2012!!
From the start of the campaign to the pick of Joe Biden the Obama campaign dominated the poltical game on the web and the McCain strategists never caught up. Even at this late datewith a healthy lead the Obama campaign continues to run a powerful grass roots organization via the web offering a contest to have a few donors (who only have to contribute $30) flown to Chicago to Obama headquarters on Election Night.
This election will go down in history for many reasons but political pundits and advertisers will certainly remember the Obama camapaign as the one that forever moved political news, advertising and contributions from the front page to the web page.

Interactive media provides QUALITY of TOUCH unparalleled to traditional media. You can’t think that the 1 million people that watched your YouTube video are equal to 1 million people you “reached” with a TV spot. Traditional reach interrupts the constituent when they are seeking something else. Interactive touching takes place when the constituent is seeking YOU. The Obama camp has leveraged this phenomenon to skew odds in his favor. The dialog he continues to share with his supporters is invaluable. It clearly sends signals that in his role as a public servant, he will be better connected to meet the needs of the American people.

Other BRANDS should take his lead and realize the power they can obtain by leveraging interactive media to its full potential.