A Political Glimpse from Ireland

Obama’s Technology Edge

I watched an interesting clip on CNN today talking about the difference between Senator Obama and Senator McCain as far as technology goes. I had written an earlier post about Senator Obama’s heavy investment in technology and concluded that this was because a significant portion of his base was younger and more technologically literate, therefore more likely to use services like Twitter, Myspace, Facebook and YouTube.

Twitter is an amazing tool; living in Ireland one of my biggest dislikes is that the time difference screws up me watching certain political events that occur in America. A great function of twitter until a few weeks ago was that you could follow certain people like Barack Obama on your mobile phone and twitter would send you an SMS:

politifact Joe Biden: Says McCain “supported George Bush’s policies 95 percent of the time.” http://tinyurl.com/5c4bxe about 19 hours ago from twitterfeed

The problem for international users like myself is that it was costing Twitter $1,000 a person so they don’t offer that service anymore unless you live in America. Regardless, Twitter is an example of a social service Senator Obama’s media team has used to keep his supporters informed when he makes speeches and on other events like his choice of a VP.  Senator McCain does not need to use technology because his focus is on the seasoned voter, the older voter etc… however does this lack of technology use reduce involvement with his campaign?

Senator Obama can maintain a level of involvement with his supporters through social media that allows him to keep up donations while reminding his supporters to spread the word, get their neighbors involved or make people aware about any nasty smear by right-wing organizations.Senator McCain on the other hand has to rely on TV and the radio which is not as fast, or personal as spreading issue awareness compared to a simple SMS to a cellphone or a post on Senator Obama’s  Facebook group.

Will this new method of involvement make the difference, only the next two months will tell the whole story but I believe the McCain camp is at a distinct disadvantage:

The Sorry State Of Convention Protestors

The protests have begun in Denver, and if the first day is any indication, they’re a pale shadow of protests past.  The Denver Post has the story here. Barely 1000 people were on hand for the march to the Pepsi Centre, and photos of the march were notable for their lack of puppets.

The slogans sounded pretty tired.  Does anyone really believe that the KKK has existed as a functional organization in the last 50 years?

Where’s the Days of Rage? Oh, yeah, I forgot; Weatherman Bill Ayres is now hanging out with Obama on education reform boards of directors. Instead of building bonfires in Hyde Park, he lives next to Hyde Park. He’s got tenure for God’s sake!

At least the RNC protests will include Starhawk. You can bet there will be puppets at some point; the local lefties have a set they trot out every year for May Day rallies.   But even so, it sounds pretty tame; they’re talking about marching from the state capitol to the Xcel Center.  That’s about three blocks.

It’ll screw up traffic for anyone wanting to get from I-94 to I-35E. Those near downtown St. Paul will need scarves to block the smell of pachouli and unwashed bodies, but they’re going to have to do better than this if they want any future street cred in the protest world.