Who R U Vting 4?

By Sarah Breger

Last Wednesday, Jonathan Wachter received a text message reminding him to watch the presidential debate.

It wasn’t from a friend or relative but from Barack Obama himself.

Wachter is one of millions of people who have signed up to receive text messages from the Obama campaign, a sign of the 21^st century twist on yard signs and bumper stickers. Supporters today use text messages, iPhone applications and Facebook pages as a means to show support for their favorite candidates.

More than any other recent campaign, Barack Obama’s organizers have embraced the technology that has so engrossed and transformed America’s youth. His campaign is exploiting its odd blend of novelty, instant intimacy and vast reach, in order to mobilize the youth vote on Nov. 4.

“Mobile phones in general are changing the way candidates interact with voters and the way the public interacts with candidates and elected officials,” said Katrin Verclas, a mobile technology expert and the co-founder and coordinator of www.mobileactive.org. “The Obama campaign has most impressively figured that out and has a solid mobile program that is integrated in their overall campaign.”

Obama’s organizers recently introduced an iPhone application that can turn a “Joe-six-pack” into a grassroots campaigner. The main feature of the application is the “Call Your Friends” tool that prioritizes the phone’s contact list by battleground states, encouraging the phone owner to call friends in those states to remind them to vote — presumably for Obama.

A day after the application was released, 1,063 people had used it to make 21,460 calls, according the application’s home page. While there is no way to trace the effect of these calls, the very existence of the tool has reinforced Obama’s image as hip and current.

John McCain’s campaign has not created a text messaging option for supporters.

But voters between the ages of 18-29 are more likely to vote if they are reminded via text message to do so, according to a study of 4,000 voters during the 2006 election. The study, conducted Princeton University and the University of Michigan, found those who received a reminder text were 4 percent more likely to vote than those who did not. And though the percent is small, both nominees are fighting hard for every extra vote.

“Text messaging is a great way to reach young, mobile populations, to reach people who aren’t at their doors, aren’t available via landline phone and don’t really read their mail,” said Aaron Strauss, co-author of the study, in a phone interview.

The Obama campaign has aggressively courted voters to sign up to receive text messages. At rallies and at the Obama website, they are encouraged to send the message GO to OBAMA (62262) to receive updates.

Obama generated a huge buzz when he announced he would first publicize his pick for vice president via text message. Over 2.9 million people received the VP text, according to a report by the mobile division of the Neilson company.

While some may dismiss Obama’s actions as gimmicks, they allow the campaign to collect a huge database of potential voters’ phone numbers who can be prodded to vote come election day.

And for those Luddites in the electorate, there is still hope. Obama just bought a 30-minute ad during prime time television for Oct. 29.

~ by eighteentwentynine on October 22, 2008.