Saguaro
06-12-2008, 12:53 PM
June 12 (Bloomberg) -- Political activist David All gushes over Barack Obama's record-breaking success on the Internet, which has helped the Illinois senator's presidential campaign raise more than $250 million and mobilize armies of supporters.
``He understands the importance of having a people-powered revolution,'' said All, 29.
All is no Obama supporter. He isn't even a Democrat. He's part of a cadre of young Republicans pressing their party to embrace the Web-fueled cultural shift that has transformed the way campaigns communicate with youthful voters.
All, who backs Senator John McCain and co-founded an online site that helps Republicans raise money, blames party officials ``who control the purse strings'' for not grasping the Internet. ``They are over the age of 35 or 40,'' he said, ``and they are unwilling to be anything but a modern ostrich.''
Republicans, who once held a commanding technological lead over the Democrats by pioneering techniques such as direct-mail messages to voters and dominating talk radio, are being out- raised, outspent and outmaneuvered on the Internet.
While the Democrats' Web prowess didn't begin with Obama, it's reaching new heights with his campaign.
Obama, 46, has 953,000 Facebook backers to McCain's 142,000, according to techPresident.com, a Web site that tracks such support. On MySpace, Obama has 394,000 supporters, more than seven times the number McCain has. On YouTube, the Internet video site, Obama videos have been viewed 50 million times compared with 4 million for the 71-year-old McCain.
Narrowing the Gap
The young Republican activists, who range from Silicon Valley veterans to kids just out of college, are trying to help their party narrow the gap.
All, a Democrat in college who became a Republican because of the party's support for limited government, acknowledges the difficulty of attracting younger people. He'll soon start a Web site, RealWorldRepublicans.com, targeted at 18-to-29-year olds.
Last October, he launched Slatecard.com to aid Republican candidates in raising funds online, an effort to answer ActBlue.com, a Democratic site founded in 2004.
He has a way to go. Slatecard has collected just $375,000 so far, while ActBlue claims it has raised almost $50 million in the last four years.
Cyrus Krohn, 37, worked at Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo! Inc., where he headed the Web search firm's political-advertising operation, before joining the Republican National Committee last year to head up its Internet effort.
Pictures With Bush
Since then, then he has built a presence on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, and spearheaded efforts to reach out to bloggers.
Krohn, who posts pictures of himself posing with President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney on his Facebook page, said All and other critics are being unfair.
``They complain that our architecture is crumbling and we don't get the Web,'' he said. ``Well, that's not true.''
Still, he said, the party has a lot of work to do because many of its supporters and donors are older and less-connected to the Internet.
``These are individuals that run small businesses, big businesses,'' he said. ``They don't have the luxury of sitting around and blogging all day.''
McCain agrees that both his party and campaign are lagging behind in cyberspace. At a fundraiser in Richmond, Virginia, this week, he was asked what he would do to connect with younger voters. ``We've got to do a better job on the Internet,'' he answered.
Internet Image
Even though the Arizona senator doesn't have Obama's youthful image, he can emphasize other attributes that play well on the Internet, said Mindy Finn, a 27-year-old Republican Web strategist.
``He is seen as very authentic, as a maverick, as edgy and funny, as not so caring about someone harping on every word,'' said Finn.
McCain and other Republican candidates need to acknowledge the cultural changes the Internet has brought about, she said.
``People are putting their own lives online through photos, videos and blogs,'' said Finn. So when it comes to a political campaign, they are expecting a more personal connection.
Patrick Ruffini, another Republican Web activist, said McCain was almost bounced out of the race last summer when he took a more buttoned-down, conventional approach to campaigning. McCain retooled, returning to his ``Straight Talk Express'' roots and is now is the presumptive nominee. It's an image that plays much better on the free-wheeling Internet, said Ruffini, 29.
`Traditional Mindset'
Now, Ruffini and other young Republicans worry that under the pressure of the general election, McCain will abandon the more informal manner.
``The trick is not to fall back into more a traditional mindset,'' said Ruffini, who created a Web site about Republican politics and strategy. ``They have a chance to resonate online. It will start to make things a little easier to fundraise, a little easier to have a grassroots base.''
They also said Obama's Internet advantage may not directly translate into votes in November. In any case, the Republicans can't worry about that because it's too late to catch up.
``It's kind of hard to start a revolution in six months,'' said Finn.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20080612/pl_bloomberg/at83ytwalldq;_ylt=AsTP1jRuWcfhA7q7ZxDPgnFsnwcF
``He understands the importance of having a people-powered revolution,'' said All, 29.
All is no Obama supporter. He isn't even a Democrat. He's part of a cadre of young Republicans pressing their party to embrace the Web-fueled cultural shift that has transformed the way campaigns communicate with youthful voters.
All, who backs Senator John McCain and co-founded an online site that helps Republicans raise money, blames party officials ``who control the purse strings'' for not grasping the Internet. ``They are over the age of 35 or 40,'' he said, ``and they are unwilling to be anything but a modern ostrich.''
Republicans, who once held a commanding technological lead over the Democrats by pioneering techniques such as direct-mail messages to voters and dominating talk radio, are being out- raised, outspent and outmaneuvered on the Internet.
While the Democrats' Web prowess didn't begin with Obama, it's reaching new heights with his campaign.
Obama, 46, has 953,000 Facebook backers to McCain's 142,000, according to techPresident.com, a Web site that tracks such support. On MySpace, Obama has 394,000 supporters, more than seven times the number McCain has. On YouTube, the Internet video site, Obama videos have been viewed 50 million times compared with 4 million for the 71-year-old McCain.
Narrowing the Gap
The young Republican activists, who range from Silicon Valley veterans to kids just out of college, are trying to help their party narrow the gap.
All, a Democrat in college who became a Republican because of the party's support for limited government, acknowledges the difficulty of attracting younger people. He'll soon start a Web site, RealWorldRepublicans.com, targeted at 18-to-29-year olds.
Last October, he launched Slatecard.com to aid Republican candidates in raising funds online, an effort to answer ActBlue.com, a Democratic site founded in 2004.
He has a way to go. Slatecard has collected just $375,000 so far, while ActBlue claims it has raised almost $50 million in the last four years.
Cyrus Krohn, 37, worked at Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo! Inc., where he headed the Web search firm's political-advertising operation, before joining the Republican National Committee last year to head up its Internet effort.
Pictures With Bush
Since then, then he has built a presence on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, and spearheaded efforts to reach out to bloggers.
Krohn, who posts pictures of himself posing with President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney on his Facebook page, said All and other critics are being unfair.
``They complain that our architecture is crumbling and we don't get the Web,'' he said. ``Well, that's not true.''
Still, he said, the party has a lot of work to do because many of its supporters and donors are older and less-connected to the Internet.
``These are individuals that run small businesses, big businesses,'' he said. ``They don't have the luxury of sitting around and blogging all day.''
McCain agrees that both his party and campaign are lagging behind in cyberspace. At a fundraiser in Richmond, Virginia, this week, he was asked what he would do to connect with younger voters. ``We've got to do a better job on the Internet,'' he answered.
Internet Image
Even though the Arizona senator doesn't have Obama's youthful image, he can emphasize other attributes that play well on the Internet, said Mindy Finn, a 27-year-old Republican Web strategist.
``He is seen as very authentic, as a maverick, as edgy and funny, as not so caring about someone harping on every word,'' said Finn.
McCain and other Republican candidates need to acknowledge the cultural changes the Internet has brought about, she said.
``People are putting their own lives online through photos, videos and blogs,'' said Finn. So when it comes to a political campaign, they are expecting a more personal connection.
Patrick Ruffini, another Republican Web activist, said McCain was almost bounced out of the race last summer when he took a more buttoned-down, conventional approach to campaigning. McCain retooled, returning to his ``Straight Talk Express'' roots and is now is the presumptive nominee. It's an image that plays much better on the free-wheeling Internet, said Ruffini, 29.
`Traditional Mindset'
Now, Ruffini and other young Republicans worry that under the pressure of the general election, McCain will abandon the more informal manner.
``The trick is not to fall back into more a traditional mindset,'' said Ruffini, who created a Web site about Republican politics and strategy. ``They have a chance to resonate online. It will start to make things a little easier to fundraise, a little easier to have a grassroots base.''
They also said Obama's Internet advantage may not directly translate into votes in November. In any case, the Republicans can't worry about that because it's too late to catch up.
``It's kind of hard to start a revolution in six months,'' said Finn.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20080612/pl_bloomberg/at83ytwalldq;_ylt=AsTP1jRuWcfhA7q7ZxDPgnFsnwcF