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American Politicians and the Internet Cash Machine

Written on
Oct 16, 2008 
Author
Jason Jaramillo  |
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American Politicians and the Internet Cash Machine

cashregister3.jpgADOTAS EXCLUSIVE – This is Part 2 of an ongoing series on the role of online culture, journalism, commerce, and advertising in the upcoming presidential election. To read Part 1, go here.

As we continue to investigate the influence of online culture on the upcoming presidential election, a practical consideration of money leaps to the top of the list of ways in which the internet is shaping our civic discourse. As they say it Chicago politics “you must pay to play.” The 2008 presidential campaign has become known to many political scientist as the Internet election, primarily because the candidates have successfully built online communities and tapped into millions of dollars in donations.

“It’s very clear that Barack Obama has created the most robust online fund-raising machine ever seen in American politics,” said Andrew Rasiej, editor of the blog TechPresident, which tracks the 2008 candidates’ online campaigns.

In August, Barack Obama raised $66m, making it his best month in terms of election fundraising. Donations were lifted by half a million new donors signing up, an aide of the campaign told a BBC America reporter.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan, campaign-finance watchdog group in Washington, D.C., the current round of fundraising has already eclipsed previous records for presidential campaigns:

* $880.4 million by all candidates in 2004
* $528.9 million by all candidates in 2000

Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the Democratic nominee, raised $454 million as of Sept. 21, 2008, according to the Center and Federal Election Commission records, making him the top fundraiser in the history of presidential elections. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican candidate, raised $230 million in that same period. All together more than $1 billion has been raised collectively. How has this come about, and more specifically what role has the Internet played?

Phil Tajitsu Nash, lawyer, writer, activist and longtime advocate of the Internet as a campaign tool, runs Campaign Advantage, which helps organizations develop and implement online fundraising strategies. He was interviewed for an article that appeared on America.gov.

In 2004, physician, and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean raised “a phenomenal amount of money and he showed that an insurgent could raise money effectively,” Nash said. Even though Dean did not win the nomination, he made political fundraising history. Since his campaign, political machines have adopted his techniques: appealing to average Americans on the Internet and bringing them together in Internet-generated “meet ups.”

“Obama is really Howard Dean 2.0 when it comes to online fundraising,” Nash said, adding that Obama’s grasp of the Internet’s value was evident in his 2004 U.S. Senate campaign, “but his operation really benefited from the people who were in the Howard Dean and [2004 Democratic presidential candidate] John Kerry operations.”

In 2007, the co-founder of incredibly successful Facebook, Chris Hughes left the company to join Obama’s campaign. He helped develop Obama’s campaign Web site, where people connect with neighborhood groups, volunteer, donate money and read the latest news from the Obama campaign.

Both candidates are still raising money, ensuring an even higher record level by Election Day on Nov. 4, 2008. And if current polls hold and Obama wins, a strong argument could be made that he will owe his success to his ability to directly translate his populist political persona into an effective Internet fundraiser.





Reader Comments.

There is a huge distinction between the two campaigns. I made a point of talking to supporters of both candidates before posting this.

One is 27, and all her communication with the Obama campaign has been electronic. No traditional lit. (Other than a yeard sign)

The McCain supporter skews older, and while has donated completely online, reports receiving at least a dozen piece of traditional mail lit. Expensive to produce and send.

Last I checked, Obama had raised $604 million and you can even see his ads on video games of all places.

I’ll disagree with the notion that Obama is Howard Dean 2.0. More like 3.0.

While polling is mentioned in the piece, that process really hasn’t changed much.

So in an age of digital campaigning, can an analog process truly measure what’s going on?

I guess the big irony is, that in this digital age, where we can donate and campaign online, post blogs and opinions and interact with campaigns, we still can’t vote online.

So we’ll just wait and see how the votes add up on the 4th, or the 5th. Or maybe the 6th…

Posted by Brian Olson | 3:01 pm on October 22, 2008.

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