Monday, June 09, 2008

Politics and Social Media

The battle is shaping up in the Presidential election and technology is playing a major role in attracting the youth vote. We noticed last week that a new group was set up by the McCain campaign by Senator Joseph Lieberman to attract the independent voters to McCain's cause. This was a new "group" that can be opted into on the John McCain website. This is a smart move for those who do not want to receive the "republican" message and sets a signal that McCain is still working to be a "maverick", yet being practical about consolidating his base of support. They are also going to use this group to attract the disenfranchised "Hillary" supporters from areas such as NY, CT, NJ and FL.

Obama is continuing to mine his base of supporters for small donations. However, his website and messages talk about a "matching donor", so this is an interesting twist since a 'matching donor" seems to me to be someone with "influence".

Speaking of strange bedfellows, I just saw a commercial with the Reverend Al Sharpton and Pat Robertson about the environment and global warming. It is good to see role models of being world citizens from these two influential leaders.

One other trend seems to be happening also. With social networks spreading worldwide, there is more of a chance of a young person to meet and establish friendships with others in dozens of other countries and to essentially develop more of a global framework. This impact means that there will be a developing awareness of global politics and trends from a very young age.
This may also break down some of the stereotypes and propaganda we read about other countries.