Election 2012: The Rise of the Virtual Campaign Trail

The internet was one of the critical pieces of the campaign puzzle for President Obama in 2008. Though it did not by any means assure his victory, it was a vital tool in mobilizing his base, organizing events and soliciting donations, all obviously key components of his overall strategy. Election 2012 is shaping up to take the e-revolution in the world of campaigning much further as both parties look to take advantage of social media and videos in addition to the already ubiquitous websites that populate the political landscape.

Already Mr. Obama has announced his re-election campaign via video earlier this month. He continues upon the virtual campaign trail with a Facebook Live event later today moderated by the website's founder Mark Zuckerberg. President Obama is not alone however. As Matt Lira, digital advisor for the McCain 2008 campaign has noted,  'You learn more from losing than winning sometimes.' As such, Republican hopefuls such as Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney have utilized everything from Facebook to videos to Twitter to social gaming based on Farmville as part of their respective ramp-up strategies. For more on what we are calling the virtual campaign trail, visit Jennifer Preston's excellent New York Times piece here (this article is also the source of the Matt Lira quote above).

Virtual campaign season kicked into full swing with Obama's re-election announcement

The use of technology in campaigning seems, on the balance, to be a very positive development. Sure, there could be some concerns about phishing or scams related to hacking and digital security. However, political gamesmanship is as old as politics itself, and is inevitable in any format. On the other hand, it stands to reason that the virtual campaign trail can make more local stops than any latter day whistle-stop tour ever could. And the more informed the electorate is, certainly the better it can self-determine the course of its republic. It also potentially means that sitting politicians (including in this case the President himself) can better utilize campaign time to ensure that plenty of time remains for doing the work of the people (at least in theory).

It seems that the only question remaining is whether traditional baby kissing is going to make way for the more recent development of the 'like' button. Unfortunately for the babies of America it seems likely that this tradition will remain...at least for the time being.

'Don't these things have a 'like' button or something?'

NOTE: The video posted on YouTube by the Obama campaign and embedded above is too large for our format. For those who would like to view the unadulterated version, visit YouTube here.