Political Activism on the Web – Part I
I signed up for every major candidates’ email newsletter programs a couple months ago, hoping that one of them would finally understand what this communication channel could bring to political activism. I won’t get into my politics here, other than to say that I will be fair and balanced in my ripping of all major candidates and parties. Politics does not exist at MIMA.
My curiosity continues to grow as I get daily and weekly emails from the national political scene. Who’s doing the best job so far? Who lost me? Who never had me?
Here are my initial thoughts on the first round of the 2008 Web Shootout. I’ve done a little scoring system. There’s really no math logic to it, but it seemed appropriate to do. Over the coming weeks I will track who is hot and who’s flailing.
Barack Obama: – Hot
This guy gets it. Or at least his staff gets it. They were one of the first major presidential campaigns to announce their candidacy and one of the first campaigns to put out a full Web site. Aside from the fact that I don’t get the logo (some streaking red lights and a shining orb), I think they really did an amazing job at creating an information portal for voters and supporters to learn more about the Senator and where he stands on issues. Their my.barackobama.com is fascinating. I have no doubt that he will lead the pack with online donations. But that’s not my focus. My focus is on the email rhetoric and strategy.
I get pretty regular and personal emails from the Obama campaign. They’re easy to read and are typically announcing some major effort or program by the campaign. From time to time, he’ll ask for money, but it’s usually behind an event or particular interest.
Rating: 4.75/5.0
Al Franken: – Not Hot
I got an email from Al’s daughter today yabbering on about her Dad’s birthday and how great her mom was and a whole bunch of stuff not related to the issues. It was all about raising $56 from each person so she could give her dad a card or something. Truth is, I felt icky. Yes, icky.
This is a guy running for an elite position in the US Senate. The message came across as so disingenuous and contrived that it was hard to believe that a campaign like that would think it would be successful. The worst part is that I was supposed to be fooled into believing that his daughter somehow got into the email list and was sending it without her dad’s knowledge. That, my friend, is a pretty stiff federal penalty.
It gets better: I was so upset about it (aside from him being as liberal as they come) that I hit the reply button to voice my disappointment. Guess what happened? The email bounced back. Can you believe that? What kind of message does that send to his constituents? Regardless of political party, these guys need to accept emails from people — even if they can’t get to all of them. A bounce to me basically says: send us money, but don’t email us because we don’t care what your issues are.
Rating: 1.75/5.0
Next week I’ll take a look at McCain’s apparent tribute to the color: black. No matter who you are, your site should be red, white and blue. C’mon, guys, it’s America, not the eastern block.
