Web 2.0 meets Campaign 2008

Podcasts and videos are among the features found on the interactive websites of US presidential candidates.

from the May 16, 2007 edition

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Rise of Internet politics

The rise of Internet politics began in the mid-1990s and has been growing ever since. The number of people relying on the Internet for political news jumped from 7 percent to 15 percent between the 2002 and 2006 midterm elections and grew fivefold in the past 10 years, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

The rise of the Web also poses risks for politicians. Just ask former Sen. George Allen (R) of Virginia, who made a racial comment that was caught on video and posted on YouTube last summer, marking the beginning of the end of his reelection campaign. Today, candidates are forewarned.

"I assume there's a camera there at all times, because you have to," McCain said in a recent interview with YouTube's news and politics editor. But that did not prevent him from singing "Bomb Iran" to the tune of Beach Boys song "Barbara Ann" when asked what to do about Iran. Another made-for-YouTube moment was born.

Candidates are also having a hard time controlling their "brand" on the Web. On big sites like MySpace, some candidates have both official and unofficial pages. When the Obama campaign recently took control of a volunteer's MySpace page carrying the senator's name, the dustup created bad publicity for Obama.

Will Web draw in new voters?

But the ultimate question remains to be answered: In a nation notorious for low voter turnout, will the Web succeed in bringing Americans into the process who would otherwise have stayed out? Or would the growing numbers of people getting their politics via the Web be politically active anyway?

That question has been around for a decade, and now, with the development of Web 2.0, is being asked anew. Indeed, voter turnout has risen in recent elections, but there are many variables at play. Turnout expert Curtis Gans attributes the recent rise to polarization – specifically over President Bush and Iraq – not the Web.

Bruce Bimber, an expert on technology and politics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, believes the jury is still out regarding the Web's ability to stimulate new engagement in politics. "So far, no one's shown it to be true, but no one's shown it not to be true," he says.

Hope for youth turnout

The growth of the Web's social-networking aspects had spurred particular hopes for driving up turnout among young adults, as the demographic most comfortable with new technologies. But Kotecki, the soon-to-be Georgetown grad with a following on YouTube, believes the desire for interaction with candidates is universal.

"I think the hunger for a real dialogue – for someone to speak directly to the voters, without a media consultant standing between them and what they're saying – is palpable no matter how old you are," he says. "Once politicians start to do this, it will resonate with people."

This just up: Late Friday afternoon, Kotecki posted a new presidential candidate interview on YouTube called "Senator Mike Gravel Visits My Dorm Room." It looks like Kotecki has straightened up his dresser.

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