In examining the 2008 Presidential Election from a marketing and public relations standpoint, I have always been curious about the most effective marketing tools in the political realm. In 2008, technology is making it easier than ever to not only vote, but gather information and form an opinion. Technology also is helping to reel in the interest of the ever so elusive 18-25 yrs. voting group.
PR.com released a press release Jan. 24th, describing the official launch of a social networking site called mycampaignplatform.com. This new and innovative website does not have the intent on guiding you towards choosing a particular candidate – it concentrates on the issues at hand, forcing you to take sides on specific issues facing the candidates rather than “copping out” and just siding with your chosen candidate on every issue. The website, designed to be non-affiliated, gives users the ability to create their own personalized campaign platform and run in a mock presidential elections. Vice President Kim Murdock says of the site: “We came up with the idea because we constantly hear people criticize political candidates. But what would they do if they ran for president?....By designing the site, we’re giving people the opportunity to see if they could win….We’re also giving people a chance to think critically and learn.” Mycampaign.com, while still in the early stages and no doubt will need to continually evolve, seems like a promising realm especially for young voters who may not know where they stand on the exact issues facing presidential candidates. There is certainly nothing like it thus far on the web, and it will be interesting to see if it takes off or not. Read the press release here.
Speaking of technology engaging the younger voters, this attention grabbing press release also graced PR.com on January 31st. The National Youth Political Action Coalition (NYPAC) has announced the launch of the “TxtVoter Campaign.” In this groundbreaking use of technology, Americans have the ability to text the keyword “register” followed by their name and address to 74574, where the campaign gets the message and then mails you a voter registration card. Executive Directior of NYPAC Taylor Brannon stated that he hopes that this is the first step to eventually having the ability to vote through cellular phones.
Maybe it’s just me, and maybe I’m old fashioned, but I think part of the civic duty and even the attraction of voting is going to the polls and casting your vote like a traditional American. I wonder what our founding fathers would say if they saw us texting in our votes…However, in this day and age, to keep up with the times you must evolve – almost nothing which is stagnant succeeds in America.
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