Internet's Influence on Politics

"Had it not been for the Internet, Barack Obama would not have become the Democratic nominee" ~John Edwards

The 2008 election is proof of the influence the Internet has over the outcome of an election; the 2008 primaries/election was amazing for many reasons. They were an opportunity to watch history in the making. The chance for American's to see one of three firsts in American history, the first African American president or the first female president or possibly the oldest president in American history. However, with so many possibilities the winner was the first African American president Barack Obama. The main reason for Obama's win was that he engaged the largest audience. In the 2008 primaries, Obama had over 1.2 million Facebook members and Obama's YouTube videos had been watched more than 56 million times by July 2008 (Anstead & Chadwick, 2008). Although these numbers are impressive, what makes them important is that these numbers helped Obama become the first African American president. In 2007 Obama was supposed to be nothing more than a long shot candidate or a potential 2012 candidate. But, due to his success online he was able to bridge the gap between him and Hilary Clinton in just a year's time. Obama having a connection to millions of followers on the Internet, allowed him to compete financially with the money Clinton had raised from her fundraiser, by having his followers make small donations.

     The 2008 election was not the only proof of the influence the Internet has over the outcome of an election. According to Anstead and Chadwick, "Over the last decade, Internet campaigning has become deeply embedded in American electoral politics (Anstead & Chadwick, 2008)." An example was Jesse Ventura who won the Minnesota Gubernatorial contest. Ventura used the net to organize rallies quickly hours before polls closed to secure his win. Other notable uses of the Internet to gain political favor were John McCain's online fundraising in 2000, Mike Huckabee's sophisticated online campaign in 2008 and Howard Dean used a lot of fundraising techniques that Obama used in 2008 to raise money in 2004 (Anstead & Chadwick, 2008). The Internet's ability to raise money gives candidates who use wisely a clear advantage. Obama raised 745 million dollars in the 2008 campaign that is more than double McCain's 368 million, who rose the second most in 2008 (Banking on Becoming President, 2008). This is proof of the influence the Internet has over the outcome of an election.

Anstead, N., & Chadwick, A. (Autumn-Winter 2008). Lessons of the US digital campaign. Renewal, 16, 3-4. p.103(8). Retrieved April 09, 2010, from Academic OneFile via Gale:
http://find.galegroup.com.dml.regis.edu/gtx/start.do?prodId=AONE&userGroupName=regis

Banking on Becoming President. (2008, October 27). Retrieved April 14, 2010, from

OpenSecrets.org: http://63.e5bed1.client.atlantech.net/pres08/index.php