Looking back at the 2008 Presidential Race historians and media critics are likely to note some dramatic shifts. One is the increased interest and participation on the part of young voters. The second, and clearly related, phenomenon is the use of new media technology by the candidates, their supporters, and their detractors. One example of consumer-generated new media in a supporting role is the We Are The Ones music video by the Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am. The title comes from Senator Obama’s Super Tuesday speech in which he said, “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” On the same website you can upload your photo to contribute to a picture montage of the video.
On a more sinister note, Matt Druge posted an image on his website of Obama in traditional Somali garb. Drudge reported that the photo was sent to him by Clinton operatives, who Obama’s camp accused of fear-mongering.
But these developments are just the tip of the iceberg. A couple of months ago YouTube partnered with CNN for a televised debate…the highlight of which was a question about global warming asked by a snowman! Someone uploaded a parody spot for Obama featuring Senator Hillary Clinton as Big Bro in the classic 1984 spot for Macintosh. And don’t forget Senator John Edwards feeling pretty. Before that was Obama Girl, who is now trying to cash in on her 15 minutes of fame with her own blog. And before her there was Senator George Allen’s “macaca” moment, Dan Rather’s “memogate,” Senator Foley’s sexually explicit emails to pages, Howard Dean’s scream, and the Lewinski affair brought to light by the Drudge Report. New media and politics…its a powerful, and potentially dangerous, combination!
I believe that this presidential race shows just how important and powerful media can be. Being able to televise a debate is one thing along with watching it again on CNN when political critics tear both candidates apart. But to stream it live or to have it ready to be seen by anyone at any time on Youtube allows for many more that would have otherwise not have seen or cared about debates. With mass media and the introduction of “new” media the political world is starting to show how important being able to reach different generations in different ways in order to convey your message to the maximum number of people. Mass media is a powerful tool and whichever politician uses it the best will win.
Whether you’re a republican or democrat, liberal or conservative, you know that one thing is certain. Barack Obama ran a genius presidential campaign. Like the blog discusses, President Obama attacked the young vote and successfully captured it with an unbelievable high percentage of voters. The 2008 presidential election was extremely special because all eligible voting age groups were involved. I feel the reason that President Obama was able to seize the young vote was due to his advertisements on the internet and popular social networking sights. Also, for the first time in campaign history, Obama ran an advertisement in video games, one of them being Madden 2009. This is a form of advertising that we have discussed greatly in class, which is product placement. Instead of a company or a product, Obama uses his own name as the brand name. Overall, this is a genius idea.
With the way the race is going I figured something like this would have happened. I mean when I think about the presidential race I think about old people voting. Now that they decided to go on-line and try and reach the kids I feel as if most of us young adults and kids know more about the society and there world. This race is heating up and all the candidates are doing a really good job trying to get the younger generation involve. By far I think this is the best thing the media has done for me in a long time and I now have a different outlook on society and the democratic race.
I credit the increase in young voters interest in the 2008 Presidential Race to the fact that there is information on the election in areas that young voter are, such as the internet, television, and movie videos i.e. The Black Eye using Senator Obama’s words in their new music video is a smart move because by doing so their song will now be heard by people that wouldn’t usually listen to their music but do because it involves a quote from their candidate and they want to hear what else is being said in the song. Matt Druge posting that picture of Senator Obama is the part of politics that I don’t agree with and that the down-grading of one candidate instead of just boosting your candidates case and views. YouTube’s access to television debates makes them accessible to plenty more voter than if it was just to come on CNN, plus people can view this debates as many times as they need to.
I believe they should have filtered some of the more rediculous videos in that debate. To much of anything is bad for you. In this case the involvement of the online postings drew attention away from the debate.