Posted on 07/21/2006 8:09:00 AM PDT by LNewman
In 2004 it was blogging. What will be the next techie breakthrough for getting in touch with voters? Strategists won't let it surprise them.
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As people increasingly tailor their leisure time to suit their lifestyles — through blogs, MySpace, iPods, video on demand — politicians and their promoters are facing the same problem as Hollywood and the makers of toothpaste: How do you sell your product to an increasingly fragmented audience?
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In the latest creative wrinkle, politicians are podcasting — White House hopefuls Gen. Wesley K. Clark, John Edwards and Sen. Bill Frist are among those regularly offering their downloadable ruminations — and turning up on Flickr, MySpace, YouTube and other photo- and video-sharing Internet sites.
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Fewer than 1 in 10 Americans were online in 1995, compared with nearly 8 in 10 a decade later, according to Michael Bassik, a vice president with MSHC Partners, a leading online political ad agency.
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To that end, both major parties now use their websites as organizing tools, recruiting volunteers and enlisting them to spread what is, literally, the party line. Go to http://www.gop.org and you can type in your ZIP code and glean a listing of local talk radio shows to call, "talking points" included.
"It's about building … an ongoing community," Karen Finney, a Democratic Party spokeswoman, said of the dialogue promoted on her party's website — http://www.dnc.org — which, naturally, includes a blog. "We hope to accomplish buzz," added Josh McConaha, the party's Internet director (a job that didn't exist two years ago).
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(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
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