Barack Obama, The Internet & Irish Politics
Published June 19th, 2008 in GeneralI had to give a talk to a bunch of US university students last week. Towards the end of the presentation I was giving them I pointed out that they all have tremendous opportunities when they graduate, primarily because they are the MySpace generation. The year that’s in it with the US elections and Barack Obama currently on the crest of a wave will also have a lot to do with it. Everyone is sitting up and taking notice of how the Internet is being used as part of his communications campaign. Suddenly this class of graduates will be in demand as prospective employers also want to tap into this trend, but lack the in-house expertise to leverage it.
Needless to say back in Ireland (and pretty much every other western democracy in the world), communications professionals are all smelling the potential dollars that the Internet promises for future communications campaigns. Just look at the recent Lisbon Treaty campaign which saw thousands wasted on advertising on social networking websites. Oh what’s that, you didn’t read that advertising on social networks is pretty ineffective? Don’t worry it’s not your fault, the same people that sold you the adverts are the same guys that would have told you to spend the money on Second Life eighteen months ago. It’s better to be confused by the digital media consultant who tries to baffle you with clickthrough rates than get attacked by flying phallic objects halfway through your political rally in Second Life (it really did happen!)
Pundits galore are all harping on about the future role that the Internet will play in politics. So I’m going to take this moment to draw a line in the sand. Yes the Internet offers politicians offers massive potential to communicate their message. However, if their message doesn’t resonate then it will sink like a lead balloon. As the Hugh MacLeod cartoon goes, “If you talked to people the way advertising talked to people, they’d punch you in the face.”
Barack Obama has an extremely effective Internet campaign, but I think there are wider societal factors that should also be credited with its success. The generation dubbed the millennials are going to be hugely influential in the upcoming election. Race isn’t as a divisive an issue it is with previous generations, they are disconnected with the political process and they are looking for change. Barack Obama is the obvious candidate for them.
While Obama has used the Internet to connect with this important audience, it should be noted that the Web rallied the troops before their Commander in Chief arrived on the scene. In essence Obama is the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dyke about to unleash the power of a new generation of voters. He doesn’t have it entirely his own way though, as he is the target of many spurious claims in an orchestrated email campaign.
So what about Ireland? The same generation in Ireland is perhaps more digitally connected than their counterparts in the States, given the increased penetration and usage of mobile phones here. Surely Irish politicians will harness the same power in the next general election? Probably not. Politics in the US is simpler in a way, you pretty much have a choice of voting Democrat or Republican, whereas in Ireland there is a much more diverse political landscape (albeit that it tends to be dominated by the one party.) As a result, the population tends not to get as worked up like our peers in the States.
The opportunity for Irish politicians to engage the electorate online is around single issues. You only have to look at campaigns like the Evening Herald’s ‘Stop the M50 Toll Madness’, the broadband lobby or the Hill of Tara protests to see how worked up the population can get. However, the difficulty with politics is that it inevitably involves compromise and thus real change is often difficult to deliver. Adopting single issues is a way for Irish politicians to engage with voters online, but in the long run it could further the seed of dissatisfaction amongst voters in the political process. Change is a great message for Obama, but ultimately it is something he will have to deliver on. Needless to say political parties in Ireland will be watching this space very closely.
UPDATE/ If this post is of interest, make sure to read Damien Blake’s comment.
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A major difference for me is in the financial side of things.
Firstly, we’re not used to contributing actively to politics in Ireland, so the idea that a politician would use their website as a major hook for that kind of thing wouldn’t go down at all well here. There’s an obvious stigma in Ireland, that contributing towards politics is only done by those with inappropriate intentions.
Obama and Howard Dean made great use out of the Net as a fundraising tool and as an organising tool. It’s alot easier to invest a substantial amount of money in something that can generate cash, as well as engaging supporters, than something without the financial benefit.
This also means that there is less money being spent on politics in Ireland. Yes, parties spend a fortune on campaigns, but much of this goes on media buying in papers, posters and printing. We don’t have political consultants selling online engagement, we don’t have companies specialising in campaigning and we don’t see parties investing substantial amounts of time, effort and cash in newer, unproven avenues.
Politics in Ireland is still trapped in the conservative, traditional structure of the last fifty years. It is changing, but slowly. I’ve seen the massive gains that come from even minimal engagement online (through national media contacts I’d never have made as a simple town councillor), and I’ve also seen how reticent other politicians are to open up to these opportunities.
Campaigns (and parties) are run by the elder statesmen, who are more than happy to continue with the same methods that got them elected in the seventies, eighties and nineties. We saw that last week with Lisbon (although there was a single glimmer of hope from FF in that campaign - http://url.ie/gmq )
Apologies for the rambling comment!
Thanks for the comment Damien, actually think it’s really insightful and great to get a view from within the process itself.
Some very good points about Senator Obama, his internet campaign has proven quite effective compared to Senator McCain. If you check out some of his stats on Alexa, Google Trends, and the various social networks, you will see the decisive advantage he holds. This advantage has translated into many people my age (25+-) becoming involved within the political biosphere which will tip the elections come november.
In Ireland, speaking to people in college and outside college I have come to realize that there is still a disconnect between the politicans and the young adults. Part of this relates to Ireland not having a politician who is as charasmatic as Senator Obama is and the other part is indifference. Ireland is doing well politically but eventually they will reach a period of history like America has achieved where if the right person comes along with the right tools, they can achieve significant change.
As a Republican Freeholder Candidate in a Democrat controlled county and state I believe that
our first amendment rights and the popularity of modern American talk radio adds more excitement to the sport and business of politics in the USA.
What lacks in Irish politics is the passion of conviction and grass roots activism at the local level. We google our opponants names and names of their associates for opposition research.
In the USA politics is a full contact sport where the Internet bloggers U Tube and facebook are just additional tools we use together with the tried and tested methods of old shoe leather door to door retail.
I think that young people are somewhat removed from politics and political parties in Ireland. There are several reasons for this mainly Irish politics is not a cool thing to be associated with, compare Mary Harney or Brian Cowen with Obama. All the marketing in the world even through social media sites will not pull young people back to politics.