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Does the next president have to be tech-savvy?
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promises to appoint the nation's first chief technology officer if elected.
He made mobile history by sending a text message to 2.9 million people, announcing that he had picked as his running mate Sen. Joe Biden, who isn't beloved by the geek elite. Biden scored 37.5 percent on the voter guide for CNET, a technology news site.
Sen. John McCain, meanwhile, has told the media that he doesn't send e-mails and is still getting accustomed to using the Internet. But the same doesn't go for his running mate, the BlackBerry-wielding Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has bloggers buzzing about her tech-centric lifestyle. She is also three years younger than Obama.
Does the next president need to be wired to gain the vote of the American people? It's an issue that has been raised frequently in technology communities and exploited by campaigns to gain an advantage.
"In this day and age, you've got to be seriously out of touch to not know how to use the Internet," said Ian Fisher, 24, a University of Florida law student from Plantation, who supports Obama. "My 94-year-old great-aunt knows how to use the Internet."
Obama's campaign showcased its techno-brawn by sending text messages announcing his running mate. Nielsen Mobile said it was the largest U.S. mobile marketing event.
Obviously, knowing how to text-message or blog isn't going to make or break an election. But technology is essential to culture.
"No group ever wants to think the issues that are important to them are so unimportant to the candidate that they don't bother understanding them," said Kevin M. Wagner, assistant professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University. He's writing the book "Click and Reboot: How the Internet is Revolutionizing American Politics."
"For many people, the connectivity to the president is important," Wagner said, and when a candidate says or does something that conflicts with their lifestyle, "they feel like the president can't empathize with their situation."
That might hurt McCain, who told The New York Times in July that he was not computer-savvy, saying, "I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon."
Even though McCain may not be wired on a personal level, his campaign surely has a strong online presence. Among the first ads that popped up in a search for "Biden" on Google was a McCain video. It quotes Biden when he was running for president, questioning Obama's experience. McCain's campaign outbid Obama to make sure its ad was on top.
That was a buzz topic at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, according to Ian Rowe, MTV's senior vice president of strategic partnerships.
"Senator McCain has been able to produce a number of video ads that aren't even being released nationwide on television," said Rowe, who is overseeing MTV's campaign coverage. "But because of the viral nature of the Internet, they are having as much of an impact as someone who would have purchased television time."
While critical issues for the campaign remain - like the economy, the environment, health care and the Iraq war - a growing bloc of voters are demanding that their politicians understand the importance of technology in America's future.
George Gonzalez, associate professor of political science at the University of Miami, said technology is not so much a communications instrument, but it has political implications. If there is a problem to be solved like the climate crisis, technology is promoted as the answer.
But Keith Fernandez, 21, doesn't think that being tech-savvy will be a deciding factor in this election.
"I think when Americans go out to the polls, they might be willing to overlook a lack of familiarity (with technology) by any candidate if they have a strong position on the economy or national security," said Fernandez, a Republican who supports McCain.
For Biden, the technology issue isn't so much about his wired lifestyle as it is about his past stances on technology issues like Internet freedom and privacy.
Biden has spoken out against peer-to-peer networks that allow the sharing of music and other copyrighted material. He favors allowing communications companies to hand over a user's personal information to the government, but with the intention to crack down on child pornography and piracy.
Could Biden's unpopularity with some tech-heads hurt Obama?
"Vice presidents are no longer these political props, but they are viewed as policy-makers," said Gonzalez. "That's radically different than, say, 10 years ago."
The choice of a Republican running mate was important enough for blogger Adam Brickley to push Palin as the vice presidential candidate since February 2007 on his Web site palinforvp .blogspot.com.
Dave Feinman, 29, a legislative aide to U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., says technology issues are important for some of the Democrat's constituents, but never in the context of the presidential nomination.
What's getting the buzz in Washington is the use of social-networking tools to inform and recruit a younger generation of voters.
"People want the easiest way to gain information as possible," said Feinman, who works in Washington. "If all the information is on Facebook, not only are you more likely to get people to vote for you, you're more likely to get people to come out and vote."
Both campaigns have embraced the use of sites like Facebook and YouTube. In July, BarackObama.com had 3.3 million unique viewers, and JohnMcCain.com had 1.6 million, according to Nielsen Online.
Obama currently leads in overall buzz volume on blogs and message boards.
"I think McCain could win this election without such mechanisms," Feinman said. "But I think you'll find in the years ahead, it'll be essential."
___
© 2008, The Miami Herald.
Visit The Miami Herald Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.herald.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Does the next president need to be wired to gain the vote of the American people? It's an issue that has been raised frequently in technology communities and exploited by campaigns to gain an advantage.
"In this day and age, you've got to be seriously out of touch to not know how to use the Internet," said Ian Fisher, 24, a University of Florida law student from Plantation, who supports Obama. "My 94-year-old great-aunt knows how to use the Internet."
Obama's campaign showcased its techno-brawn by sending text messages announcing his running mate. Nielsen Mobile said it was the largest U.S. mobile marketing event.
Obviously, knowing how to text-message or blog isn't going to make or break an election. But technology is essential to culture.
"No group ever wants to think the issues that are important to them are so unimportant to the candidate that they don't bother understanding them," said Kevin M. Wagner, assistant professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University. He's writing the book "Click and Reboot: How the Internet is Revolutionizing American Politics."
"For many people, the connectivity to the president is important," Wagner said, and when a candidate says or does something that conflicts with their lifestyle, "they feel like the president can't empathize with their situation."
That might hurt McCain, who told The New York Times in July that he was not computer-savvy, saying, "I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon."
Even though McCain may not be wired on a personal level, his campaign surely has a strong online presence. Among the first ads that popped up in a search for "Biden" on Google was a McCain video. It quotes Biden when he was running for president, questioning Obama's experience. McCain's campaign outbid Obama to make sure its ad was on top.
That was a buzz topic at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, according to Ian Rowe, MTV's senior vice president of strategic partnerships.
"Senator McCain has been able to produce a number of video ads that aren't even being released nationwide on television," said Rowe, who is overseeing MTV's campaign coverage. "But because of the viral nature of the Internet, they are having as much of an impact as someone who would have purchased television time."
While critical issues for the campaign remain - like the economy, the environment, health care and the Iraq war - a growing bloc of voters are demanding that their politicians understand the importance of technology in America's future.
George Gonzalez, associate professor of political science at the University of Miami, said technology is not so much a communications instrument, but it has political implications. If there is a problem to be solved like the climate crisis, technology is promoted as the answer.
But Keith Fernandez, 21, doesn't think that being tech-savvy will be a deciding factor in this election.
"I think when Americans go out to the polls, they might be willing to overlook a lack of familiarity (with technology) by any candidate if they have a strong position on the economy or national security," said Fernandez, a Republican who supports McCain.
Biden has spoken out against peer-to-peer networks that allow the sharing of music and other copyrighted material. He favors allowing communications companies to hand over a user's personal information to the government, but with the intention to crack down on child pornography and piracy.
Could Biden's unpopularity with some tech-heads hurt Obama?
"Vice presidents are no longer these political props, but they are viewed as policy-makers," said Gonzalez. "That's radically different than, say, 10 years ago."
The choice of a Republican running mate was important enough for blogger Adam Brickley to push Palin as the vice presidential candidate since February 2007 on his Web site palinforvp .blogspot.com.
Dave Feinman, 29, a legislative aide to U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., says technology issues are important for some of the Democrat's constituents, but never in the context of the presidential nomination.
What's getting the buzz in Washington is the use of social-networking tools to inform and recruit a younger generation of voters.
"People want the easiest way to gain information as possible," said Feinman, who works in Washington. "If all the information is on Facebook, not only are you more likely to get people to vote for you, you're more likely to get people to come out and vote."
Both campaigns have embraced the use of sites like Facebook and YouTube. In July, BarackObama.com had 3.3 million unique viewers, and JohnMcCain.com had 1.6 million, according to Nielsen Online.
Obama currently leads in overall buzz volume on blogs and message boards.
"I think McCain could win this election without such mechanisms," Feinman said. "But I think you'll find in the years ahead, it'll be essential."
___
© 2008, The Miami Herald.
Visit The Miami Herald Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.herald.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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