Politics, Ho!

    I’m going to be honest. If there’s one thing I really don’t like talking about, its politics. Maybe its because I think all politicians are corrupt, or because I just don’t find the topic to be interesting in general, but I cant bring myself to care that much about the issue. So you could probably guess that I wasn’t too enthralled to read this week’s readings, because they dealt with, “you-know-what”.

However after reading the two articles, and sitting back in my chair and conducting some deep thinking, I’ve rationalized that the Internet has become a double-edged sword for politics. On the one hand, the Internet has given politics the ability to personalize their messages to certain demographics, which help them to gather more votes. It has also allowed them to communicate with people from all over the country at the same time, and helped to make their campaigns reach every corner of the country without having to be there personally. Furthermore, the Internet has allowed politicians to form their own communities within communities, building email lists that allow voters to connect one another and build a stronger relationship between the audience and the politician.

On the other hand, the Internet has allowed the critics to have an equal amount of  power in distributing their own information. If you go on YouTube, and type President Bush, you’ll probably find more hate and criticism than a Michael Moore film. Not only that, but there have been instances where embarrassing moments have been put up on the Internet and have led to a lot of backlash, like the one guy who made the racist Native American remark while giving a speech (he was referring to the guy who was videotaping, I forget the specifics, but he called him Mackaw or something). Then of course there is the instance that Kathy brought up with the bloggers who went after Strom Thurmond. Not only has viral video led to some embarrassing moments for politicians, but the blogosphere has become a major player in the criticism of most politicians.

I thought it was interesting how Kathy discussed the different critiques of the political websites in her article. I never thought about the fact that these sites should be as easy to use as possible, since the politicians are shooting for the general populace, who won’t want to navigate through complex toolbars or site maps. After looking at the pictures of the two different websites, I found that I was more attractive to the Kerry/Edwards site because I found it to be more simplistic and easy on the eyes, compared to the Bush/Cheney one, which seemed like it belonged on FOXNews or something.

Overall I think the Internet has and continue to change the landscape of the political campaign. I think we will be getting more viral ad campaigns and personalized messages as the 08 campaign continues to rear its head towards us. Furthermore, I believe its forcing politics to rethink their strageties on how to get the common voter on their side, as they now have the ability to talk to people one-on-one without having to step anywhere near their house.

Discussion Questions:

1) Is using the Internet for campaigning cost-efficient for political parties? Or are they still paying about the same for all the advertisements and what not?

2) Do you think elections will ever be moved to the Internet or some type of electronic system in which we won’t have to go to a specific location to cast our ballot?