Obama Down With the Kids
Exit-Poll Reveals Obama's Appeal to The Internoughties
Dec 15, 2008 Christopher Wilson
A break down of the data reveals that over 60% of his voters were white, 20% black and 11% Latino. However, his appeal to young voters was perhaps the most decisive factor in his victory, with the poll showing that the Illinois senator had a 10 percent lead on his rival (52% to 42%) among voters under the age of 45. Analysts believe his advantage among the youth demographic is a result of the Obama camp’s net savvyness and the increasing importance of Internet based technologies to deliver campaign messages.
The Year the Net Came of Age in Mainstream Politics
The poll revealed that 2008 was the year in which the Internet and email came of age in the world of mainstream politics. With 46% of the electorate using the Internet, email and SMS text messaging services to keep up-to-date with the elections, the Obama camp was quick to understand the power of these facilities and accordingly threw vast amounts of its campaign budget at them; the poll shows that McCain was outspent in every field of public relations, and that the disparity in their respective campaign budgets meant that Obama was able to spend $11.9 million on his Internet campaign, outspending McCain’s $3 million in an area that proved key.
This election season bucked the trend of previous ones as more and more voters went to the Internet to stay informed. A huge 35% percent of Americans are believed to have watched campaign videos on the Net, which reveals a considerable migration to virtual sources of information. The statistic is most revealing when we consider that in 2004 the Internet played only a minor role in the delivery of election campaign information, when just over 12% of voters referred to the Net.
McCain's Decision to Stick With Public Purse Cost Him
The statistics revealed by the exit poll demonstrate that the McCain camp was outspent and outmanoeuvred in every field of public relations by its rival. This was due to Obama’s forgoing of public finance which meant he was able to raise an unprecedented $650 million of which he spent $150 million in September alone. By contrast, McCain’s decision to stick with public finance meant that he was somewhat financially hamstrung in the latter stages of the campaign, when he could only muster $84 million to spend in the months of September and October.
The Republicans assert that Obama reneged on his pledge to use the public purse and have accused him of "destroying the public finance system" and assert that his fund raising strategy was "fraught with suspicious donations and a lack of disclosure". The Democrats countered these allegations by asserting that their campaign heralded a new dawn for political fund raising.
Democrats Signal Campaign All About 'Change'
The president-elect averred that his campaign financing strategy was quintessentially democratic and accorded well with his message of change: "We have created a parallel public financing system where the American people decide if they want to support a campaign they can get on the internet and finance it, and they will have as much access and influence over the course and direction of our campaign that has traditionally been reserved for the wealthy and the powerful."
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