'eCampaign' attracts young demographic of voters

In addition to his Purple Heart, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, and Distinguished Flying Cross, Arizona Senator John McCain, 71, was awarded for his service in World War II. McCain boasts 30,926 supporters on Facebook and 43,070 friends on MySpace.

For the first time since 1928, there is no incumbent President or Vice President running for election. This open election in both parties has led to a fascinating primary season which will last far past Super Tuesday. The synthesis of an open election and the revolutionary technology available to each candidate has transformed the 2008 race into the first true 'eCampaign.' More prominent than ever, blogs, online videos, and Internet campaign advertisements have filled the political spectrum.

Now, candidates are courting votes on college campuses by connecting with students via Facebook and MySpace. According to his Facebook page, McCain enjoys watching Jack Bauer save the world on "24" and a show about nothing in "Seinfeld" while not on the campaign trail. If you enjoy watching McCain speak, his Facebook and MySpace pages host more than 25 videos including campaign commercials, his latest interview on Fox News Channel, and his victory speech in South Carolina.

In an interview with the Washington Post, former Howard Dean strategist Joe Trippi was astonished by the impact Facebook was having on the current election.

"It took our campaign (in 2004) six months to get 139,000 people on an e-mail list," Trippi said. "It took one Facebook group, what, barely a month to get 200,000? That's astronomical."

While this phenomenon on the right side of the aisle plays out, college-age Democrats are drifting in the more predictable direction. Barack Obama, 46, is the youngest candidate in the field, making him more attractive to younger voters. His campaign courts votes on college campuses, interacts with supporters online, and relies heavily on the organization of student-age voters.

Hilary Clinton's campaign, however, has tried to counter the Obama movement among young voters. Crystal Patterson, the official blogger for the Clinton campaign, updates their website with excerpts from recent endorsements, videos of Senator Clinton, and transcripts of stump speeches. Even Mrs. Clinton's official announcement to run for the Oval Office came on the Internet.

Despite Clinton's best efforts, Obama continues to dominate the youngest voting demographic. In the most highly contested Democratic primaries and caucuses, Obama wins among 18- to 24-year-olds by an average of nearly 37 points. It's probably not Obama's taste in music, which according to Facebook includes John Coltrane, J.S. Bach, and The Fugees, but Barack Obama has a unique ability to excite young Democrats and offer them hope for a united country.

Saint Joseph's alum, T.J. DeLucia '07, an Obama supporter, said, "I think that Senator Obama can unite this country. He can unite the Democrats and bring in Independents and some moderate Republicans."

The website, http://www.techpresident.com, tracks each presidential candidate's web statistics based on the number of clicks on a site or references in the blogosphere. Of the candidates who have won at least one primary or caucus, McCain and Obama lead their respective fields. McCain ranks first in friends on MySpace and references in blogs. Obama currently leads Democrats in friends on MySpace and Facebook, hits on YouTube, and references throughout the blogging community.

"One thing that people learned from Howard Dean is that online enthusiasm doesn't necessarily translate at all into actual votes," said Joshua Levy, an original founder of Tech President in an interview with the Arizona Republic.

This sentiment captures the state of the Ron Paul campaign. The "Ron Paul Revolution" includes wins in nearly every Internet straw poll, a plethora of e-friends on Facebook and MySpace, and zero primary victories. Tech President shows that Paul doubles his closest competition on YouTube hits and triples other candidates on MySpace. Yet, while Paul continues to be the most popular internet candidate, his best showing at the ballot box was a distant second place finish in Nevada where he fell short by 37 percent of the vote.

McCain and Obama don't have very much in common in spite of their identical profession. McCain is the Commander-in-Chief candidate with military expertise and strong experience. Obama is the new face in Washington who hopes to bring change and unite the country. NBC News and the Wall Street Journal published the latest poll based on a hypothetical election between the two candidates. The poll found that both McCain and Obama would receive 42 percent of the vote, while six percent remain undecided. I wouldn't expect to see McCain write on Obama's wall any time soon.