A quick footnote to some of the stuff we were writing about on the old blog, viz. the use of 'new' social media in the US Primary races (particularly Obama's campaign), and new models of consumer 'ownership', such as Slicethepie in music and Ebbsfleet United in football.
Whilst relaxing in the rain this weekend, I noticed this article in the Sunday Times, which brings the two things together nicely, by contrasting the Obama & Clinton campaigns' approach to fundraising and activation. As you may or may not know, the Clintons are struggling for cash - she only has $6m in the bank, compared to Obama's $38m. And she's $10m in debt, Obama just $2m. Expensive business, democracy.
This is all the more remarkable when you consider that Clinton is the biggest 'name' in the Democratic party. How did this happen?
Well, we've talked before about momentum and 'Big Ideas' on the campaign trail. When we wrote about this, Obama was on a winning streak. He's been pegged back a bit now, but is still massively ahead in fundraising. The answer seems to be his use of the internet to raise money and mobilise support.
Changes to campaign finance law in 2002 meant that the maximum single individual donation was limited. In this election to $2,300. What Obama has done is set the bar lower, at $200, and transformed his website into a social networking zone, so the message goes viral. The key is not hundreds of big donations, but thousands of little ones.
And it's working. Of the $31m the campaign raised in April, 94% of it came from donations of $200 or less. In February, $45m was raised online, without Obama hosting a single 'fundraiser'.
This last point is important. This new model not only raises more money, and involves more people in the process, but it frees up time for the candidate as well. Everybody wins.
As Peter Leyden of the New Politics Institute says "What's amazing is that Hillary built the best campaign that has ever been done in Democratic politics on the old model - she raised more money, locked down the party stalwarts...really mastered this top-down, command and control type outfit. But she's getting beaten by this political start-up that is essentially a totally different model of politics".
-- Toby
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