Send An SMS To The World
The next revolution might not be televised or computerized -- try mobilized. As of Thursday, there are two national political figures starting text messaging campaigns. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) and John Edwards are the first to implement it in a U.S. political campaign, although the technology has been talked about for years among D.C. technology circles.
John Edwards' One America Committee launched his text message campaign Thursday. Users can sign up on the Web site and give their name, email and cell phone number to receive periodic updates, according to a rep from Edwards' internet team. Their cell phone will receive a text message from "John" within a minute. Those who sign up for the service can expect to get a note from Edwards while he's on the road or a message to call their respective members of Congress about an important piece of legislation.
Santorum debuted his SMS campaign at a Women For Rick breakfast last week hosted by Mary Matalin, who demonstrated the new technology for the open event. Internet director Mindy Finn said they chose the all-female crowd because women tend to be busier and use their cell phones in more creative ways. Santorum's camp asked for cell phone numbers at the door, and later sent guests a thank-you message for attending. Starting in July, the campaign plans to use more of the technology with issue-based messages, such as a text on Santorum's work on immigration. They also have plans to integrate SMS into their direct mail and perhaps television and radio ads. As Finn put it, the opportunities are "limitness." [SHIRA TOEPLITZ]
Limitless, indeed. There's been talk about using the technology for Get Out The Vote, targeting supporters through their area code to go to a nearby rally and sending short movie clips to phones suited for video. The next big mobile step? Donating to campaigns via cell phone, which currently isn't without its legal and technological glitches.
But the new medium comes with its 128-character-limit concerns. Primarily, will voters reject a message from a politician that they must pay for on their cell phone bill? And will only core supporters, i.e. not undecided voters, sign up for the messages? The platform is more expensive than e-mail, both in startup and transaction fees. But most supporters of the platform look to international examples to prove otherwise. South Korean youth used the new technology during last year's election to gather for rallies under the conservative media's radar. And because U.S. campaigns like Edwards and Santorum are only beginning to experiment with it, it will be months -- perhaps even until '08 -- until it's determined to be an effective medium for political communication [SHIRA TOEPLITZ].
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