Obama's Facebook Campaign

By CBSNews.com's Arnie Seipel

From Obama's entrance music — "Waiting on the World to Change" — to the signs waved by the audience, the event felt like the work of professionals. But for the most part, planners of the "Yes We Can" rally, Students For Barack Obama, cannot drink legally, and if they didn't vote in 2004, it was likely because they were just shy of 18 years old.

The organization started as a group on Facebook, the social networking Web site that has emerged as a staple of college life and has become a key tool for a new generation of politically-engaged students.

Founded as "Barack Obama for President in 2008" by 20-year-old Meredith Segal, the group has grown to include field operations and communications and finance directors, among others.

Segal, now the group's executive director, said Students For Barack Obama has grown far beyond what many people would expect for an organization run by college students. "There are a lot of kids out there who don't connect with politics, but care about this country and care about our future," she said.

The experience has been a crash course in political campaigning for Segal, a junior at Bowdoin College, a small liberal arts school in Maine. "In the past two months I've learned everything, from how to work with a union print shop to order a banner, to how to get a sound system working for an event," she said.

Segal doesn't appear driven by a desire to pad her resume — she is majoring in neuroscience and education and plans to work in those fields after completing her education. Instead, she said, she was compelled to act after becoming familiar with Obama, whose keynote address to the 2004 Democratic National Convention "excited and inspired" her.

Tobin Van Ostern, Segal's deputy, has handled Web design for other political groups, but said the success of Students For Barack Obama has amazed him in its growth from a Facebook group into a "real-world grassroots organization."

Vas Ostern, an 18-year-old freshman at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., said Facebook is a potent tool not just for the campaigns, but for anyone who wants to support their favored candidate. "Now every political candidate has a Facebook page, so not only are we able to connect like that, but also this idea of taking it to a Web site and starting a grassroots [effort] from Facebook works well," he said.

Obama is one of many candidates with a presence on social networking Web sites. All the major presidential hopefuls, including Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., and Republican Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, have groups supporting them on Facebook and MySpace.

Of course, sites populated by college students are not without a sense of humor. Other "candidates" with groups of supporters include Kermit the Frog, Borat, Oprah Winfrey, Jon Stewart and David Palmer, the president from Fox's "24" who is not only fictional, but also was killed off last year.

There are more than 100 Facebook groups supporting Obama's candidacy, and the group that spawned Students For Barack Obama now has over 56,000 members. It is not the most populated group supporting Obama, but works closely with the largest, "One Million Strong For Barack."

That group was started by Farouk Olu Aregbe, a 2005 graduate of the University of North Dakota. Aregbe said his group has grown faster than any other in Facebook's three-year history. Over 220,000 members joined between Jan. 16, when the group started, and Feb. 5.

Obama's Appeal

In his speech at George Mason, Obama showed an awareness of his popularity among the crowd. "I have become a vehicle for your hopes and your dreams...ultimately it is going to be you who are going to carry it home," he said.

Obama directly addressed how youths can affect the political arena. "It's not going to change unless young people change it," he said. "I'm absolutely confident that America will change, and it will change for the better."

Famid Sinha, the communications director of Students For Barack Obama, sought to blunt criticism about Obama's experience.

"Rather than experience, what is important is competence, vision, the ability to work on both sides of the aisle, and I believe Barack Obama absolutely has those credentials," he said.

Sinha, a University of Pennsylvania senior, said Obama "is really able to reach people because he's just like a normal guy. A big part of it is the kind of hope and inspiration that Sen. Obama resonates."

The senator touched on those themes himself, recalling the sermon of a Chicago pastor that inspired the title of Obama's best-selling book, "The Audacity of Hope."

Though the rally was mostly attended by George Mason students who heard about it on campus, the event also drew supporters from other area colleges, as well as young voters from Michigan, Florida and Obama's hometown, Chicago — all thanks to Facebook.

Katie Pattison, a student at American University in Washington, D.C., said the Facebook movement "shows that [Obama] has a really strong base in the younger generation because Facebook is a lifeline in college."

Another American University student, 20-year-old Allen Xu, said Obama's embrace of Facebook makes him more appealing to college-age voters. "The fact that [the rally] was organized on Facebook seems like he's kind of extending a hand to us," he said. "He's really trying to get to the college student vibe."

Obama's effort seems to be working, if the George Mason rally is any evidence. He evoked loud cheers as he neared the end of his speech.

However, not all the students were on board. George Mason student Griffin Emerson, wearing a College Republicans shirt, described Obama's ability to connect with younger voters as "a novelty."

Others liked what they saw, but were far from being sold on Obama. Borche Leonard, also a George Mason student, said Obama was effective at the rally, but that she was also considering other candidates.

"He's trying to bring it back to what we want," she said of Obama, but added, "I want to see what Hillary has to say."

By Arnie Seipel