June 26, 2008
McCain's Online Boosters Wage Uphill Fight
Washington Post: Republican's Internet Presence Lags Far Behind Obama's
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Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., greets supporters after an environmental briefing at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History in Santa Barbara, Calif., Tuesday, June 24, 2008. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
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Photo Essay John McCain Some call him a hero, some a maverick. Will Americans call him Mr. President?
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Photo Essay Barack Obama A look at the life and meteoric rise of the president-elect.
Ryan Mitsotakis is 19 years old, a sophomore at New York University and -- as his Facebook page practically screams -- a stalwart John McCain fan. He's also a history buff, which is why he reaches back a few decades to describe his life as a McCainiac on the Internet.
"Think of the Battle of Bastogne, a central part of the Battle of the Bulge, during World War II," he says, recalling the overwhelmed Allied forces in 1944 Belgium. "Obama supporters far outnumber McCain supporters, and it's like, it feels like, we're under siege.
"It can be a little lonely."
No doubt. Less than five months before Election Day, with polls showing the presumptive Democratic nominee holding a slight edge over his Republican counterpart, there's one place where Obama unequivocally trumps McCain: the Web. And what's most telling about the online drubbing is its spontaneous, grass-roots nature -- the way Obama's Internet portrait is drawn and refreshed every day by enthusiastic supporters, whose blogging, YouTubing and networking aren't controlled or limited by any campaign.
That's best seen on the Big Three social networking sites -- soc-nets, in onlinespeak -- where the junior Illinois senator beats the senior Arizona senator right into the ground. On MySpace, Obama lists more than 401,000 friends to McCain's nearly 56,000. A similar sevenfold gap exists on Facebook, where Obama supporters number 1,040,185 while McCain's clock in at 152,570.
And on YouTube, it's like Obama and McCain operate in two separate layers of the atmosphere. McCain's channel, which has posted 208 videos, has been viewed 3.7 million times; Obama's more than 1,100 videos on his channel have been viewed 53.4 million times.
The most obvious reason for the gap is age: Young voters are the savviest online users, and most of them flocked to Obama in the primaries. But the Internet's potential political effect is by no means limited to voters younger than 30. According to a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project released last week, 46 percent of all Americans -- young and old -- have used the Web to get news about the campaign, share their opinions and mobilize friends, relatives and co-workers.
And as Obama has made clear, online is where the money is.
"Look, online popularity isn't everything, but it is an undeniable force. Obama was able to out-raise and out-strategize the Clinton machine because of donations coming from the Internet," says Matt Pace of Compete.com, which tracks online grass-roots enthusiasm for candidates.
But McCain hasn't been tapping that source: "If we go back more than a year ago, the libertarians online rallied behind Ron Paul, while social conservatives split between Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson and later Mike Huckabee. John McCain was not really in the picture," Pace continues. "Now, libertarians are still behind Ron Paul, even though he's not in the race anymore, and social conservatives are deflated that McCain is on the top of the ticket. That leaves McCain at a disadvantage."
The challenge exists outside of soc-nets. Though Obama has his share of online detractors, McCain comes under fire not only within the liberal blogosphere -- check the comments on any McCain-related blogs or articles in the liberal site HuffingtonPost.com-- but also within segments of the conservative blogosphere. On TownHall.com, one of the leading conservative sites, "the activist, grass-roots community hasn't completely warmed up to him," says Matt Lewis, a blogger and director of operations at the site.
To be fair, McCain has been successful online in the past. He stunned Republicans when he raised $1 million online within 48 hours after beating George Bush in the 2000 New Hampshire primary.
And these days, he may have some hidden friends. "I'm in the closet about being a McCain supporter," says University of Illinois med student Chase Donaldson, 23. When he was an undergrad at the liberal-leaning St. Olaf College near Minneapolis, Donaldson says, conservative students were wary of letting teachers learn their political views. And not all of his conservative friends, he says, are for McCain. So online, he's not a member of any pro-McCain Facebook groups.
Some net-savvy Republicans unconnected to the McCain campaign have taken it upon themselves to make up ground. After McCain clinched the nomination in March, Patrick Ruffini, who served as webmaster for the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2004 and advised Rudy Giuliani on his Web strategy, created a Facebook group, "The John McCain Facebook Challenge." The group has about 6,300 members -- not exactly a groundswell. But Ruffini is optimistic.
"I don't know if McCain will beat Obama on these sites, or that he even needs to," he says. Hillary Clinton "was never as popular as Obama online, and she got close to getting the nomination."
On YouTube, there's a channel called "FansofMcCain" created by a singer named Ed -- he declines to give his last name -- who has written "a 1960s, surf-rock kind of tune" set to a slide show of McCain photos: "As a prisoner of war, he stood by his country. As a member of Congress, he's done the same." And there's a one-minute mash-up of images, text and videos evoking McCain's heroism called "McCain Generation" that was posted in April by Ethan Eilon, head of the College Republican National Committee.
Eilon's video has been viewed about a thousand times. Ed's surf-rock number has been viewed about 2,700 times.
Compare that with the YouTube channel called BraveNewFilms, founded by the liberal filmmaker Robert Greenwald. The channel's "The Real McCain" series is a YouTube hit, with a three-minute mash-up titled "McCain's YouTube Problem Just Became a Nightmare." It's a volley of quick clips showing McCain apparently contradicting himself again and again. In its final seconds, McCain says firmly, "I voted against the tax cuts." Instantly afterward, he's seen saying, "I've always been for tax cuts."
"Nightmare" has been viewed more than 2.5 million times.
You can do the math, but the McCain supporters say they're not giving up. Ask Mitsotakis, the 19-year-old history buff. He first heard of McCain while watching a documentary on the History Channel. Like McCain, he supports the Iraq war. "We needed to get rid of Saddam," he says, "and we cannot pull out now because of security, economic and humanitarian consequences."
He regularly comments on McCain's Facebook page. Last Sunday, he posted a link to a news story on Facebook and headlined it: "Obama and the Dems won't admit progress in Iraq, but Iran will."
Returning to the World War II analogy, he says: "I feel like the Americans in Bastogne, which is not to say that the Obama supporters are the Nazis. That's not what I'm saying.
"It's just the experience of being surrounded but still holding strong, still going, still fighting."
Because in the end, as Mitsotakis likes to point out, the outnumbered troops won the battle.
By Jose Antonio Vargas
© 2008 The Washington Post Company
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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See all 43 CommentsDid you seriously just say this?! first off..i cant even believe you would ever compare hitler to anybody that is running for president..and if you were it should have been McCain. he''s the one that doesnt care about the american people. just because you''re a racist *** that obviously doesnt know your facts, doesnt give you the right to sit here and bash the future president of the U.S. And for the un-educated people like yourself..that would be Obama! thank God. but yes..he will help the black minority..and every other person in the country..because in the past 8 years everyone has became less wealthy. except of course bush''s friends in the oil business. McCain will do the exact same thing that Bush has. Obama is the only person, as of now, that will be capable of picking up the pieces from Bush. We cannot afford another president EXACTLY like him. it was a mistake that he won the first time..and he fooled the american people people the second time, and nobody like him is going to get elected!!!
Posted by RGRXX175
Talk about spinning a load of *** into and arguement, you did the best job of that I have ever seen.
Posted by guysdigdirt
McCain adviser: Another attack on the U.S. %u2018would be a big advantage%u2019 for McCain.;
Earlier this year, after former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto was tragically assassinated, pundits speculated that the shocking attack may have benefited Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) politically. Now, McCain%u2019s chief strategist, Charlie Black, tells Fortune that the %u201Cunfortunate event%u201D of Bhutto%u2019s death %u201Chelped us.%u201D Asked if another terrorist attack on U.S. soil would help McCain as well, Black told Fortune that it would be %u201Ca big advantage to him%u201C:
The assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December was an %u201Cunfortunate event,%u201D says Black. %u201CBut his knowledge and ability to talk about it reemphasized that this is the guy who%u2019s ready to be Commander-in-Chief. And it helped us.%u201D As would, Black concedes with startling candor after we raise the issue, another terrorist attack on U.S. soil. %u201CCertainly it would be a big advantage to him,%u201D says Black.
Posted June 27, 2008
John McCain kind of stepped in it the other day, here in California, but luckily no one noticed. He was being driven from John Wayne airport to a fundraiser, and he took a quick call from Martin Wisckol of the Orange County Register. Wisckol asked him a series of softball questions so tedious McCain''s driver had to crack the window so the breeze would keep him from passing out, but then this:
WISCKOL: I''d like to ask you a couple questions suggested by voters here. They''re not reporter-type questions.
McCAIN: Sure. It''d be a pleasure.
WISCKOL: When was the last time you pumped your own gas and how much did it cost? %u2028
McCAIN: Oh, I don''t remember. Now there''s Secret Service protection. But I''ve done it for many, many years. I don''t recall and frankly, I don''t see how it matters. I''ve had hundreds and hundreds of town hall meetings, many as short a time ago as yesterday. I communicate with the people and they communicate with me very effectively.
Blaming this on Bush? Blame him for global warming, sun spots, wildfires and hot spells too. What a reach.
2. a Trillion dollar deficit,
As a % or GDP we have been higher. There are reasons to go into debt.guysdigdirt"
oilprices in 2000 when bush assumed office .$20 abarrel, today ,,$141 a barrel. remember his big energy policy meeting ? oh thats right , no one but big oil was allowed .. and since then ..up up up .
2: a trillion dollar deficit? it was 4.5 trillion when he took office its 9 trilion . doubled .. deficits only matter when you think democrats spend that way is what i hear you saying ..
Blaming this on Bush? Blame him for global warming, sun spots, wildfires and hot spells too. What a reach.
2. a Trillion dollar deficit,
As a % or GDP we have been higher. There are reasons to go into debt.
3. record foreclosures
One more loser attempt to blame Bush for you using your home like an ATM card.
4. plummeting economy and joblessness,
If you educated yoruself you would see we have had little unemployment and it is dropping right now too. The economy has been thriving and while we are in a hard spot due to your errors in #3 above, it will turn and is part of a normal cycle.
5. our country beggared to China (who is funding our $12 billion/m fraudulent war in Iraq ------ a country which had NO links to terror or 911)
China has been a lender to the US far before Clinton was even in office. The entire world has invested in US TSY debt as we are the stable force in the world.
If you really think IRAQ has never been involved i nterrorism you are a real loser.
6. An administration virtually awash in record numbers of felony indictments, convictions and unanswered subpoenas
But still behind Clintons administration.
7. the GAO alleging unprecedented misappropriation of hundreds of billions of dollars of your money.
See number 6
Posted by psy_war
Posted by RGRXX175
Talk about spinning a load of *** into and arguement, you did the best job of that I have ever seen.
Who suggests Obama is %u201CA Marxist hypocrit. Sad.%u201D
Posted by psy_war at 09:36 AM : Jun 27, 2008
Yeah, it''s sad when this Marxist shill bought the nomination. We could''ve had a real democrat in the White House, and there''s a possibility this screwed up Marxist shill might get in there. THAT''S SAD!
MCCAIN 2008-2012
Posted by RowdyWicca
LOL - this article is about Rowdy! How lonely she is, and how unappreciated for all those hours of work ignoring the facts of the articles she is commenting on, and manufacturing her own numbers, and just generally making things up.
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