United States:With 24 US states voting today, the internet is seen as the easiest way to reach supporters, writes Jose Antonio Vargasin W ashington,
Super Tuesday isn't just draining campaigns of much-needed money and challenging their organisational mettle. It is also turning out to be a "big test" of the reach and power of the internet.
"We can only buy so much TV time, we can only physically go to so many states, so we need to rely on the internet to get our message out and engage with our supporters," says Christian Ferry, deputy campaign manager for Republican senator John McCain.
For months, candidates have posted hundreds of videos on their YouTube channels, created profiles on social networking websites and revamped their websites. Independent of the campaigns, supporters have rallied online to mobilise, donate money and build buzz around candidates, from long-shot Ron Paul, whose candidacy has been largely fuelled by his rock-star status on the internet, to Barack Obama, who is only now catching up to fellow Democratic senator Hillary Clinton in national polls but easily trumps the former first lady in online popularity.
Obama set an online record, raising more than $28 million (€18.9 million) in January.Howard Dean, known as the first internet candidate, raised $27 million online in 2004 during his entire campaign.
But the web is about more than just raising money. In many ways, it has become a force multiplier, aides say, more fully integrated in the entire campaign operation and affecting each of its facets: fundraising, communications, research and field organising.
It certainly doesn't supplant traditional door-to-door canvassing, as proven by Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, where on-the-ground organisation was key. But for today's contests, the web is the easiest and cheapest way to reach voters.
It has been a year of experimentation on the internet, all with one goal in mind: translating online enthusiasm to offline results. The rush to find new ways to use the medium to boost candidates has resulted in a "free-for-all" in which most campaigns "throw whatever they can on the wall to see what sticks", says Tim Tagaris, who led Christopher Dodd's new media team before he dropped out.
Peter Daou, Clinton's internet director, says the campaign's strategy has depended on the candidate's needs at a specific time.
Clinton's early use of YouTube, most notably her widely seen Sopranos spoof, was an effort to show her lighter side. Last night, hours before the polls open today, she was due to hold a national interactive townhall meeting that will be streamed on her website. "We can only do that online," says Daou.
Republican Mitt Romney's online features have been singled out for their sophistication. But for most of last year, more eyes were going to websites for Paul and for Mike Huckabee, who has a loyal following among Christian evangelical bloggers.
Mindy Finn, Romney's chief online strategist, says traffic to Romney's website last month - when Romney won Michigan - has increased tenfold since the website began in January 2007.
"Ultimately, our online popularity comes down to Mitt Romney himself. The tools are there. We've built what we can. It's up to him to excite voters."
The lesson for everyone: all the bells and whistles, all the innovation, don't necessarily guarantee an audience. Success online is a combination of timing, message and candidate.
"They're learning as they go along. What's been so striking about the past year is that no candidate, definitely no major candidate . . . looked at the internet warily. That doesn't necessarily mean everything that they're doing has worked," says Lee Rainie of the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
"What it does mean is that most have a video strategy, a social networking strategy, a donation strategy. Everyone's trying to do everything, for better or worse."
Michael Turk, who ran US president George Bush's online operation in 2004 and worked as a consultant for former senator Fred Thompson, is generally disappointed with most of the online operations of Democrats and Republicans alike. "From the outside looking in, it's hard to tell if the campaigns have coherent online strategies. Yes, the technology's out there. But I'm not really sure if the campaigns have moved the ball forward," he says.
Turk doesn't place blame on online advisers, most of whom aren't prominent in the campaign hierarchy. In every operation, he says, "there's a big difference between what the online team is trying to do, what it's capable of doing, and what's it's actually allowed to do".
The online experimentation has resulted in notable hits and misses. Some tactics worked, such as embedding videos in e-mails. Others, such as trying to figure out how to integrate text messaging into online mobilisation, fizzled.
The rise of social networks was the big story last year. McCain and Obama built McCainSpace and MyBarackObama, with contrasting results. From the start, McCainSpace was viewed as "a total disaster", as David All, a Republican online strategist, wrote last March on techPresident, a bipartisan group blog covering online campaigning.
MyBarackObama, meanwhile, was seen as a success, with more than 350,000 supporters.
And then there's Paul, whose "Paulites" easily rival the "Deaniacs" of four years ago. But his online popularity notwithstanding, Paul has consistently trailed far behind McCain and Romney in primary votes.
- ( LA Times-Washington Postservice)