mobile politics

Political ringtones, wallpapers, and SMS election updates are part and parcel of election campaigns in countries around the world -- from Spain to Kenya to the Phillipines, from Argentina to the Ukraine. It is has taken until this year's presidential election, however, for political contenders the United States to catch up.

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The American press yesterday was filled with news covering the Connecticut Senatorial democratic primary race between incumbent Joseph Lieberman and fellow democratic challenger Ned Lamont. The big news was that Liebermans website suddenly went down the night before and during the day of the election which Lieberman campaign workers said kept volunteers from doing their GOTV (Get Out The Vote) work. WIth the website down, the campaign could not access its email database nor send emails to their supporters. Some say the site was hacked, some say it was the Lamont crew that did it, others say that the fault lies with the Lieberman team not paying their bills).

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Politicians using mobile phones is not groundbreaking news. In fact, mobile phones have been pivotal to elections around the world. In South Korea many credit President Roh Moo Hyun’s election win with the mass SMS and email messages his supporters sent out in the days before the election urging people to vote. In its most recent election, India cracked down on campaigners’ use of wall graffiti and posters, so candidates found another way to spread their messages – via text messages. Spain’s election was tipped in favor of current president Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero when flash mobs organized through SMS messages took to the streets to protest the other political party. Thailand’s Election Commission sent 25 million text messages out to remind people to vote, and the Philippines is practically synonymous with mobile politics.

But the United States has lagged behind, that is until now. Hotline reports that two prominent U.S. politicians have launched their own SMS campaigns. Senator John Edwards, who is planning a 2008 presidential run, now lets his supporters sign up to receive SMS messages from him. Senator Rick Santorum, who is in the midst of a tough re-election campaign, similarly is encouraging people to sign up to receive text messages from him about his stance on the issues. His website even has directions on how to send and receive text messages, something that could be very important since many Americans still don’t text message.

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