Jack & Jill Politics

The Internet is the Obama campaign’s no-so-secret weapon. Unlike Bill Clinton and John McCain, Obama ain’t no punk when it comes to using modern technology like um, computers, email, social networking, blackberry, etc. The NYTimes has a good article on the influence Chris Hughes, one of the Facebook founders, has had on the campaign. Here’s a quote from Obama himself on the importance of using contemporary communications techniques to reach the people:

Mr. Obama, now the presumptive Democratic nominee, credits the Internet’s social networking tools with a “big part” of his primary season success.

“One of my fundamental beliefs from my days as a community organizer is that real change comes from the bottom up,” Mr. Obama said in a statement. “And there’s no more powerful tool for grass-roots organizing than the Internet.”

Photo credit: Doug Mills/The New York Times shows Obama with his Blackberry. I’m sort of surprised it’s not an iPhone! Why is this important? A hot-off-the presses Pew Internet report on the 2008 Elections and the Internet shows that being internet-savvy counts in politics now.

“Among Democrats, Obama’s supporters are more likely than Hillary Clinton’s supporters to be internet users — 82 % vs. 71%.”

Unsurprisingly, the survey found that almost two thirds of Obama supporters get their political news and information on the internet, versus 56% of McCain supporters.

The survey also finds that Obama supporters are more “more politically active social networking users than McCain supporters when the two candidates are compared head to head.”