Well, apparently it's been confirmed, though not officially announced, that Obama picked Joe Biden for VP. I guess this was a wise choice, considering that Americans expect at least one white balding man on every presidential ticket. I look forward to the day when that's not the case. Anyway, I'm eager to find out more about Biden. What does he believe in, and as a career senator, how does he fit into Obama's vision of change?
Just one more thing: where was the text message you promised? I'd much rather have found out from the source, rather than from CNN gossip telivision!
OK this is huge. This is "it's the economy stupid" huge.
McCain's brain is in the typewriter age. His campaign thinks email and text messaging information to suscribers is a radically expensive outreach to youth. This shows the candidates comfort level with technology and almost more importantly, his comfort level with dealing with tech savvy people. THIS SHOWS THAT MCCAIN DOES NOT LISTEN TO PEOPLE WHO ARE COMFORTABLE USING TECHNOLOGY TO COMMUNICATE.
OK. K.I.S.S.
Obama understands current technology. This is the technology not of high school students IMing for dates, but business people with blackberries, sales people and farmers.
My 79 year old Mother has a cell phone and emails daily. How can Mccain develop an economic policy depending on technology and green jobs when he is not as tech savvy as my 79 year old mother?
How can someone keep us globally competitive who does not know how to Google?
How can McCain run a modern war when all of his assumptions and reactions are based on 40 year old experience and tactics? He is stuck in the VIetnam era, and we lost that war.
Who can lead us into the future? WHo can help find tomorrows solutions today? Not Mccain. He does not understand todays solutions.
Sorry still geeking out.
Find out via text message the moment Barack makes his VP choice by texting VP to 62262.
Or click here to find out who the VP choice is via email.
Show of hands. How many of you have forwarded a text message on your cell phone? Ever? Not the kind of text message that will curse you if you don't forward it to 12 of your closest friends in the next 12 seconds but, the kind of message that generally informs or entertains. Is your hand up?
Ok. Imagine it was election day in Indiana. You were registered with the Obama campaign online as a supporter. They had your cell phone number. And, still there was no text message that day urging you to support Barack Obama today at the polls. Imagine that you could forward this message, if in fact you had received it, to other voters in your state. Imagine if that text message was even biggied up a bit and it had a sound bite of Barack Obama and a video or photo of him from the huge get out the vote rally the nite before.
Yea. That would be good. It's time to turn our dreams into reality. Do what I did on election day. Make up your own text message and send it to everyone you know. Surprisingly, I got several back from (Yikes) Republicans saying that for the first time in their lives they had requested a Democrat ballot so that they could support Barack Obama. Hopefully the campaign has or will have a text message program running in the upcoming primaries and in the general election. Campaigning and elections are changing in America and it's time we take the message to where the people are and utilize the communications device we all touch the most...cell phones.
Text your support America...FWD...
A busy week on all of our growing social networks! Our Wisconsin MySpace friends were active this week getting out the vote...
"Sherbert" in Kenosha, WI writes, "[I] made phone calls for several hours last night and again today as my husband hit the neighborhoods despite the single digit chill. We're working hard for Obama in Wisconsin!"And the Texas Democratic Party/CNN Debate was the major discussion point on all our social networks this week, including our text message community...Natasha from Florida wrote in on BlackPlanet, "I watched the Democratic debate tonight and kudos to Sen. Obama!! This debate just stamped the leadership he's displayed and maintained throughout his campaign."And someone wrote in on the comment section of one our Youtube videos from last night. "Barack is a beacon of inspiration and the catalyst to unite the United States of America. Yesterday in the debates, he practiced what he has been preaching by respecting his opponent."(If you missed the debate check out some highlights at youtube.com/barackobama.)Janiece from PA texted in, "I think Obama showed exactly why he is ready to be President. He was eloquent,funny, and substantive."Kathryn M. in Austin texted us, "Senator Obama knocked it out of the park! I especially liked his comment that he would be a good Commander and Chief because of his good judgement (not to go to war in Iraq). He's welcome in Austin any time- Claro que si!"Patrick G. in Salt Lake City, UT texted us, "Sen. Obama really presented his position on immigpation beautifully - it is so great to hear a voice of reason on this issue. It was moving. The statement 'we are a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants' is going to be quotedfor a long time."As our social networks grow, the conversations and excitement are evolving. Check out both our MySpace and Facebook profiles for great conversations about the debate and the direction in which young people would like to move our country.
With so many issues directly affecting young voters, it is exciting to see the overwhelming support our campaign is receiving from this new generation of voters. As Barack has said many times before, "our nation is at war; our planet is in peril," and it truly is time for the next generation to carry the torch. Please view this online video of how the young voters are not just voting for Barack Obama, but organizing for him.
MySpace and MTV are doing another "Presidential Dialogue" in the final days before the Super Tuesday Election. You can watch it live on MTV or online at MySpace.com.
New Ringtones!
Keep your text messages coming in about tonight's debate to 62262 (OBAMA). Here are a few thoughts and words of encouragement from around the country that were texted in:Courtney in Hyattsville, MD texted, "Congratulations Sen. Obama! Job well done. Winning over the issues, and facts, in a respectful manner!"Sarah, in South Dakota texted, "Its better to be right on day one' my favorite quote of the night...Obama u did a great job!"Jessica in Minneapolis, MN texted, "Barack is so intelligent...! He says what needs to be said & stands by every word."Jeremy in Minooka; IL texted "Sen Obama once again sounded like our next President! Now lets volunteer and win Feb 5 for Barack and change the world together!"Krystal in Muskegon MI texted, "Senator Obama has done a wonderful job tonight. As always, he has been well-spoken, calm, and confident. Another fine showing from our future pres."Ketty M in Portland, OR texted "Barack did a great job, esp. W/ Iraq. His use of metaphors to illustrate his wit and intelligence . Well done!"Someone in Arizona texted, "I respect & appreciate that Barack spoke well of Hillary. He didn't try to smear her & he reminded us that we are all Dem.s He's a gentleman not a politician."Tammy in MO texted, "He won gracefully!!!!! I am so excited to support him, campaign for him and vote for him on Tuesday!!!!"Amie in Georgia, texted "Pulling out Hillary's chair at the end spoke volumes about Barack's integrity! Wow!! Thanks for showing us that fantastic display of chivalry and respect!"Tracey Northfield, IL "Barack was great on policy! Very detailed and clear. Keep it up. We can win this on Tuesday and beyond."And someone in Hawaii texted, "Awesome job! Keep it up and i'll be proud to call you my President! Aloha from Oahu!"If you would like to share your thoughts with us, receive news and updates about future debates and learn about local events text HOPE to 62262.
With your help we are gaining momentum and seeing huge boosts in activity on all of our social networking communities around the Internet. Simply put, more and more Americans are owning a piece of this campaign and are sharing Barack's message of hope with their friends.Ari Melber writes in this week's The Nation: "People under 30 made up a third of his support in Iowa--four times the margin of victory--and their turnout was up 19 percentage points from 2004 in New Hampshire."Please reach out to all of your friends where they network online and tell them to visit Barack's profiles on:
Facebook MySpace BlackPlanet MiGente LinkedIn
Faithbase AsianAve Eons Digg Glee
One final note: Even our Twitter.com profile is getting noticed. Courtney Acuff writes in ClickZ online magazine:
"The Obama campaign has taken the idea of mobile connectedness a step further by establishing and maintaining a Twitter profile. Twitter is a prime example of the microblogging trend that resulted from the concept of status updates. It's also a great way to take advantage of the principles behind social networking and the mobile platform. By signing up to "follow" Obama on Twitter, you receive SMS (define) updates (your account can also be accessed online) that primarily revolve around mood, location, and upcoming events. It's a great way for supporters to feel like they are in the know and an opportunity for the campaign to send subtle reminders about upcoming debates or rally locations."
Join Obama Mobile by texting JOIN to 62262 or follow Barack attwitter.com.
"This is the best news ever ," Julie texted in from Grapevine, TX. Someone from Tennessee texted us: "My age group is really getting pepped up. The times R changing."
Real excitement and activity on all our social networks right now. Tons of people are commenting on Barack's Iowa Democratic Caucus victory speech, signing up to volunteer and encouraging others to help growing our movement of change.
Here some highlights of the thousands of comments we received on Barack's social networks:
"I just wanted to Thank the organizers and volunteers in Dubuque, Iowa. I came to the caucus with my 3 year old daughter and when thing got long and she got restless everybody helped my out in trying to keep her busy. And a big thanks to the Obama volunteer that gave her the Lizzie Maguire doll. Thanks again" Nikki sent us on MySpace.
Shena wrote to us on BlackPlanet: "We are Fired Up and ready to move Towards Change in Saint Louis Missouri. Congratulations on your Success at the Caucus on Jan 3, 2008... "
"Way to go! Lets take your message of hope, to the East Coast and continue winning. " Wrote Niceguy in Richmond,VA on Barack's Facebook wall.
"You united Iowan Democrats with Independents and even some Republicans. Congratulations on a job well-done. Cannot wait for January 8 . . . the New Hampshire Primary, where I get to cast my vote," wrote MsTick1, from Manchester, NH on Eons.com.
And my personal favorite from the night: someone cleverly texted us to 62262,"BARACK1."
Autumn on a college campus is a busy time of transition for first year and returning students. With new classes and a new year’s worth of extracurricular activities to schedule, appointments can easily be forgotten or missed.
But college students in New Hampshire have an additional responsibility that’s too important to be lost in the shuffle – the responsibility to register to vote and actively participate in a Presidential primary for the first time in their lives.
Last night, students at Dartmouth College had the opportunity to register to vote on campus. Town clerks set up shop in the Collis Center, the center of student life. A number of students, however, nearly missed their chance
Luckily, the students had signed up for the Obama campaign text messaging program. We sent them reminders throughout the day, including information on what IDs they needed in order to register, and a “last chance” reminder half an hour before registration closed.
A number of students hadn’t seen the notices about the on-campus registration on Blitz or in their inboxes. They only showed up because they received a text reminder.
Nick, class of ’11, was particularly impressed. “I got my text message before I got an email about voter registration.” Sean, a member of Dartmouth Students for Obama, agreed. “It’s a cool little reminder.”
If you’re one of thousands for whom text messaging is the best way to reach you, text “NH” to 62262 (OBAMA), and we’ll keep you up to date with events in your area. Standard text messaging rates apply.
We are excited to announce the launching of two new Latino social networking profiles:
MyBatanga.com - Batanga.com started as a bilingual Latin music website and has branched out into the fast-growing MyBatanga social network.
MiGente.com is one of the largest social networks for the English-speaking second generation Latino community.
Our campaign has been active on the MyGrito.com social networking site as well.
Each of these social networks gives our campaign the unique ability to further our conversation with supporters. All of our social networks feature videos, bulletins, and blog posts as a way to help our friends organize and engage their personal networks. Our Latino social networks will have basic information about Barack, ways to directly join the campaign through MyBarackObama.com, as well as general news and updates. Each of our Latino networks will also feature Obama Mobile in Spanish. Simply text ESP to 62262. We will also feature links to Barack TV en Español on these networks.
South Carolina is "Fired Up!" It has been a beautiful day in Columbia, SC. Just perfect for spreading our message of Hope and Change. With tons of first time canvassers going door-to-door at 31 staging location in 26 counties around the state, this has been an enormous grassroots effort.
Below are some photos and short stories from around the state, texted in from our amazing South Carolina volunteer leaders:
A volunteer texted in this photo of our Orangeburg office. Anton Gunn, our South Carolina political director, is leading the volunteer troops in a canvass training:
John and Alester texted us this photo. They are celebrating after registering a first time voter today!
Ian, a 28-year-old, and Annie, an 85-year-old, canvassed as a pair in Columbia. Ian says, "It was fun going out together. It was a beautiful day, and people really responded well to us." Annie adds, "This is the way to get it done. We need to do more of these walks."
Elswehere, in SC, Lowcountry canvassers texted in this photo of volunteer walkers.
In Florence, canvassers texted us a photo of their morning training outside of our Pee Dee regional office.
Other stories continue to come in from across the state. In Greenville, two walkers had to call in for more pledge cards they found so many supporters in the Upstate. Other volunteers, Lewanna and Michael, met two voters, a freshman in college and senior in high school, who jumped off their porch and joined them canvassing!
Mrs. Robinson also just fed over 60 canvassers at her beautiful home in Lexington. Might have been the best southern-cookin' ever. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson!
Our Political Director Anton Gunn led the volunteer troops in Orangeburg a few minutes ago. Canvassers are now out going door-to-door all across Orangeburg County. Check out these two photos that were just texted in:
When they come back in from a hard days work, Ken will have the fish fry ready to welcome them!
Speaking of celebrating a hard days work with some home-cooking, Yvonne in Irmo is busy right now cooking up a southern-style meal for our Richland canvassers. Something about Barack Obama and South Carolina. This is community.
The enthusiasm is still pouring in from last night's rally -- another 150 text messages came in overnight. The majority of the messages were from young people who have been turned off by politics for most of their lives and are becoming excited and engaged for the first time. People texted the campaign with all sorts of inquiries. How could they get involved? How could they find more information on Barack's plans? When is he coming back to New York? The most powerful part of our text program from last night was that, in just a few characters of text messaging, rally participants were able to share with us how motivated they are to change this country:
+A new supporter texted in, "Fired up! Going to change my party affiliation from independent to Democratic to help Barack in the NY primary. It was a great night!"
+Marnie, a teacher from Freeport, NY texted, "It was an awesome experience , I brought my husband and son, we all wore our Obama '08 T-shirts. Obama has the spirit of Jack Kennedy! He is the refreshing voice of positive change, which America needs."
+Another person texted us, "First time that a speech has left me speechless! I cannot wait til we can call him our president. I'm fired up and ready to go!"
+And just after midnight C.B. texted, "I am a pastor in Indianapolis and I can feel the electricity from the NY rally all the way in Indiana as I read the articles and review the pictures."
Keep the stories coming in!
We received over 400 text responses during the NYC Rally directly to Obama Mobile (62262). People of all ages were truly inspired by Barack's speech tonight and are texting us their thoughts on the rally from their phones as they head home. Here are a few of the best ones so far:
+Sheila from Brooklyn, NY texted in “It was the best! I told Barack that I am a 60 yr old woman that wants her America back and I am putting all of my faith in him.. He said we will get it back!”
+Stanley texted, “It was awesome. I'm a high school student, and in coming to the rally, it has opened up my eyes on what the nation will be missing out on if he's not elected."
+Jack in Manhattan texted, “Finally an actual politician that makes me feel as proud to be an American as Jed Bartlet did on The West Wing.”
+Michelle from Brooklyn texted, “The September 27th rally in Washington Sq was informative, but more importantly inspiring. Hope for a better future is an invaluable gift Barack gives us.”
+Evan from Manhattan texted “It was amazing! Barack's ability to give a speech and control a crowd is incredible. He brings qualities to a Presidential race that we haven't seen in my lifetime!"
+And an another supporter texted, “I'm proud to say that the first election I will be old enough to vote in is the one with the most promising candidate since JFK.”
Keep the messages coming in. Text us your name your city and your thoughts to 62262.
Hello, my name is Jim Boyer and I am the Sr. Accounts Manager, Americas, for conVISUAL. Along with Randy Boyer, Sr. Vice President, Americas, we would like to introduce our ideas to you.
conVISUAL is a world leader in messaging with cell phones. We have developed and implemented SMS to TV campaigns for many of the world’s most popular TV shows:
“Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”, “Top Model”, “Big Brother”, “Live 8” and have implemented our technology with TV networks and TV broadcast stations worldwide as well as in the US.
We personally are very interested in discussing with you how our powerful technology can be used to further Obama’s campaign in such areas as real-time organization, real-time reporting, and many other ways.
Our technology enables real time reporting (using our web-based tool) of any SMS (text message).
Imagine the power of being able to know in real time how many supporters are really at the caucus and have the ability to contact supporters who are not there, to please join the caucus because the turnout is very light.
Imagine the power of having the ability to direct supporters to be somewhere, or do something in a moment's notice, and then get immediate feedback.
Imagine the power of being able to ask questions to all who have registered and opted in and get real-time answers.
Imagine the power of getting real time opinions of participants in a text vote.
These and many more abilities are within the power of the technology which we have.
Please contact me, Jim Boyer
jim.boyer@mac.com
