Friday, January 04, 2008

The Technology Tipping Point?

What a night! Obama is taking what Dean did in 2004 even further. To use a few overused metaphors, it is as if he, like Dean, amassed a following from a long tail of latent political activists - enough to surmount the tipping point for success. Obama certainly has done a better job this time around, reaching further up the tail towards the established manner of going about running a campaign. Though the small, grassroots effort is at his core, he has also amassed plenty of traditional backers (see this WashPost story comparing foreign policy teams.) It remains o be seen if this grassroots massing can continue to overcome the traditional, iron-clad organization Clinton has amassed in later states...

Also, those under 29 made up 22% of the turnout last night, as compared to 17% in 2004. And those 30-44 made up another 18%, versus 15% in '04. Obama won 57% of those under 29 years of age and 42% of those 30-44. Given how much of an advantage his campaign has among younger voters and the prevailing understanding that young people are more adept at the new age of technology, the role of technology in this election is unprecedented and may actually usher in a non-establishment candidate. Obama is not doing everything right (as I point out here), but he is certainly doing better than the others...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well written article.