Cometh the hour...

What's that saying? Cometh the hour, cometh the man..... It's never been truer than it is right now as the U.S. sits on the eve of history either way. I written a fair few posts on the online campaigns from both parties, but more on the Obama campaign's efforts as they seem to be doing more.

But it's not over yet, you may remember the iPhone apps story that I posted sometime ago - that'll be in full swing right now. Also, people logging on to Facebook today will have a nice little reminder to go and vote and guess which campaign uses Facebook the most...yep, you've guessed it. Looking at the Facebook updates from my friends, there seems to be such a buzz with people organising to go to parties, making sure their friends have voted...I for one am very excited and can't wait to see the results. If you want to read more from a U.S. perspective, check out my friend Ed's blog - a Washington based PR.

MyTake - I have said is before and I'll say it again - they are going to talk about this campaign for years to come and from an online perspective, they are going to teach this stuff in colleges and universities around the world. Will we see something similar from the next UK elections? Probably not, but it's nice to dream...

Obama's got game revisited

Who’s going to win the US election? We’ll, there appears to only be one team actually treating it like a race for the most important political position in the world, and that’s the Obama campaign. At work, I sit very near a good mannered US citizen by the name of Ed (read his blog here) who I always talk to when I want update on the US election…mainly because he explains everything in simple terms that I can understand, but also because I get to learn American phrases such as “that dog don’t hunt”. 

The latest bit of news that Ed shared with me was that the Obama campaign has started advertising in online video games, namely Burnout Paradise on the Xbox 360 using Microsoft’s Live network. The adverts are actually on billboards along side the road in the game and advertise the campaign’s website VoteForChange.com. A quote from an EA rep (who makes the game) reads: "Like most television, radio and print outlets, we accept advertising from credible political candidates. Like political spots on the television networks, these ads do not reflect the political policies of EA or the opinions of its development teams.” 

MyTake – The Obama campaign is busy nailing the few last nails in the coffin of the McCain campaign. Not only is Obama himself cleaning up in the debates, his team are kicking every goal possible in the online space. Trust me, they are going to write a text book on this election and generation of Communications students will learn about it. 

He said, he said

Google seem to be in the news a lot today, but I’ve had enough Android as it’s not going to make it to Australia (big island in the southern hemisphere) and an Engadget test shows that the iPhone is faster. My Google news today is Google In Quotes from Google Labs, and it’s fun for all the family. In Quotes in a comparison tool that allows you to see what politicians are saying about certain topics, when you load up the site it defaults to the US edition featuring McCain and Obama. 

As well as the US edition there is also UK, Canadian and Indian editions, but not an Australian (big island in the southern hemisphere, you know Kangaroos and all that) edition. Each edition has a number of default topics to compare quotes on, using the US edition it is: Iraq, oil, Bush and Iran, but you can also add other topics like, oh, I don’t know…say the economy? My favourite feature of the site is the “spin” button that acts a bit like a one-armed bandit, spinning the quotes before stopping on some new quotes for you to muse upon. 

MyTake – A good, timely piece of lighthearted fun from the guys and gals at Google. I am a huge fan of the “spin” function, if only politicians could actually have this when they are speaking – how much fun would that be! Anyway, good fun, go check it out for yourself. 

It pays to be social

I’m a bit biased when it comes to the U.S. elections as I’m very much an Obama fan. Even though I’m not American (and therefore have no say in the matter) I think that the election of the next President of the United Sates of America is pretty important to all of us. So, it’s with interest that I have been following the news on the election, occasionally posting a few stories here when it relates. Here is one such story that relates –Obama has more friends than McCain.

It’s official. According to a report by Pew Research Centre that looked at the respective candidate’s online presence, Obama is the man out in front.  With 1.7 million Facebook supporters and 510,000 MySpace friends, Obama out punches McCain with 309,000 Facebook supporters and 88,000 MySpace Friends. The report also revealed that Obama’s fan base on YouTube was 11 times the size of McCain’s. 

MyTake – They’re going to call this the Facebook election the rate this is going. It’s amazing to see the emphasis that is being placed on each candidate’s online presence and activities. With such a large geographic area to cover, online does offer the best solution to interact with your audience on a continuous basis, but it's the effort that's being put into the space that is quite amazing. I can’t wait for election day on Facebook -  “Barack Obama is……the President of the United Sates of America”

I am also not Sarah Palin

Another day, another Wikipedia scandal. This time, it is Sarah Palin’s entry that has been, shall we say, finessed. Here are the facts: about a day before she was announced as the running mate for McCain, the entry for Sarah Palin was significantly changed with a more than positive glow added by a user called Young Trigg. Trigg, as my colleague Ed Hoover told me this morning, is in fact the name of Sarah Palin’s baby son….the plot thickens.   

Apparently, the last edits by Young Trigg were made only a few hours before the big announcement, just in time for the million-plus hits it was about to receive.  Young Trigg has since disappeared into nowhere and Wikipedia is now only allowing established editors to change the entry. The usual ruckus then commenced with questions over Young Trigg’s integrity until he came out to answer all the speculation: “I am not Sarah Palin. I am not a member of Sarah Palin’s family, or even Michael Palin’s family…..I will acknowledge that I volunteer for the McCain campaign, one of thousands of people nationwide who are working to elect the best candidate for the job. Palin was not the nominee when I made my edits, though I am certainly excited about the selection. I don’t believe I have a conflict of interest problem.” It's a bit like Spartacus, only without the swords...and the hero....

MyTake – I have this vision of little Trigg editing the entry himself, sort of like Stewie from Family Guy, only without the British accent. In all seriousness, Wikipedia is becoming a huge part of the political battle and the importance being placed upon it is fairly obvious from incidents like this. As a PR practitioner who always advises transparency online, I’d probably say that they have gotten away with it – of the people that hit that page in all its polished glory, I bet only a handful hear about the fact that it was altered by a “volunteer for the McCain campaign”. To close, I’d like to follow Young Trigg and say that I am also not Sarah Palin. I am also not a member of Sarah Palin’s family, or even Michael Palin’s family. I will acknowledge that I write this blog, one of thousands of people all over the world that write blogs. Palin was the nominee when I wrote this post. I don’t believe I have a conflict of interest problem – I am a non-violent person and I believe myself to be quite interesting.