Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Internet Becoming Powerful New Political Force
byAt that time, press stories reported Dean had signed up over 600,000 supporters on his website and collected $41 million in contributions leading up to the critical 2004 primary season. It appeared the Dean people understood the implications of the Internet. That was, of course, before his meteoric rise was followed by a meteoric crash and an on-air meltdown after taking third in the Iowa caucuses (story here).
Now two years hence, The USC Annenberg School For Communication has conducted a survey which confirms what the Dean people knew or sensed: the Internet is a powerful political tool. During the last presidential campaign, 41.1 percent of Internet users went online to get information. Of those people, over 90 percent were looking for information on candidates or issues they supported. A whopping 77.4 percent were looking for information about an issue or candidate they were undecided about. As close as most presidential elections have become in recent years, think of the implications of this.
