Obama's Web Presence

Every once in a while I will visit ThinkProgress.org, a blog that I find to be quite good when it comes to topics dealing with environmental issues especially.  While sitting at the library computers, I typed in the web address to take a quick break from my work.  I made an error, and typed ThinkProgress.com rather than ending it with "org".  To my surprise, a massive Obama 2012 ad popped up in the window. (Check it out for yourself).  I'm not sure if Obama's online campaigning team purposely bought the web address to catch any liberals making typing errors like me, but its significance can't be ignored.  Last week we discussed the impacts of the internet on voting habits.  Obama's clear web presence of this one address alone will certainly rake in a few bucks here and there in the upcoming months before the election.  It's pretty extraordinary to think that one minor typing mistake can bring you one click away from donating to a presidential candidate.  I have a feeling that this will be the theme of Obama's campaign strategy, and I bet it's going to be extremely effective.  I remember listening to a piece on NPR about how much Obama is spending on even newer technologies to make fundraising that much easier.  I looked up the article on Obama's digital campaign and found,

 "Another clue to the Obama campaign's strategy this year is a few payments it made to a small tech company called Square, for a 1-inch-square credit card reader that works on iPhones and iPads.  The Obama campaign says after trying out Square last quarter, it's buying hundreds of them this year, vastly reducing the time, money and effort it takes to raise and process donations — and potentially turning every volunteer into a digital fundraiser".

This is the future of online campaigning, and like our readings suggested, it seems as though technology will continue to become an ever-increasing part of the political process.