September 2007 | Karen A.B. Jagoda; E-Voter Institute, Rich Berke; HCD Research, Kendall Anderson; HCD Research, Michelle Nappa; HCD Research, Matt Childers; UCSD and Michael Cornfield Ph.D.; GWU

E-Voter Institute and partners set out to explore the growing use of the Internet for political campaigns. We see the number of Internet based tools exploding for the use of persuasion, fundraising and getting out the vote. Are the political consultants able to keep up with the rapid changes? Have voters continued to pull ahead of the consultants in their understanding of the impact an Internet component of a campaign can have? If online tools are effective for reaching the loyal base, why aren't more funds spent for Internet related activities?

Politics has always been a local game with word of mouth a powerful tool for promoting a candidate or spreading negative information about an opponent. The viral buzz factor determines how quickly a message spreads. The explosion of online social networks and social media tools has increased the ability of people to get beyond the geo-centric limitations of their neighborhoods. This is the first presidential campaign where user generated content and online social media are elements to be acknowledged and harnessed.

It is our hope that the findings in this document give candidates, advocates, the political advisors, fund raisers, and media strategists a more balanced sense of where to spend their time and money to best reach and persuade voters and win elections. For those in the academic field, our interest is in raising questions that might stimulate further explorations into how political campaigns are evolving in the early 21st Century.

The partners in this research were HCD Research, Brickfish, and The Politico. Other organizations supporting the 2007 research included:

E-Voter Institute, founded in 1999, is a trade association whose mission is to help accelerate the use of the Internet for politics and advocacy in order to promote a more robust democracy. What follows are findings from the E-Voter Institute's 6th Annual Survey of Political and Advocacy Communication Leaders and the 2nd Annual Survey of Voter Expectations.

Previous research is available from e-voterinstitute.com and in the book, Crossing the River: The Coming of Age of the Internet in Politics and Advocacy, Karen A.B. Jagoda, editor, (Xlibris 2005) available from online sources and in bookstores.