Via the Globe and Mail -STEVE MERTL – The Canadian Press September 3, 2008 at 5:25 PM EDT
VANCOUVER — Democrat Barack Obama’s historic run to his party’s presidential nomination owes a lot to his campaign’s stunningly successful use of the Web to mobilize support and raise money.
And the lessons of how the Obama campaign exploited tools such as social networking, video sharing and blogs have not been lost on Canadian political parties as they gear up for an expected federal election.
“It’s more than fair to say that … the Web is going to have a larger effect on this election than any election before in history,” says Adam Miron, national director of Young Liberals of Canada.
Politicians have been using the Internet to reach confirmed and potential supporters for more than a decade. But Mr. Obama’s campaign used the Web to build a two-way conversation and recruit a political cybermachine that was both huge and quick on its feet.
