The Obama campaign has cleared one hurdle – the number of delegates needed for the nomination. Now the real race begins and his campaign must adapt to the new nature of the battle. So far he has been very adept at adapting.
The most important feature of Obama’s campaign strategy has been his reliance on new folks to the political process, grassroots volunteers and millions of small (and recurring) donations to his campaign war chest.
Obama and his campaign team realized and embraced the dominant role of the Internet from the very beginning of his campaign. This pivotal decision was the backbone of his success – political organizing, get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts and fundraising. The Facebook-like software that the Obama campaign uses, served as a National, State, Local and Issue-driven “virtual office” and campaign infrastructure.
The Obama campaign was not an Internet campaign; The Internet infrastructure merely acted as a conduit, a clearinghouse and an incredibly efficient “office assistant”. The Internet enabled the Obama campaign to be focused on the issues and the skills of the grassroots volunteers – driving every local event and action, and supplying the hundreds of thousands of “foot soldier” volunteers that spearheaded the GOTV efforts.
Senator Obama recognizes that the Facebook-like software they have relied upon has enabled his campaign to build and organize “communities” of real people – who interact with one another in-person and online.
The Howard Dean campaign of 2004 introduced the political world to Internet applications. The Obama campaign has embraced the cutting edge and breadth of electronic media and communications. This almost total reliance on Internet applications has yielded dividends that are astronomical:
Total funds raised to date: around $250 million
Percent of donations that averaged less than $100/each: 90% were less than $100
Total number of ACTIVE volunteers: around 750,000 active volunteers
Total number of financial contributions given: more than 3 million
Number of groups formed affiliated with the Obama campaign: around 8,000 Obama groups
Total number of Obama “Events” held: around 30,000
Reliance upon long-standing models of political organizing and fundraising has not been sufficient this year. John McCain has relied on the old models: large exclusive, invitation-only fundraisers. He has raised far less than half of what Obama has raised. McCain’s campaign is an old-fashioned “top-down” affair, and on-the-ground activists have played a much smaller role.
McCain, the professed campaign-funding “maverick”, has been increasingly relying upon a “hybrid” donation scheme, allowing individual contributors to donate up to $70,000 to his campaign.
Obama will need to rapidly expand the size of his “big tent”. It’s my guess he’ll still be relying upon the same methods (and a few new ones) that have brought him to this point. He’ll always be a “community organizer” at heart.