Podcasting Politicians

CAMPAIGN 08 PREVIEW: PODCASTING POLITICIANS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Mark Z. Barabak]
In 2004 it was blogging. What will be the next techie breakthrough for getting in touch with voters? In technology, there is Moore's Law, the notion that computing power doubles about every 18 months. Politics has a rough equivalent, with every election bringing some heralded innovation that transforms the way campaigns are fought and contests are won. The "blast fax" -- or ability to send a printed page to hundreds of recipients at a time -- was a big deal in the 1980s, before e-mail. Websites, once a campaign novelty, are ubiquitous today. Ditto candidate blogs. In the latest creative wrinkle, politicians are podcasting — White House hopefuls Gen. Wesley K. Clark, John Edwards and Sen. Bill Frist are among those regularly offering their downloadable ruminations -- and turning up on Flickr, MySpace, YouTube and other photo- and video-sharing Internet sites. Cable companies are pitching politics on demand after trial runs in Colorado's 2004 U.S. Senate race and the 2005 governor's race in New Jersey, which allowed voters to order free clips of the candidates discussing issues. Within a few years, it may be possible to target cable TV spots -- this ad intended for older voters, that one for renters -- the way customized mailers are now routed to selected homes. And though cellphone technology is still in its political infancy, some campaigns are already using text messaging to get out the vote, recruit volunteers or lure prospects to their websites, which feature all manner of interactive links. The fundamentals of politics haven't changed. Even promoters of the most razzle-dazzle technology say a successful candidate has to be likable, offer a message with broad resonance and show up in ads. There needs to be "a coherent vision," said Democratic strategist Doug Hattaway. "People aren't just dopes, sitting in front of their TVs or computers waiting to give some Pavlovian response." But even the basics have to be recalibrated when invention changes the way people live -- as quickly, it often seems, as the click of a mouse.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-fragment21jul21,...
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