Internet in Politics the Impact

Internet in Politics

The Impact of the Internet on Politics

One of the most talked-about developments in the campaign of 2004 was the appearance of bloggers on the convention floors and on the campaign trail. Rather than turn to the prefabricated messages of the news networks, the fragmented voices and opinions of ordinary people were proclaimed across computer screens around the globe. As a result of the power of the 2004 bloggers, "most political campaigns today have an 'Internet strategy' of one sort or another" (Palfry, 2004). "At the same time that blogs have moved away from the political center, they have become increasingly influential in the campaigns" (Klam 2004:1). James P. Rubin, John Kerry's foreign-policy adviser, told the New York Times during the 2004 campaign that blogs were "the first thing I read when I get up in the morning and the last thing I read at night" (Klam, 2004:1). The Democratic Party even created "terrific accommodations...for the bloggers [invited to the convention]: up in the nosebleed seats" of the convention hall (Klam, 2004:6).

But it is not only the bloggers themselves who have benefited from the Internet. Today, the stratospheric rise of the presidential campaign of the junior senator from Illinois, Barack Obama is testimony to the power of the Internet and its ability to rally young people who do not belong to the formal party structures, or to lobbying groups, or sit on the boards of powerful organizations. Despite his relatively short political career, through grassroots Internet exposure, Obama has generated a huge online following of fans and donors. Aware of the impact of the new media, Obama has even created his own MySpace page, where he can publicize his biography and have an uncritical space to air his points-of-view on various issue. Unlike a television advertisement, a website is always available to access for surfers and always changing, for people to see and read and evaluate, even though it is not subject to the media scrutiny of an objective or opposing gaze. In fact, many readers say that is exactly what they like about the Internet -- they do not trust the supposed objectivity of the mass media, and would prefer to review highly partisan points-of-view, and come to their own conclusion (Palfry, 2004).

On a very basic level, "the Internet can help campaign organizers do better some of the core tasks of campaigning, such as fundraising, communicating with supporters, coordinating events in the field, organizing crowds in fast-breaking situations, and reacting quickly to breaking news" (Palfry, 2004). Thus, some aspects of the Internet have clearly worked to the candidate's advantage. The Bush campaign used the Internet to enable local campaigners to "target relevant people in his immediate neighborhood, where he knows the area and potentially can build on personal relationships with his neighbors, instead of being sent across town to an area he may not know pre-Internet; and, he is given a clear sense of the time required for this task so he can build it into his busy schedule. In a variety of ways, this web solution amplified the classical door knocking campaign characteristic of the pre-Internet era" (Palfry 2004). But it is easier to target people regarding issues specific to their demographic and generate content that is sent to their in-box than it is to go door to door, and easier to personalize the information on an email than in a mailed flyer.

Yet despite the tremendous advantages conveyed to certain candidates, especially media-savvy candidates like Obama, it is the citizens who are primarily in control in the virtual world, simply through their sheer numbers. Power has shifted to the common hands of ordinary Americans once again, for every official candidate website there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of independent blogs. Anyone can start a blog or an Internet campaign in favor or against a particular candidate or pet issue. The blogger, unlike a reporter, because he or she has no "salaries and health benefits" like a professional journalist is beholden to nothing and no one but him or herself (Klam 2004:3).

Campaign managers and the public relations machines of the major parties can no longer shape the discourse of politics entirely, and the voices of the two-party machine has become exchanged for a thousand points of flickering bites of editorial information. During the founding the nation, before mass media, television, and the dominance of only a few major newspapers in each major city of the nation, America was filled with many small newspapers that were the voice of countless individual factions. America again has returned to its fractious beginnings online. No longer are their two, coherent singular voices in American politics. or, in the words of one South Korean political news site, now every citizen is a potential reporter.

The Internet has, in a few instances...made a notable difference in terms of how [contemporary] campaigns were conducted and how individuals engaged in civic life at various levels" (Palfry, 2004). Even the Obama campaign has not had full control over all of the discourse generated on the Internet regarding the candidate. One wonders, however well-intended, if Barack Obama appreciates the sexy message conveyed about his campaign by the self-proclaimed "Obama Girl" on YouTube in her midriff-bearing, hip-swinging self-produced video "I've got a crush on Obama."

John Palfry has argued "the Internet provides tools that empower an individual to have a greater level of participation in the political process, if that person is already pre-disposed to be active in civic life" (Palfry, 2004). He also notes that even the formerly non-engaged, because of the ease of pointing and clicking, and generating their own online content, can find a connection in politics on the net they did not previously experience, and through the Internet's intensely personal format, those who felt alienated can create their own niche, unaffiliated with specific special parties or interests.

The Internet also provides a sense of control for those who feel powerless. Rather than merely consume political media, the Internet permits the individual to disseminate editorial material, unapproved of by the candidates, in an unedited form (unlike even a letter to the editor of a major newspaper). Yet this intense personalization, also suggests that one of the assumed positives about the political influence of the Internet, namely creating connections between like-minded people unrecognized by the system, might be doubtful. Because it is so personalized, the Internet forum can also create divides between bloggers, preventing people from rallying to a common cause, as they fall into division and fractious personalized debates with other bloggers that do not translate into concrete political action. Bloggers are just as interested in self-aggrandizement; the argument goes, as generating lasting change for the country.