it’s not very obvious that the internet has made this election qualitatively
different from all other campaigns
But there are two major differences
First, 5.5 million people have watched all 35 minutes of Obama’s
Philadelphia speech on race on YouTube. In an age when the average TV news
sound-bite is down to 12 seconds, this is extraordinary and heartening
and secondly
- the internet has transformed American campaign finance - and may have solved
one of the biggest problems with American democracy. The problem - as we all
know - is that elections are so expensive that candidates have to spend huge
amounts of time raising funds; and have to warp their positions to suit the
prejudices of wealthy donors. But Obama has already raised around $300m in small
donations via the internet- the internet has transformed American campaign finance - and may have solved
Gideon was chairing a debate at the US embassy in London on the impact of the internet on the presidential election. You can watch it HERE
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