Some nuggets that will probably escape most reporting:

• Getting campaign news online: while there hasn’t been much growth in the over 50, less educated, or less well off demographics, there has been a huge jump among the number of African-Americans going to the internet for their campaign news: 40%, more than double the figure from 2004.
• 20% of all adults have watched a candidate’s speech or announcement online. Measuring internet users that’s 19% of those aged 65 and older and 20% of those between 50-64 years of age.
• 10% of all adults have signed an online petition
• 6% of all adults have donated to a candidate online

Unfortunately the Pew’s study focuses more on Obama v. Hillary comparisons rather than comparing the two nominees. What is interesting to note is that while nearly as many Republicans use the internet for news and social networking as Democrats, this does not carry over into online activity in support of their candidate.

The online activity does not differ much between supporters of the two parties:

At the level of party partisanship, there are few differences on basic measures such as using the internet or going online to look for political news and information:

• 78% of Republicans, 74% of Democrats, and 76% of independents go online.
• Among internet users, 55% of Republicans, 61% of Democrats, and 56% of independents look online for news about politics or the 2008 campaigns.

Yet when measuring online political activity, Obama supporters far outpace their Republican counterparts:

In a head-to-head matchup with Republican McCain, Democrat Obama has similar advantages: among those who go online, his supporters are more likely to sign an online petition (18% have done so, compared with 11% of McCain supporters), sign up to receive emails from the candidates or campaigns (17% vs. 8%), contribute money online (13% vs. 5%), to post their own political commentary or writing (8% vs. 4%), and volunteer online for activities related to the campaign (5% vs. 2%). Overall, 49% of Republicans, 50% of Democrats, and 48% of independents use the internet, email, or text messaging to learn about the campaign and engage in the political process.

This poll seems to support the conclusions drawn in the recent Politico article, Can McCain Compete with Obama Online.  The McCain campaign is a top-down campaign that doesn’t provide much space for online activity.  And, as evidenced by the YouTube viewership disparity, there is a gulf in the enthusiasm between the supporters of the two candidates.  While Obama supplies the tools for his supporters to get involved, he also supplies the excitement to draw people in online.  We have yet to see this type of enthusiasm among McCain supporters.

Karina, Jesse and Erica have posted tons of content online making our work in Washington more transparent and bringing government closer to the people we serve.

Blogs on the left find their strength and influence as a user-generated movement.  The Democratic Party has always been a bottom-up structure where our strength comes from individuals, organizations and grassroots activity.  Republicans employ a top-down structure that keeps their message focused, but marginalizes the influence of innovators at the grassroots level.  Those innovators for the Democrats created ActBlue, MoveOn.org, and scores of blogs that actually helped win elections and change the debate in Washington.

This excerpt from the CQ article shows why the Republican method of outreach to the online community fails to benefit from such innovators:

[S]enators are genuinely interested in the grass-roots interactions, noting that even if you take the cynical view and see them as only using the medium to promote an agenda, it still shows the enhanced clout bloggers now have in Congress.

Pelosi’s office gets it and that’s why their work is complementary to bloggers instead of “using the medium to promote an agenda.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY_BOg14tYw

Marshall’s unique qualification? He’s 16, a high school junior. As a blogger with a precocious talent for political writing, Hartley-Nagle also believes that Marshall’s online social networking skills are rapidly becoming an important role in campaign communications.

“Communications and media are so rapidly changing and I think [someone] who can see that pulse and who is right in the middle of it is someone who is 16 to 24 years old, someone who is part of the millennial generation,” Gagnier said.

As a high school student, Marshall will need to balance his campaign responsibilities with homework. According to his mother, Donna, his bedroom will serve as his office, which apparently needs cleaning.

Asked how he learned to speak like a politico, Marshall said that he watches the news and that politics is an integral part of dinner conversations with his parents. His mother also disclosed that her son is “obsessed with ‘The West Wing.’ “

“I bought him the (TV) series for Christmas,” she said. “He pored over every episode.”