It is hardly surprising that every politician is liberally borrowing ideas from the Barak Obama campaign. He may still be struggling to connect with middle America, but Obama’s success in mobilising voters, especially younger Americans’ has encouraged every political team to copy many of his campaigning tactics.
Unfortunately, simply copying Obama can lead to problems, as Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has found with his plan to ‘cold call’ 250,000 potential supporters. Obama’s phone bank system, in which visitors to his website could volunteer to call people in other states, resulted in a staggering two million calls just prior to the primaries in Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island. Clegg’s team failed to study the privacy rules and consequently the Information Commission has declared the use of unsolicited calls to be illegal in the UK. Better luck next time Nick.
For the latest example of how certain sections of the crowd continue to be captivated by the Obama campaign, check out Sarah Silverman’s plea to her fellow Jews to visit their grandparents in Florida.
The Obama team may not be directly responsible these types of initiative – Will i Am’s ‘Yes We can’ and ‘We are the one’s’ videos being the most high profile examples – but it has created a climate in which apparently spontaneous and authentic outpourings of support are encouraged.