Technology may make the difference in Nov.

Mid-term elections are the biggest thing other than the presidential contests that happen every four years.  The other elections that made so many headlines are really small potatoes compared to the polls coming up on November 2.

Technology will likely play a role in how the parties attempt to reach voters in numerous contests across the country. Social media will be important as it was during the 2008 presidential election, and mobile devices like iPhones and other smart phones, iPods, Blackberries, and e-readers may come to the fore as never before.

More people are using mobile devices now as compared to 2008, and the number of people who text regularly has risen dramatically. 

Electronic media will undoubtedly play an important role in getting out the vote on election day.   We may see location-based social media used to help bring bigger crowds to rallies and other public events. 

The fact that the number of people over 50 that are using social media has been surging will be very attractive to political consultants. Older voters are more reliable in terms of going to the polls, especially during the mid-term elections.

TechCrunch endorses Barack Obama

TechCrunch, the popular internet-focused weblog, announced its endorsement of Barack Obama today.

Senator Barack Obama - Democrat

Senator Obama has put more time and effort into defining his technology policies than any other candidate. In November he released a detailed position paper on technology issues, and we had a one-on-one interview with him two weeks later.

He is staunchly in favor of net neutrality, and has promised to make it a priority to reinstate it in his first year in office. He has proposed intelligent programs for increasing technology education and access to children. He doesn’t believe the FCC went far enough in their proposed rules for opening up the 700MHz spectrum auctions. He wants to see increases in the number of H1-B visas given out each year. He strongly supports research into renewable energy sources and he has a realistic, market based approach to capping carbon emissions.

More importantly, though, Senator Obama talks about the future with a sense of optimism that the other candidates seem to lack. America has done great things in the past, and we can do great things in the future, so long as our leaders support our home-grown and immigrant entrepreneurs, or at least get out of the way. Jobs will be lost in some sectors, but growth in technology can drive our economy ever forward. Senator Obama seems to understand that, and has spent a great deal of time addressing technology issues and talking to Silicon Valley leaders. Some of the other Democratic candidates have staked out similar positions as Senator Obama on tech issues - but I get the sense that they are playing “me too” rather than showing real leadership and thoughtfulness on the issues.

Senator Obama also continues to surge when it comes to using the Internet to amplify his voice. I talked about his online surge earlier this month.

Senator Obama is the candidate of optimism and leadership, and he will be getting my personal vote.

Obama California opens four new offices

The California Obama campaign is having the grand opening of four new official campaign offices in San Jose, Palo Alto, Santa Ana, and San Bernadino today, January 13th, at 1pm to 3pm PST at each location. There is a total now of nine California field offices. Here is a list of the new office addresses:

• 410 East Santa Clara Satreet, San Jose, CA 95113
• 3892 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94306
• 214 N. Broadway, Ste. 210, Santa Ana, CA 92701
• 374 W. Court St., Ste. E207, San Bernardino, CA 92401

barackobama.com easily leads web race

According to alexa.com, the official Obama campaign website has jumped far ahead of the Hillary Clinton and John Edwards sites starting a week or so before the beginning of the Iowa Caucus.

At one point in Jan., Obama's site reached more than three times the percentage of internet users and page views as the second place Clinton site.