How about a big, giant “I told you so?” Obama wins. McCain loses. Obama went big into web and new media. McCain did not. Obama spent 4 million bucks on Google in the 1st quarter of 2008 alone…you can actually see the exact day he pulled away from Hillary Clinton. Obama’s camp worked the web and e-mail and social networking sites, and they crafted really creative viral videos. The video that Sara Silverman did will probably earn Barack a victory in Florida.
McCain, on the other hand, relied on the traditional approach: tv ads, yard signs and the ol’ standby for ol’ political hacks, err “consultants”…direct mail.
So, yes, this camapign was about old vs. new, but when it is dissected in the days to come, remember it was also a battle of old media vs. new media.
There will be a lot of stuff said as to why Obama won the election on the news tonight, from CNN to MSNBC to the networks, but you don’t need pundits or polsters to figure out why. Here it is, by the numbers.
If web traffic is any indicator: Obama.
http://www.johnmccain.com/ received 4.3 million visitors in October.
http://www.barackobama.com/ received 7.9 million visitors in October.
If YouTube is any indication: Obama.
McCain VIDEO – 2,165,767 views (as of 7:00 pm)
Obama VIDEO – WASSUP – 3,792,638 views (as of 7:00 pm)
If Twitter is any indication: Obama.
If Facebook is any indication: Obama.
McCain’s Facebook page 624,000 supporters
Obama’s Facebook page 2,413,000 supporters
If Flickr is any indication: Obama.
McCain: 50,000 images
Obama: 294,000 images
If Google Trends (last 30 days) is any indication: Obama.
For every ONE “McCain” search on Google, “Obama” is searched at least TWO times.