The progression of online media and social networking has done wonders to increase the amount of voter-generated content that political supporters create. Whereas years ago, the most voter-generated content you would see was likely in the form of bumper stickers, buttons, and t-shirts, the Internet now provides a new avenue that anybody can use to add anything they want for the whole world to see. So let’s explore what is out there.

1) Videos–what better way to show your support of a candidate, or better yet, spoof the candidate than video! Most people have heard of Obama Girl, and now the same folks who brought you that video have introduced The Incredible McCain Girl. This video, a spoof on The Incredible Hulk shows news pundits talking about McCain’s anger issues and then shows The Incredible McCain Girl getting angry, a la Hulk, when people make fun of him. It also has a nice fight scene with Obama Girl. So what’s it mean? The Barely Political folks are fond of picking on both parties, and this one gives it pretty good to the Republicans.

2) Facebook–Last week, Obama’s Facebook profile reached 1 million supporters. I did a quick search on Facebook to see what other groups are present–there are hundreds and hundreds of various Obama groups. For all the pages that support Obama, there are also many that are anti-Obama, including this gem. What I found interesting is that the site admin is listed as being in Nicaragua, but the contact lists Washington, DC. And under “news”, I learned these two tidbits: “1) Barack and wife Michelle make in the $500,000s each year. To be true Democrats, they should donate all but 40,000 of it to the poor in order to provide for their living wage, 2) Barack is an admitted cocaine user.” What does it mean? Though it’s great that anybody can use digital media to share their message, anybody can share their message. Including the rabble rousers.

3) Shirts, buttons, and stickers–for those who like to show their political support or disdain the old-fashioned way, there are numerous sites that allow you to design a shirt, sticker, magnet, etc., and get it made, and also sell it to others. Zazzle is a site with millions of options for the consummate political junky. After checking out pages and pages of political merchandise, I kept coming back to this little number. For those too lazy to click the link, the magnet says “WANTED” and shows pictures of Obama, Clinton, and McCain and under them says, “Bros,” “Hoes,” and “GI Joes,” respectively. What does it mean? Many items on the Zazzle site play on the fact that 1) Obama is black, 2) Clinton is a woman, and 3) McCain is old, and was a soldier. This makes for interesting, and sometimes amusing, creations. This site exemplifies Long Tail economics.

4) Radio–Early campaigning progressed via radio. Now radio content can be created by anybody and sent out as Podcasts and other digital files. I scoped out Digital Politics, which was linked from ePolitics. The shows are pretty informative and really cover the whole realm of the convergance between politics and digital media. The Website states

We peel back the layers to reveal how the Internet is changing the way candidates run for office, promote ballot initivatives, and mobilize voters. Join the party at Digital Politics.

This site provides the basics, and the advanced details, of how the politics have really gone digital. At its heart, voter-generated content is hand and hand with the digital convergance of politics. No matter what your affiliation, your likes, your dislikes, there is something out there for you. And if there isn’t, well then, dammit, create your own content!

Reading The Last Campaign and The Boys on the Bus during a campaign year really makes the books all the more interesting. Even more telling, though, is the span of years that has passed between the books and present day. The Last Campaign covers the 1948 race between Truman and Dewey. The Boys on the Bus covers the Nixon and McGovern race of 1972. Now we are in 2008 and the Obama/McCain race. Never before has technology played such a big part in a campaign.

Yet, we have to remember that television was brand new technology accessible only to some in 1948. And since it’s infancy at that point of campaigning, television, and then the Internet created a huge impact on how people view a campaign, and how a campaign is run—both by the press and the candidates.

In terms of the differences between the press in 1948 and 1972, one of the biggest changes in how the press approached a campaign was the introduction of “pack journalism”. When you have a whole group of reporters relying on one another for the lead, everybody is going to be saying the same thing. The public will only hear some of what is going on. The story will be the same from everyone.

In 1948, the press (reporters and radio commentators, mostly: as opposed to today’s network talking heads), would make forecasts regarding the campaign and give individual opinions about the campaign. The idea, too, that a newspaper could print the wrong election result is kind of mind boggling when you think about it today.

I feel that it is also important to think about the shifting mentality of manners that occurred between 1948 and 1972. The press in 1972 was more of a hardcore, boozing, gambling bunch. Picture Hunter S. on the campaign trail. There were a lot of folks similar to him and that impacted what got done as well.

As far as the candidates’ handling of a campaign, Truman and Dewey were still bringing their campaigns to the voters, on the whistle-stop train tours. Truman especially was quite adept at speaking to the issues to the people who came out to support him on his train tours. Fast forward to 1972 and all of a sudden, TV was bringing campaigns to the voters. So now, suddenly, the candidates had an image to present. Or better put, their staffs had an image to present, and more importantly, control. Every word could be captured and transmitted so much more easily and quickly with technical advances. A good handler was necessary to ensure that the candidates said it the right way, and looked right.

So those changes brings us to the present. Nobody rides a train anymore. The press pool flies along on airplanes with the candidates, and a video can be uploaded to the Internet within seconds. What will the press do next to cover campaigns? Will the candidates have more and more “handling” to do? I suspect yes. It’s already happened and will continue to happen.