October 31, 2006
Maine Gubernatorial Race Goes Mobile
Justin Oberman is in charge of running the mobile part of Main's Gubernatorial Race. He writes:
"In what I view as the first serious use of mobile technology in an American election (Edwards, Ford and Schwarzenegger have the technology but have really not used it to any great extent) , Green Independent candidate for Governor Pat LaMarche has launched a major mobile campaign a week before the election.
...The mobile part of her campaign officially launched Monday in a very interesting way. As of Monday morning students and citizens of Maine could text the word "Pat" and a topic (example: Pat Health Care) to the shotcode 30644. Later Pat was speaking at the University of Maine in Orono where her speech will be based on the top three topics that students and Maine citizens send to her via text message. Very interactive, very neat.
Pat also will also be using her skill as a professional Radio personality to receive questions via text message in upcoming radio interviews throughout the week.
Of course, sending a topic or question to the shotcode will send a text message back to user asking them to opt in to what the campaign is calling "Pats Immediate Response Team" the purpose of which is to send out the latest insider news, call to actions, campaign ringtones and tips on how you can help Pat win.
Opting into the text message also signs you up to receive important Get Out The Vote reminders on the day of the election (of which will include information on where to go to vote). The text will also ask users to send a text message to at least 5 people reminding them to go vote.
The mobile part of the campaign is aimed mostly at Maines young voters and as of the press release last night they have already have 135 people signed up."
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2006/10/013963.htm
