A week later after the elections, looking back at the last several months of campaigning and the debates, people naturally ask themselves how did the results come about…
I’ve heard many reasons (some legit and others way off base) about why the McCain/Palin campaign failed. I’d like to suggest a few of the best that I’ve heard:
- Grassroots at its finest. Barak Obama and his campaign team understood the value of grassroot campaigning. They truly reached out the the people who do not usually vote (18-25 year old crowds and the African Americans). On election day Obama’s grassroots campaigners had organized shuttles to get people to voting booths.
- Where did the Hero go? Towards the end of the campaign some of McCain/Palin team should have been fired for the stupid advice they gave Senator McCain about attacking Obama and his campaign about his associations. The 18-25 crowds HATES the mudslingging and this was the large turn off for that demographic for McCain. The Gen-Y’ers would have had a much better opinion of McCain if he would have ran as the Hero/War Veteran rather than the politician that loves to sling mud. Where did the hero go towards the end of the campaign? Whoever came up with this tactic should be canned!
- The Social Media President. This was truly the first social media / internet presidental election ever. Yes, Obama dominated in this arena! As in an earlier post (click here) the media was obsessed with Obama because he and his team understood how social media works, what issues people cared about and how to interact with people.
These are the best three reasons I’ve heard why Senator McCain failed and Senator Obama succeeded in this election. Why do you think Obama was successful?
Much as I like all those reasons, I’m not sure they’re what turned in the numbers to make the big calculator in the sky click over Obama-side.
I think the numbers are with
– guilt-by-association with the current regime and the economic meltdown
– second thoughts on the Palin choice (there’s no “there” there)
– fund-raising
The one thing you mention that sounds solid is “people who do not usually vote.” Evidence here is readily available: polls of “traditional voters” always showed a close race; polls of “likely voters” always showed Obama way out in front and pulling away.