Go Obama On iPhone
It’s really one of the slicker iPhone apps seen for any purpose. Certainly, you can extract news on the candidate, his position papers and crusade videos. But it also determines the position of the device (using the GPS built into the new iPhones or the Wi-Fi connection in the older ones) to identify local events and to distinguish the closest office that is recruiting campaign volunteers.
Most important, the application directs the user’s phone contacts to highlight those in swing states. It asks users to call their friends in those states to vote for Senator Obama. Users then can describe who they called and what their reaction was. The options include “Not Interested,” “Considering Obama” and “Already Voted”.
These moves highlight the shifting role of advertising in politics, driven by technology. Now in a world where media is participatory, politicians are always in the lead.