There was a time (2007, to be exact) when "eyes rolled when Scott Goodstein rolled out the [Obama] campaign's text-messaging program."

Eyes weren't rolling when the campaign gathered more than a million contacts by announcing its vice presidential pick by text-message.

Today, we consider mobile politicking a critical element of any campaigner's digital toolkit.

You don't have to reach the size or scope of the Obama campaign to launch an effective mobile effort -- but you do need to know how to leverage existing and upcoming tools, including text messaging, downloads, interactive voice response communication, mobile websites, iPhone apps, and more, for your cause.

Join the PdF Network on Thursday, December 17 to hear from Scott Goodstein, CEO, Revolution Messaging (and former External Online Director for Obama for America) about what lessons the Obama campaign has to offer for the future of mobile politicking.

Please note that this call will not be archived as a podcast, so make sure to join us on Thursday!

Thursday, Dec 17th at the PdF Network
Learning from the Obama Campaign About the Future of Mobile Politicking
1-2 p.m. EST

Join the call!

Check out our upcoming PdF Network calls...

"If the [Republican] party does not figure out a way to appeal to Latino voters, it will become increasingly difficult, and maybe impossible, to ever again win a national election," said Chief McCain campaign strategist Steve Schmidt in the days following the 2008 election.

Democrats agree -- some even call the White House's mission to reach out to Latinos a "near obsession."

And with good reason: Latinos in the U.S. are growing in number and voice. Between the 2004 and 2008 elections, Latino eligible voters more than quadrupled in number compared to the general population, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

You can certainly find many of these voters watching Univision, but that's not the only place to earn their support. Latinos are using mobile technology, social networks and online content in their own way -- and it's up to you to reach them.

Thursday, Nov 5th at the PdF Network
How to Harness Changes in Latino Participation Online
1-2 p.m. EST

Join the call!

Join the PdF Network on Thursday, November 5 to hear from Kety Esquivel, New Media Manager for NCLR (National Council of La Raza), about how to harness changes in Latino participation online to boost support and engagement for your own cause.

Join the call!

Check out our upcoming PdF Network calls...

Apple has taken heat recently for blocking seemingly benign and, in some case very helpful, iPhone apps submissions--most notably Google's Voice app.

Now, an independent developer is claiming that his app, iSinglePayer, has been blocked by Apple for being "politically charged." iSinglePayer is a sort of "lobby Congress for health care reform via my phone" wizard: it shows you US and worldwide healthcare statistics, determines your senators and representatives via GPS, shows the campaign contributions they've received from the health care industry, and lets you easily call their congressional offices.

For the very first time in the recorded history of all of humanity, the 2008 election saw adult Americans who went online to engage in the political process outnumber those who didn't. Pew's Internet & American Life Project has a new report out that finds a full 55% of American grown-ups got on the Internet to get news about politics or the campaign (60% of adult Americans did this in '08), talk about politics with others (38%), or use specific tools -- i.e. Twitter, IM, email -- to send or receive messages about politics (59%).

One finding that jumps out from the Pew report is that Americans are trending towards relying upon sites for news and commentary that share their political perspective. In 2004, 26% of people who go online for politics reported that most of the sites they visit are in line with their political point of view, rather than a neutral source. In 2008, that moved up seven notches to 33%. The numbers are more striking for younger folk. In 2004, 22% of online users between the ages of 18 and 24 reported that a majority of the sites they visited shared their point of view. This cycle, that nearly doubled to 43%.

But that doesn't necessarily mean we're all wallowing in a pit of likemindedness. It might, instead, just mark the fact that we're consuming news for more sources. Even if I obsessively read the (objectively non-partisan) New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post online everyday, I'd only have to hit four ideological blogs in a day to make "most" of my sources slanted ones.

Here's another statistic from the Pew report that might catch your attention: supporters of John McCain were more likely than supporters of Barack Obama to be Internet users, 83% to 76%. Pew attributes that to the finding that Republicans tend to be wealthier and more highly educated than Democrats -- both strong predictors of Internet use.

The full report is here.