Obama and Romney Campaigns Adopt Square for Funding. Obama campaign first to accept donation by text message. WASHINGTON -- Nine years ago, then-Vermont Gov.
Howard Dean broke new ground when his campaign used the Internet to help raise what were then record sums for his insurgent White House bid. Now President Obama’s campaign – whose digital strategist hails from Dean’s Internet operation – is pouncing on another technological tool, announcing that it would be the first presidential campaign in history to accept donations via text message. Obama campaign officials hope this new method of making donations will boost contributions from small donors – particularly young ones – as the 2012 race heads into its final stretch.
“Grass-roots giving is powering this campaign,” campaign manager Jim Messina said in a statement. “Accepting small donations by text message will help us engage even more grass-roots supporters who want to play a role by donating whatever they can afford to the campaign – and get the president reelected in November,” he added. The FEC gave final blessing to the plan Aug. 14. Obama Campaign Releases iPhone App for Canvassing. It’s been the science-fiction dream of political operatives for years: an army of volunteers, connected to the Internet as they walk from door to door, looking up names on a device and entering their responses electronically.
President Obama’s campaign appears ready to make it a reality with the release of a new iPhone app that will replace the ubiquitous clipboard for Democratic canvassers. Screen shot from the Obama campaign’s iPhone app. The app, which is available on Tuesday, will allow supporters of Mr. Obama’s to download a list of names in their neighborhood from the campaign’s central database. No longer will they have to stop by the local campaign headquarters to get started.
And once they knock on a door, the response — positive, negative, on-the-fence — can be wirelessly slung back to the campaign’s computer system instantly. The campaign is betting that the technology will vastly expand the number of supporters who will beat the pavement for Mr. Mr. Neither Mr. How the Obama Campaign's New iPhone App Really Works. Share The Obama campaign launched a new app on Tuesday, an ambitious effort to bring the tools of a local field office to iPhones across the country.
The app marks one of those potentially bland campaign developments that—unlike the weekly gaffes that draw so much media attention—could actually move a lot of votes in November. Obama’s app is unusual because it melds technology and field organizing more than any other political campaign, including Obama’s earlier efforts. This is the first time that voter canvassing lists have been provided to volunteers through an app, another step in the campaign’s attempt to deputize volunteers with responsibilities traditionally reserved to political staff. (These include the “super volunteers” that Obama field guru Jon Carson credits for unprecedented turnout operations in Ohio last cycle.) Imagine a volunteer knocking on a door.
If that sounds like a bunch of work, that’s because the app was not designed to be entertaining.