Here are two words that have yet to be uttered from the stage of the Democratic National Convention: BarackObama.com or Democrats.org. I’ve slogged through the posted transcripts of the first three days speeches in Denver, and using the “find” tool on Firefox could not find one occurrence of either phrase.
Considering that the Democratic convention is drawing a healthy nightly TV audience of perhaps 25 million prime-time viewers, you’ve got to count this as more than just a minor slip by Team Obama. As I wrote last week, the party conventions are still very much conceived as “made for television” events, and the past three days have certainly succeeded at delivering a number of telegenic and well-timed TV moments, from Ted Kennedy’s unexpected appearance to Hillary Clinton’s call for Obama’s nomination by acclamation (during the East Coast evening news programs).
But not once has a single speaker said, even in passing, “Find out more by going to BarackObama.com” or “Get involved building the Democratic Party at Democrats.org,” or even, “Make an online contribution at…” etc.
Yes, it’s true that Obama’s web address is on all the signage being hoisted in the air by delegates, but that’s hardly visible on TV and nothing like a direct reference by a prime-time speaker. I also hear there will be more direct asks tonight at the Invesco Field, where 75,000 Obama supporters will gather for his acceptance speech, including a request to attendees to text-message their friends during the event. We shall see.
Still, when you consider the impact of a top speaker calling out the campaign web address on live TV — it spurred John McCain’s record-breaking money haul after the 2000 New Hampshire primary, and the same move after Super Tuesday this year gave a second life to Hillary Clinton’s fundraising — it’s definitely an opportunity missed, so far.
August 28, 2008