Text the Vote

It has always been a puzzle for political candidates, consultants, and political scientists: how do you get younger voters to register and turn out at the polls? MTV, of course, famously rocked the vote. On a whole different level, a bakery near where I live in Los Angeles, pledged a dozen free donuts to anyone with a ballot stub.

The Barack Obama campaign has embraced text messaging as a way to keep voters informed, to recruit them to spread the word to their friends, and to encourage them to register and vote. With the election a month and a half away, the campaign's huge database of cellphone numbers is about to get its greatest test. Our discussion was based on this National Public Radio story.

Gabcast! Club MediaNote #53