Obama's Wide Web

Texting, Texting: C U @ the Rally

Eyes rolled when Scott Goodstein rolled out the campaign's text-messaging program in June 2007.

In part, that was because the program included custom-made Obama wallpaper and ring tones -- both staples in the mobile commercial market but untested in the political realm. Clinton and John Edwards had texting programs, too, but they didn't take them this far. Even Obama staffers were skeptical. Unlike YouTube, texting is not free; depending on their cellphone plans, supporters have to pay to receive and send messages. All of the Republican candidates except Mitt Romney saw it as a gimmick. McCain's campaign doesn't text.

But Goodstein, who put his D.C.-based PR business on hold to join the Obama campaign early last year, is a texting evangelist. He's the kind of guy who texts on two phones -- a BlackBerry for work and a Motorola Razr for his personal use.

"To me, texting is the most personal form of communication," says Goodstein, 34. "Your phone is with you almost all the time. You're texting with your girlfriend. You're texting with your friends. Now you're texting with Barack."

Texting is also playing a crucial role in the campaign's obsession with growing its database. Throughout last year, Goodstein sent at least a dozen texts to collect names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Most important, the message came with "an ask," meaning users were asked to do something upon receiving it.

"Watch Barack debate tonight live on CNN! 7pm EDT. REPLY back with your name and your thoughts during & after the debate," read a text sent on July 23, 2007.

Two months later, on Sept. 11, a text read: "Please REPLY to this message with your five-digit zip code to receive local Obama campaign news and periodic updates."

Then as the primaries and caucuses neared, what Goodstein calls "a big experiment" started paying off. One Sunday afternoon in early December, minutes before Oprah Winfrey and Obama addressed about 29,000 people at a rally in Columbia, S.C., Jeremy Bird, Obama's state field director, asked the crowd to take out their cellphones and text "SC" to 62262, Obama's short code. The code spells "Obama" on phones.

In the following weeks, Goodstein sent texts to the numbers he'd collected and asked supporters to make phone calls, volunteer in precincts and vote on Jan. 26 in South Carolina. Obama won that state by 28 points.

"South Carolina was a defining moment in what we were going to do with text messaging -- not just with young voters but with all voters," says Goodstein, who spent three weeks there to oversee the texting strategy.

Texting is a two-way street, and staffers and volunteers respond to texts from supporters who send questions such as "Where's my polling place?" He wouldn't divulge how many supporters receive texts, but the strategy was effective enough to be used in subsequent contests. "Help Barack get out the vote in Pennsylvania! If you can get to PA between now and 4/22, REPLY to this msg: TVL and your NAME (ex. TVL Ann). Please fwd msg," read a text sent before the Keystone State primary.

Note the casual reference to the candidate ("Barack"); the request to forward ("fwd") the text; and the timing -- the text was sent two weeks before polls opened, giving it plenty of time to be passed around. Says Goodstein, "We've just begun to crack how valuable texting is."