The Emotionally Driven Internet

Has the Internet become such a critical part of a political campaign that it can decide the outcome of an election?

Jakob Nielsen's article "Email Newsletters During the Last Week of a Presidential Campaign," argues that a candidate's Internet usability has decided the outcome of elections. Nielsen found that during the last week of the 2004 presidential election, Bush used the Internet as a get out the vote tactic. During that same week, Kerry used the Internet to continue to fundraise. Nielsen claims that Bush's strategy enabled him to reach voters emotionally rather than asking them to reach into their pockets.

Although Nielsen makes a good point I do not think Bush's usability was the turning point in the election. I think that he was able to successfully reach voters emotionally as part of his overall strategy. The way the campaign used the Internet to reach voters was a part of this overall strategy. Bush was able to get into peoples' hearts, and through this he got into their wallets.