In the 2008 election there was little doubt that President Obama had a firm foot hold in new media and social networking sites. I think this is in part that he is technically savvy and he surrounded himself with technically savvy folks. There is little doubt that John McCain wasn’t prepare for this type of election and neither was his campaign employees. According to a blog post by Meghan McCain her fathers campaign thought she was wasting her time blogging about the campaign. This ignorance about the importance of new media is evident in the fact that Obama’s campaign had 90 people working on his new media campaign and McCain only 4 according to CNET. This new media presence combined with the traditional media love affair of Obama gave him much more face time.

This leads us up to the GOP looking to tech as part of a plan to revive the party. There are many pioneers in this area like John Culberson who is the most prominent Twitter user on the right. Now many on the right and left are looking to leverage new media as part of their campaigns. I think conservative bloggers should be given more support by the party. Additionally conservatives need to find a way to bond via social networks to share and deliver our message. This means communicating about what they are working on and speaking in plainly to their audience. It also means you need to listen to your audience.

The new use of social networks will help the GOP deliver it’s message. However the GOP must hold a hard line to the core value of limited government. This includes lowering spending and taxes. Eliminating regulations that impair the market’s ability to grow. These are all values that counter the left’s desire for an ever larger and invasive government.