A intelligent technological strategy

As reported by US newspapers like The Washington Post, Barack Obama is applying a interesting strategy to announce who will be his running mate.

He will be sending a message to his supporters via cell phone to have them informed in the moment he announces who will be the possible Vicepresident of the United States.

The New York Times explains in a opinion article this is not a 'show off' from Obama, it's a political strategy to obtain the cell phones of thousands of people, young people who doesn't even have a landline, or minorities, that for their status doesn't have any other form of personal communication than their cell phones.

This is not the first time that Obama has used text messages to 'reclute' voters.

On the day of the Iowa caucuses, the campaign sent repeated messages and caucus tips to the cellphones of its Iowa supporters. In New Hampshire, Mr. Obama sent his supporters three text messages over the course of primary day to remind them to vote and to get their friends to vote.

The same NYT article reports changes in the way the cell phones are used in political changes.

In Spain, in 2004, youngsters sent a text message after the train bombings in Madrid with just one phrase: "Who did it?" refering to the strategy used by José María Aznar president to blame ETA instead of Al Qaeda for this terrorist act.

In the Philippines in 2001 when protesters organized themselves via cellphone to overthrow President Joseph Estrada. They passed along a simple text message with the direction to rally at a specific Manila street: “Go 2 EDSA. Wear blck.”In Myanmmar the governmnt even saw cell phones as such a threat during the protest carried by monks that it was ordered to block the service.

And, returning to the USA campaign, the fact is that Obama will have a large database with people that his political team will try to convince to vote or donate for his campaign. Talking about smart strategies.