Political parties ‘must embrace technology’

Abdul Khalik ,  THE JAKARTA POST ,  JAKARTA   |  Tue, 02/10/2009 10:23 AM  |  National

Indonesian political parties must use a mix of available technologies, including the Internet and cell phones, with their traditional social networking to woo educated, young and first-time voters, says a key US Democratic Party strategist.

Joe Hansen: JP/ABDUL KHALIK

Joe Hansen, a strategist for US President Barack Obama’s successful campaign, said in an interview Monday that with the country’s Internet literacy growing exponentially in recent years, it was a must for political parties here to use email, websites, Facebook and YouTube to communicate their campaigns, given that the bulk of voters used the media as primary tools to socialize, communicate and stay informed.

“Say you have a 225 million population, and I think around 20 percent of them use the Internet. You can reach over 40 million people just by using the Internet,” he said.

Hansen, former executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) responsible for recruiting promising senatorial candidates for the party, is now handling the campaigns of 26 senators and 12 governors.

He is in Indonesia for a series of seminars with leaders of major parties, including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party and Megawati Soekarnoputri’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Hansen said Obama’s success was due in part to the use of the Internet, including email, Facebook and YouTube, as communication media.

“One thing you can say about Obama’s campaign is that it brought a lot of people into the political process, because people were excited about the possibility of change with Obama’s presidency. But the campaign team also did a wonderful job in getting people active by communicating the message through the Internet,” he said.

He added Indonesia, like the US, suffered from a lack of enthusiasm among young people to get involved in the political process.

But the use of media familiar with younger generation or first-time voters — like the Internet — Hansen said, would draw them to be more active, not only in casting their votes, but also during the campaign, as proven by Obama’s campaign.

During the US presidential race, Obama’s team organized a massive campaign through the Internet to encourage voters to go out and support the campaign.

The total votes cast in that election were 131.2 million, compared to 122.3 million in 2004, which was previously a record for the largest voter turnout in US history. In terms of the popular vote, Obama received 69,456,897 votes, while McCain took 59,934,814 votes.

Through social networking websites, the team also managed to recruit thousands of volunteers right from the grassroots level, which formed the bulk of Obama’s political machinery.

Even at the post-election stage leading to his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2009, a reported total of 60,000 volunteered when only 18,000 volunteers were initially needed. This showed not only the quantity, but also the quality of the volunteers whose interests in helping out were sustained.

A recent survey by the Indonesian Society for Civilized Elections (ISCEL) found that of the 38 parties contesting the polls, only three currently made use of the Internet, while the rest had either ignored it or still relied on the old-fashioned use of print media and outdoor advertisements.

ISCEL said the Democratic Party was the only contender consistently publicizing its campaign activities through its website. Major rivals such as the Golkar Party, the PDI-P and the United Development Party (PPP) have set up websites, but rarely update them.

However, Hansen said website utilization alone was not enough to attract voters, but should be combined with other Internet social networking facilities, including YouTube and Facebook, to win the polls.

The Internet remains the cheapest and easiest way to promote a party, but can deliver up victory, with the information not constrained by geopolitical boundaries, he said.

Hansen, who will meet with Yudhoyono’s campaign team and Democratic Party leaders later in the day, said the fact that 38 parties were contesting the elections could be an advantage, with the party needing just over 20 percent of total votes to win the election.

For major parties, he went on, the question was how to increase their votes significantly, and not just scrape through.

On Tuesday, Hansen will meet with Megawati’s campaign team to present Obama’s campaign tactics as used in the recent election.

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