Update: Many did get the Obama message, but what did they give up in return?
So the Obama text message experiment at first glance fell on its face. Many people, like me, never got it. And those who did, got it in the middle of the night. Disaster, right?
Actually, no. I say that having read Matthew Stannard’s story in The San Francisco Chronicle on Saturday. Stannard notes that the real goal of the plan may have getting millions of people to voluntarily submit their cell phone numbers to Obama’s database.
Those numbers, of course, aren’t publicly available:
And that, (Republican consultant David) All said, leads to the larger point: Whatever buzz Obama is creating now will fade once he reveals his choice for running mate, but the collection of mobile phone numbers will be there for the campaign to use.
“His opt-in e-mail list is 10 million large, which is tremendous,” All said. “And now he’s probably got a million cell phones, which is incredible.”
Expect news updates, campaign pitches and fundraising pleas on your phone coming soon.
But that doesn’t mean everyone is applauding. I asked my Twitter posse earlier today whether any of them had gotten the text message (I still haven’t!). Here are a few responses:
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