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2Oct/08N/A2

BREAKING: Obama ‘08 iPhone app now available


Early this morning, the Official iPhone app of the Obama/Biden campaign went live in the iTunes app store.

The application -- which I was able to help test over the last two weeks, under strict muzzle orders from its developers -- allows you to call your friends in swing states, find local events, and access Obama's platform at your fingertips, among other things.

An earlier version of the application also had a "Find Polling Location" feature, which was cut from this first release version, presumably in an effort to get the app to market as soon as possible.

And, while the application itself isn't extremely tied into the campaign, the developers did some interesting things to tie it into its networks of users.

For instance, when you make a call to a voter in a swing state (the app sorts your address book by swing state), it also uploads stats on how many calls are being made. Then, on the application's stats page, you can see how many calls have been made nationwide and how many the top caller has made.

While possibilities abound for how an iPhone app could be more integrated into a political campaign (door knocking lists and voter regisration come to mind), the Official Obama '08 iPhone app does mark a revoluntionary step in political/technological history. Clearly, bringing a campaign to mobile handsets is the future of electioneering -- where the key to winning campaigns is still door to door, location-based voter contact.

About Nate Westheimer

Nate is the Co-Founder and VP Product of AnyClip. He is also the Organizer of the 10,000 member NY Tech Meetup.
  • wiliam143
    The most notable feature "organizes and prioritizes your contacts by key battleground states, making it easy to reach out and make an impact quickly," according to the software.

    On my phone, the application ranked contacts in Colorado, Michigan, and New Mexico at the top; at the bottom was a friend whose cell phone has a Texas number, though she actually lives in California.

    The application anonymously reports back the number of calls made this way: "Your privacy is important: no personal data or contacts will be uploaded or stored. Only the total number of calls you make is uploaded anonymously."

    The software is the latest effort by politicians to capitalize on technology, joining other examples such as ads distributed through YouTube, Web-based fund-raising, Facebook pages and fan groups, and e-mail recruitment drives of internet phone.
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Who is Nate?

You've found Nate Westheimer's blog. Nate wears many hats. He's the EVP Product & Technology and Co-founder of AnyClip, the Organizer of the NY Tech Meetup, and Advisor to Flybridge Capital Partners. More about Nate can be read on his Bio page and you can follow his thoughts on Twitter

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