With so many Democrats on the fence, with a one-on-one debate to be aired in prime time at the the same theater in Los Angeles where they hold the Oscarss, AND 4 days before Super Tuesday, wouldn’t you want to show the world your the man/woman for the job?

It appears that Hillary Clinton has completely abandoned her mobile campaign altogether. In fact, I was so surprised that I did not get a text message, that I went to her web site to sign-up again. I could not believe that in the hours before this big debate, I receved no text.

To my amazement, there is not a single reference on her web site home page to her sms short code, or her mobile campaign. Wasn’t she the first? Wasn’t she leading the way?

I clicked the “Join Team Hillary” button and was presented with a sign-up form with NO mobile phone number field at all. What I find even more amazing is that in order to receive email updates from her, you need to register for the site. Is she insane! She doesn’t want votes from people who don’t want to share their personal information?

Oh well… the only thing I received from her campaign before the debate was an email from Patti Solis the Campaign Manager, asking me to contribute.

Now let’s head over to “Team Obama“.

On Tuesday I received this text:

Subject: One week until Super Tuesday!

One week until Super Tuesday! Help Barack in your state & volunteer this week. REPLY to this msg and text VOL your NAME & STATE to 62262 (ex: VOL Ann Colorado).

This was an excellent way to get the attentiopn of possible volunteers. All I would need to do is reply, and I assume someone would give me a call or send info telling me how I can help. He’s rallying the troops for the big day, and doing it well.

Then last night at 5:30pm, I received this one:

Subject: Tonight!

Tonight! Watch Barack & Hillary in the last debate before Super Tuesday: 8pm ET/5pm PT on CNN. REPLY with your thoughts after. Ask friends to txt JOIN to 62262.

Except for the fact that I had the phone on vibrate and had my headphones on, this was PERFECT! I had completely forgot about it. This might be my last chance to see the two of them and make my decision before Tuesday’s Primary. They sent a well crafter reminder a few hours before, giving people enough time to get home to watch or tune in on satellite radio.

I’d love to know how many messages were sent, and how many people watched that would not have.

Obama’s mobile efforts have gotten better each day, while Hillary’s have disappeared completely.

His home page has a graphic banner entitled “Obama Mobile” that says “TEXT HOPE TO 62262″.  You click on it and are brought to his mobile information and signup page. He even has his TWITTER address!

For high-volume text users (once every few days) Follow Barack’s updates and schedule on Twitter, a text messaging social network. Simply text FOLLOW BARACKOBAMA to 40404. For more information on Twitter visit: www.twitter.com/barackobama (This service is separate from Obama Mobile)

And dedicated keywords for specific issue updates:

To receive specific issue updates, text

HEALTH to OBAMA (62262)

healthcare policy updates

EDUCATION to OBAMA (62262)

education policy updates

IRAQ to OBAMA (62262)

updates on bringing our troops home

JOBS to OBAMA (62262)

economic policy updates

REFORM to OBAMA (62262)

updates on cleaning up Washington & taking on special interests

And of course, the Ringtones and Wallpapers….

Unfortunately a visit to both of their sites from my mobile phone brought me to their web version.

This is the kind of leader we need in this country. He got off to a rough start with this mobile campaign, and adapted well. He has embraced the technology and used it to communicate with a base of supporters that will clearly make a difference in this race.

On the other hand, Hillary tried a new technology for the sake of getting press for being the first, and then abandoned it when it didn’t  get the care it needed to succeed. It appears she has already broken “promises”.

According to an e-mail from campaign spokesman Phil Singer, those who text the word “JOIN” to 77007 can expect:

• “Regular updates from Hillary while she is on the road (messages, photos, etc).”
• “Local updates about campaign events in their area.”
• To be asked “for their input.”

The campaign promises more mobile tools in weeks and months ahead.

If this country is looking for change, then which one of these politicians do we want in the White House?

If Obama wins the nomination, I would suggest he stay on track, and possibly add a mobile web site as he takes the fight to what will probably be John McCain, who would be the oldest man to assume the role of President. Even Reagan was younger, and he didn’t spend 5 years as a prisoner of war. (Hey Obama, if you want to track visitors to a mobile web site, we’ll give you Mobilytics for free!)

If Hillary wins, I would suggest a quick return to mobile to reach out to Obama’s supporters and a whole country that is looking for real change.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 1st, 2008 at 9:45 am and is filed under News, Mobile Marketing, SMS, Politics, Mobile Web, Mobile Web Analytics. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.