The SMS Effect

Senator Santorum is the first to use SMS in a Senate campaign.

Santorum debuted his SMS campaign at a Women For Rick breakfast last week hosted by Mary Matalin, who demonstrated the new technology for the open event. Internet director Mindy Finn said they chose the all-female crowd because women tend to be busier and use their cell phones in more creative ways. Santorum's camp asked for cell phone numbers at the door, and later sent guests a thank-you message for attending. Starting in July, the campaign plans to use more of the technology with issue-based messages, such as a text on Santorum's work on immigration. They also have plans to integrate SMS into their direct mail and perhaps television and radio ads. As Finn put it, the opportunities are "limitness."

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But the new medium comes with its 128-character-limit concerns. Primarily, will voters reject a message from a politician that they must pay for on their cell phone bill? And will only core supporters, i.e. not undecided voters, sign up for the messages? The platform is more expensive than e-mail, both in startup and transaction fees. But most supporters of the platform look to international examples to prove otherwise. South Korean youth used the new technology during last year's election to gather for rallies under the conservative media's radar. And because U.S. campaigns like Edwards and Santorum are only beginning to experiment with it, it will be months -- perhaps even until '08 -- until it's determined to be an effective medium for political communication

Former Senator John Edwards is using it with his "One America Committee."