The next great feature of the SMS marketing world is waiting to be used. All you need to do is convince the FEC that donations by text are a function of a free and fair election process.
The big news this year has been microdonations - donations to political campaigns that are less than $100. Barack Obama has set new records for money raised with donations from over a million donors. These donors are not tracked under $100 (which should raise eyebrows but doesn't), but what if you could drop the limit down to $10.
Imagine this. You're at a rally with 10,000 people. You ask them to pull out their mobile phones, and in a display of solidarity, donate $10 to the candidates by texting the name of the candidate to a number on a screen. If half of the people comply, you're just raised $50,000. Well, actually you've raised $50,000 minus the cost of the calls, which would actually be substantial with today's carriers.
But what if you could get the carriers to go down to $1, $1.50 a call - and take the $8.50 for your candidate? Instant fundraising, tracked through the mobile phone bill. It's the ultimate in direct democracy, and it's going on in Korea. Why isn't it going on in the United States?
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