Building buzz by building a social network

Cable TV pundits are abuzz this morning, speculating on who Barack Obama has chosen as his running mate. Will it be Biden? Sebelius? Bayh? Clinton? Heightening their anticipation is that the news will break via text message.

I imagine that there were plenty of folks debating whether to shower this morning, for fear they might not hear their phones and thus miss The Moment.
Now, in the scheme of American Politics, this 3-second interaction between voter and cell phone is no Gettysburg Address. But there is an intimacy, a sense of inclusion in something important - which the Obama campaign has used cold, hard technology to create.

First came the e-mails: Be the first to know who has been chosen! (Who doesn't want to have and share "inside" knowledge?) Just text VP to a 5-digit number from your cell phone. (What could be easier for the under-50 crowd?)

How did the campaign get their e-mail addresses? Months ago, anyone curious to see the senator speak at an event was asked to RSVP via e-mail. In return, they'd get an "electronic ticket." The tickets didn't ensure entry, but they did allow organizers to anticipate crowd size and collect millions of e-mail addresses from across the nation. Simple and sweet.

Obviously, not everyone who signed up is a supporter - I'm maintaining political independence as I write this - but there's no doubt that Obama's contact lists of potential volunteers and voters is every candidate's dream.

BTW, I just checked my cell phone - again. No txt msg yet. Feeling kinda antsy. Can't recall **ever** feeling this way about a VP announcement. Can you?