The Obama campaign has linked arms with ChaCha, a free mobile answers service, to urge people across the USA to vote early. Until election day, people who use ChaCha will receive a prompt that offers the option of getting more information on how and where to vote early. The campaign is limited to states where early voting is allowed: Iowa, Ohio, North Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Florida, Montana and Wisconsin.
How it works: In North Carolina, for example, ChaCha users will see an ad, tagged to the end of responses, that reads: “To vote early, reply OBAMA.” If a user responds affirmatively, he or she will receive a message back that reads: “You can vote early for Barack Obama in North Carolina. Vote today! Find out how at 888-123-1234 or visit VoteForChange.com on your computer. Vote now!” The general election is Nov. 4.
This is the second time that the Obama campaign has turned to wireless to get the word out. In the summer, just before the Democratic National Convention, the campaign sent a blast text to 2.9 million wireless users –- all of whom had signed up for a text alert –- to announce the selection of Joe Biden as the vice presidential pick.
ChaCha, which has a loyal and growing following, is a free service that allows users to call 1-800-2ChaCha with any question, and get an answer back within minutes. (You can also text questions to “ChaCha,” or 242242.) Unlike Google or other online search engines, ChaCha relies on “expert guides” –- usually people –- to do online searches for you and then relay the information back.By Leslie CauleyUS Democratic presidential candidate Illinois Senator Barack Obama boards his campaign plane on his way to Hawaii to see is ailing grandmother at the airport in Indianapolis, Indiana, October 23, 2008. (Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)
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