MySpace Flap Costs Obama

Campaign big-foots virtual volunteer; candidate speaks up
By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff
Posted May 3, 2007 8:42 AM CDT
MySpace Flap Costs Obama
U.S. Sen. and presidential hopeful Barack Obama, D-Ill., shakes hands with supporters as he leaves a campaign rally at Yellow Jacket Park, Saturday, April 14, 2007 at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Before a cheering crowd of 20,000 people Obama said that if elected president he would bring U.S. troops home...   (Associated Press)

The glow of a computer screen morphed into a harsh spotlight on the Barack Obama campaign this week during a bitter dispute over control of a MySpace page bearing the senator's name. Obama reached out last night—over the phone, not in an email—to the disgruntled supporter who created the page, but the damage is done.

Joe Anthony started the page in 2004 and later gave access to the campaign. Things fell apart when Obama's people demanded control. They got their wish, but the social-networking calculus scores it as a loss: Obama's "friend" count plunged from 160,000 to 20,000. And Anthony hasn't decided who will get his vote. (More Barack Obama stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X