A Tale of Two Campaigns : A Comparative Assessment of the Internet in French and US Presidential Election

French politicians, like those in democracies around the world, were enthralled by the success of Democratic candidate Barack Obama in the 2008 US Presidential elections. Part of that thrall sprung from the candidate’s embrace of internet campaigning and his use of Web 2.0 tools to communicate his ideas, raise campaign funds and break through to voters that might otherwise not be reached through traditional and mainstream media campaigning. In the wake of Obama’s win, speculation emerged that internet and Web 2.0 campaigning would soon become a key tool in French politics, particularly at the personality-driven and high-profile Presidential level. In reality, though, it seems unlikely that France will embrace an Obama style campaigns, not because they are ineffective but because they are constrained by the French electoral system and French attitudes to the internet itself from doing