RE: Is Twitter the Conservatives' big election weakness?

Going by the response to my post yesterday supporting the Conservative drive to recruit celebrity supporters, and advocating a greater use of social networking websites such as Twitter, it isn't a tactic which is overwhelmingly popular. I would however like to take this opportunity to clear up a few issues and advance my case. Firstly, I do not advocate an either/or choice between traditional campaigning and online campaigning, which is how some on both sides unfortunately see the issue. The two forms of campaigning are not mutually exclusive, and indeed a celebrity and social media campaign would take very little if anything away in terms of resources from the 'ground war' of door knocking, leaflet delivering etc. The results however could be huge. It was suggested that social media campaigning was like air support to the combat forces on the ground doing the actual meeting, delivering etc, however - to continue the military analogy - Twitter and other social media are more akin to special forces, breaking in via the back door. Knocking on doors can deliver leaflets and interaction between total strangers, one of whom unfortunately probably finds the other a bit strange, whereas Twitter can deliver a completely unexpected message, website or broadcast from a celebrity that individual may admire, right to the computers and phones of many thousands of people. Unlike blogs, social media is also a means of reaching the disillusioned and not simply preaching to the converted. Secondly, I do not believe in trying to find any old celebrity, which would indeed look desperate (unless their support is more subtle, such as on Twitter). In my example of Cheryl Cole and shampoo I discussed finding the right celebrity for the right product, and the importance of aligning this right. Labour loves using Stephen Fry, because he is viewed widely as hugely intelligent which leads people to respect his opinion, just as Head & Shoulders love using Cheryl Cole because she has nice hair, and financial firms like using Carol Vorderman because she is viewed as a maths expert. Where is the Conservatives' Stephen Fry? Finally, I do not advocate becoming a policy free void filled with minor pop star celebrities. No sort of campaigning is a replacement for that, online or on the street, and indeed having a sensible, coherent and popular set of policies is vital to the success of an online campaign just as any other campaign - after all, we need something to stay, online as on the pavement. So where exactly do the Conservatives start? I have no idea of how celebrity edorsements are solicited, however a good trick I find in most things is to see what works and copy it. Given that Sarah Brown has over 1 million followers on Twitter, I'd be signing Samantha Cameron up asap...