One of the biggest stories of the 2008 Presidential election has been Democratic candidate Barack Obama's fund raising ability and where he has chosen to invest those dollars. Of course the infomercial the other week was the headliner in this department, but one of his most forward thinking and cost effective investments was the money the Obama campaign put into video game advertising. Just a few of the places where Obama made an appearance were Burnout Paradise, Second Life and NBA Live.

Unlike TV advertising, which all together cost the Democrats hundreds of millions of dollars, the monies put into gaming advertising was probably not much more than 0k or so, this based on the expenditure for its major placement in Burnout Paradise, which was less than k. So, if the election were held today--ooops I guess it is today isn't it--who would win according to the Xbox LIVE poll that has been going on for the last few months? Surprise, surprise, it looks like we are looking at an Obama presidency. The other surprise is that Obama's leading percentage, 53%, is the same as CNN's percentage, both for the Halloween weekend, while there is a 13% differential between the McCain's percentage across the two polls. Now, as brave a face as John McCain has been putting on over the last few weeks, I'm sure he would prefer to have the 46% seen in the CNN poll over the sad 33% seen in the LIVE version. Does that mean if the GOP would have spent a few dollars cow towing to gamers that maybe they would be doing a bit better. Who knows, but again, we are talking a few hundred thousand dollars here. Both sides can obviously afford that and since change is driving this election it might be a good idea to pay attention to those most looking forward to that change, the youth of the nation. I've a feeling that regardless who takes the white house this year both sides will be covering all their bases next time around.

Check out the polls below, especially in the LIVE undecided category. Looks like there is some opportunity there:

--Hobson's Choice

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