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Even top talent at the head of your online marketing campaign is no guarantee of winning, as delegates at The Future of Digital Marketing event learned this morning.

Keynote speaker, Eric Frenchman, Chief Internet Strategist for the online political agency Connell Donatelli Inc and online consultant to the John McCain presidential campaign, is clearly no slouch in the field of online political marketing. But why did McCain lose?

Thanks to various attendees tweeting from the Congress Centre, London during the speech,  we were treated to an insight into the online machinations of US politics.

Frenchman called search marketing “the great equaliser” and the “one place where you can compete or even beat your competition with less money” - a critical issue in political campaigning where your budget is only as good as the funds you raise. As he told the audience, search is not the sexiest but is the lifeblood of your digital campaign.

But some online tactics can backfire. So popular was the click through rate on a “hippy Hilary Clinton” ad used by the Republican campaign, it had to be switched off for being too successful.

As for Obama, he had 90 staff working on his digital strategy - according to Frenchman - and managed to tap into Facebook and online video in a way the Republicans failed to. Creating useful tools, such as “register to vote” widgets on Facebook helped Obama to reach 3.1m followers against McCain’s 610,000. And the Yes We Can video clocked up 18.2m views, alongside the millions of views for “home made” Obama films - equating to an alleged $40m  equivalent of TV advertising spend.

Frenchmen also voiced his frustration at the McCain campaign’s use of Twitter, which rather than focusing on engagement and conversation erred on the side of broadcast or one-way communication.

Though clearly fascinated by the material, some delegates tweeted their concern about the “questionable tactics” of political search, US campaigning and the presence of Frenchman himself.

James Sandoval tweeted: “Why is Eric F of John McCain’s losing digital campaign marketing efforts the keynote? Does this represent FODM - Hmmm”. Anna Rafferty’s “feeling a bit sick about all the childish tricks used online during the US election” got the re-tweet treatment while the nausea theme continued with Tanya Goodin who mentioned a certain “queasiness” about US political video: “We’re just too cynical in the UK for this stuff to work!” she said.

Despite some clearly brilliant and clever online strategy, the Republicans lacked the most important element: a winning product.

Michelle Goodall noted an earth tremor or floor wobble towards the end of the keynote speech. Was it a tube train or the restless ghost of John McCain’s election campaign?

Thanks to all tweeps above, plus @johnmac71, @thetafferboy, @linusgreg @jake_hird, @cragster.

Interesting times for the UK and US’s leaders and leaders in waiting.

As Gordon Brown and the UK government is bailing out the banks, it leaves the Opposition with little to do apart from offer their (grudging) support. Anything else would look churlish and fly against the need for the public to see something done.

But while unable to attack Gordon Brown’s sudden decisiveness on the economic crisis, Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, has felt the need to prick the way he claims Brown is coming across - as “triumphal”. Andrew Rawnsley in The Observer sees it differently, sketching the Prime Minister as lifted from his trademark moroseness by the current challenges. So, image goes a long way in politics.

And in the US, as election day approaches, poor John McCain looks like he might be his own worst enemy, becoming better known for his “short fuse” and “erratic leadership” than the statesmanship Barrack Obama is adopting, even referencing the great FDR’s “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” quote in his current speeches. Obama is calmer while McCain hopes the final presidential debate will enable him to “whip Mr Obama’s you know what” (his words, apparently).

With image counting for so much in politics, I wouldn’t stake a half dollar on it.

Today’s PR Week carries a front page lead that US Presidential hopeful, John McCain, is casting an envious eye over here and is upset that the UK/Europe seems to be falling under Barack Obama’s spell. He’s also agitated over David Cameron’s desire to position himself within range of Barack’s halo effect.

He’s trying to draw right-wing media in the UK into his briefing network and is working on some of the right’s bloggers e.g. Guido.

For anyone interested in how the Yanks are doing blogger outreach in a professional way here is a tape recording of a recent session, hosted by Liz Mair, McCain’s Head of Comms. They are done by conference call and carry a briefing from staffers followed by open Q’s from bloggers who have dialled in.