Political Fundraising Via Text Faces Hurdles

The creators of a newly approved political donation-by-text message platform find themselves at a boom-or-bust juncture.

In their perfect world, the Republican and Democratic national conventions will be political telethons of sorts, where viewers instantaneously text $10 to “OBAMA” or “ROMNEY” — a potential windfall for all.

But at the moment, the companies who want to run the donations by text message system are in drawn-out talks with major mobile phone carriers to figure out how it will all work and how much of a cut everyone will take.