Netroots, baby, netroots!
The Kansas City Star explores the Dean/Meetup phenomenon in this article posted earlier today, and rightly concludes that the internet has the potential to revolutionise the political process. They credit the Dean campaign for it's efficient and innovative use of the internet.
Deanblogger Yoni Cohen, co-founder of Students For Dean, is quoted often (YEA!) as the reporter tries to get a grip on the importance of this movement. "For establishing a national organization, to keep everybody networked and helping each other out, the Internet has been an amazing tool," Cohen said. Campaign manager Joe Trippi expands on the concept of netroots, adding "It's not your father's presidential campaign. We still wrestle with it from time to time. The challenge is, you can't put an order out, `Make these 10 phone calls today.' Things happen that you can't plan for... You've gotta be willing to let go, which is scary, let me tell you, `cause I'm doing it."
The article also asks some tough questions, the main one being how to stay on message via thousands of independent supporters. I feel the Dean campaign has begun to address this by issuing agendas for each meetup. For all you hosts, you can grab it here. They've also got videos you can play via laptops at the meetups. These things are just the beginning, and I'd ask that if anyone has ideas of other types of tools that you'd like to see provided, leave it in the comments 'cause you know the campaign will read them.
I suppose the real test will be this: what will be manifested from this movement? How much of an effect will the netroots have on this campaign? Most certainly, the answer lies in our hands. It's up to us to ensure that our party changes, that our leadership changes, and that our country becomes what we all envision it to be. I think that's one of the underlying messages we keep hearing from Howard Dean (once again proving that he "gets it"): he'll lead the charge, but we've got to provide the fuel to that proverbial fire. It's important for those of us who participate at this level to engage others to do so, and meetup is a fantastic way to accomplish our goals.
By the way, current meetup membership has surpassed 31,000. The article - again, issued today - lists a total of 27,000. Astroturf? I think not.
Deanblogger Yoni Cohen, co-founder of Students For Dean, is quoted often (YEA!) as the reporter tries to get a grip on the importance of this movement. "For establishing a national organization, to keep everybody networked and helping each other out, the Internet has been an amazing tool," Cohen said. Campaign manager Joe Trippi expands on the concept of netroots, adding "It's not your father's presidential campaign. We still wrestle with it from time to time. The challenge is, you can't put an order out, `Make these 10 phone calls today.' Things happen that you can't plan for... You've gotta be willing to let go, which is scary, let me tell you, `cause I'm doing it."
The article also asks some tough questions, the main one being how to stay on message via thousands of independent supporters. I feel the Dean campaign has begun to address this by issuing agendas for each meetup. For all you hosts, you can grab it here. They've also got videos you can play via laptops at the meetups. These things are just the beginning, and I'd ask that if anyone has ideas of other types of tools that you'd like to see provided, leave it in the comments 'cause you know the campaign will read them.
I suppose the real test will be this: what will be manifested from this movement? How much of an effect will the netroots have on this campaign? Most certainly, the answer lies in our hands. It's up to us to ensure that our party changes, that our leadership changes, and that our country becomes what we all envision it to be. I think that's one of the underlying messages we keep hearing from Howard Dean (once again proving that he "gets it"): he'll lead the charge, but we've got to provide the fuel to that proverbial fire. It's important for those of us who participate at this level to engage others to do so, and meetup is a fantastic way to accomplish our goals.
By the way, current meetup membership has surpassed 31,000. The article - again, issued today - lists a total of 27,000. Astroturf? I think not.
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