This is probably old news, but for any kossacs living in Maine, please visit Sam Spencer's
website, and his
blog. He is taking advice via email and his blog on whom to vote for in the DNC chair race. Read this Tapped
post providing a bit more of a bio on Mr. Spencer.
I hope this starts a trend whereby more and more DNC balloters contact their constituents using the internet. On top of the obvious benefits of including the democratic voting public in the DNC decision-making process, it will further legitimize netroots tactics, which are still gleefully mocked and ridiculed in DLC circles.
Envision a political landscape where U.S. senators and representatives used these same methods to gauge their constituents on specific legislative issues. Applying this netroots paradigm to the current social security debate, it would be interesting to see if it would make it harder for representatives in heavy retiree districts to vote for Bush's privatization scheme. Josh Marshall has already done the yeoman work in identifying such politicians in his "Faint Hearted Faction/Conscience Caucus" blog campaign (Explanation). Instead of having Josh Marshall turn up the heat these politicians, image if the constituents themselves could quickly apply pressure via existing blog/email outlets. I think Sam's current efforts are a step in the direction of a legitimized netroots infrastructure accepted by all factions of the DNC.