Once upon a time all politics
was local, Lincoln was largely elected because his local network of cronies worked their magic at the Republican convention. But, then it turned horribly crooked. Think Chicago and the precinct bosses. Unfortunately, from that point, we moved into the era of the Military Industrial Complex, mega-corporations, and super-lobbyists handing out millions to law makers.
As everything is cyclic, it was only a matter of time before we came back to a locally driven system. But, there were two key moments that swung the system. The first was campaign finance reform, which removed power from big corporations. The second was the Liberal Fundraiser that finally pushed the netroots into a lead role in the Democratic Party.
Update [2006-2-3 10:12:27 by chuckles1]: I deleted my follow-up diary to this one because it was not being taken at all the way I wanted. I'm just looking for constructive criticism - how come no one in the upper echelons is interested in this idea? I apologize to all those who took it the wrong way.
Update [2006-2-2 13:3:20 by chuckles1]: As I have written below, I am just a little fish in a big pond. But, I have this idea that maybe we could do something special. Will it work? Well, that depends. I've been told this is the year of the Dog and I was born in the year of the Dog and I've been told that means it's a lucky year for me. One thing is certain,
I ain't gonna make this happen by myself. I didn't pick those blogs in my Daily Show-esque story by accident. There are people who could make it happen, but as of now...no joy in Mudville.
Liberal Blogosphere Raises $20 Million for Democratic National Committee
October 1, 2006
In a true October surprise, liberal bloggers have spearheaded the largest single fundraising campaign in history. A cabal of the internet's top bloggers from sites like DailyKos, MyDD, Talking Points Memo, TPMCafe, Swing State Project, Street Prophets, Our Senate, My Left Wing, and Our Spectrum among others led the fundraiser with an incredible amount of centralization and coordination. The kickoff of the fundraiser came as a surprise to the members and readers of their blogs and to the head of the DNC. "I had no idea they were about to do this, but I think it shows that there is a new faction in politics - the online community - and that you ignore them at your own peril." said DNC chair Howard Dean.
On September 1st at midnight, every major liberal blog posted the same message, which was a call to action, a call to "legitimacy". The idea was simple, to have 50 thousand members of the online community give $50 each to the DNC, a total of $2.5 Million. Such a large gift was intended to prove that the netroots, which many consider to the left of American politics, could provide more than talk about issues. In the parlance of Washington, money equals power. The DNC was chosen because its leader, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, is considered the Godfather of the political blogosphere by many.
"We trust Howard Dean." Said DailyKos founder Markos Moulitsas Zúnig. "We're sick of hearing from the traditional media how Governor Dean hasn't raised enough money for the Democratic Party. He is far ahead of every past DNC chair and has given so much money to the local machinery that we are better organized than ever."
"We knew that if we could raise a huge bolus of money before these midterm elections, it would push the online community to the front of the line." Remarked MyDD founder Jerome Armstrong. "It's our members that are driving the party and voting in the elections, it's time that Democratic candidates quit listening to lobbyists and start listening to their constituents. And, there is no better place to do that, than on the blogs."
The liberal blogging network posted daily updates on their websites and posted "bats" showing the total funding levels on their front pages. In addition, the bloggers broke one of their own Golden Rules and sent out a one-time mass email to their members asking them to give. The plan worked better than its originators could have ever imagined. Over the course of one month, more than 200,000 people visited the ActBlue site, which provides an easy portal to give donations to Democratic candidates or groups. The average contribution was $100, for a total of $20 Million raised in just one month.
This blast of funding puts the Democratic National Committee well ahead of its Republican counterparts leading into the last month of the campaign. In addition, coverage of this fundraising blitz has lead to continual exposure by the major news outlets, complete with soundbites from Howard Dean and the liberal blogosphere. The apparent cohesion of message is visible in these soundbites, where each and every Democrat interviewed makes mention of the Republican Culture of Corruption, its reliance on corporate donors, and its indebtedness to special interests groups like Big Oil and Pharmaceuticals.
"This fundraiser shows that the online community has rise to a new level." Remarked former Clinton advisor Paul Begala. "The coordination on this thing is as new to the netroots as the war room was to politics when we started it under Bill Clinton. This $20 Million is going to swing some races towards the Democrats and if that lets them win the House and Senate majority, then you're going to see that debt called in, you're going to see a push for a Progressive agenda in Congress."