Crossposted at MyDD
I looked around and haven't found anybody on DailyKos writing about some exciting things happening in Massachusetts. Yesterday, Governor Deval Patrick unveiled his new website devalpatrick.com is a whole new way to use the netroots/grassroots not only to campaign, but to govern.
I would, of course, be remiss if I did not mention the lovely liveblogging at .08Acres or the conversation at Blue Mass Group. Also, here are some photos of the governor meeting with local bloggers.
So what does it mean to be a netroots governor? Follow me after the jump.
It means that you set up a MyIssues page where anybody can post what issues are important to them, vote for issues that are important to other people and make comments. In that way the governor can see what is important to folks who go online. It also makes it easier to organize family, friends and the community at large. All issues are tagged so there's a sense of what's in the zeitgeist.
In addition, the featured issues gives a sense of what the important issues are for the governor, and it's a great way to easily communicate to anybody who wants to know more about a given issue.
Anybody can log on if they're a resident of MA -- you just need to find yourself in the voter file. It's a very simple process.
Poke around -- there's lots to see.
This is an important development, I think, because a lot of what has been discussed at DailyKos and elsewhere is how to use the netroots to win elections. Deval is using the internet to govern as well. It, I think, completes the picture. As far as I know, this is pretty unprecedented. Please correct me if I am wrong-- what, if anything, have other states been doing that is similar?
I'd love to see a real conversation emerge not only about how to win elections through the netroots, but what do once we've won. I think Deval's website is a great start.