An article in the Washington Post this morning speaks to the widening gap on the internet between Democrats and republicans.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
This MSM article of course tries in their MSM way to explain why the difference exists.
One reason for the disparity between the parties, political insiders say, is that the top Republican candidates are not exciting voters the way the Democratic front-runners are. Another is that it takes a certain level of technical skill and understanding to be an online strategist, and Republicans admit that "the pool of talent in the Democrats' side is much bigger than ours."
Or maybe the gap exists because
But an underlying cause may be the nature of the Republican Party and its traditional discipline -- the antithesis of the often chaotic, bottom-up, user-generated atmosphere of the Internet.
"We've always been a party of staying on message," All said. "It's the Rush Limbaugh model. What Tony Snow says in the White House filters down to talk radio, which makes its way to the blogs."
But I think there's a much simpler explanation. The GOP is the Grand Old Party. Emphasis on "old". As in really old white people who still won't pay their bills online. Their scared of "the internets". And that's all to our good.
The article goes on to speak with one person intimately familar with internet blogs
If conservatives have mastered talk radio -- with Limbaugh as the undisputed king of the AM dial -- those on the left hope to achieve the same dominance on the Internet. Daily Kos, a sounding board for opposition to Bush and the Iraq war, among other topics, leads most political blogs in Web traffic and notoriety. Last year, the site spawned Yearly Kos, the first political blogger convention. Its founder, Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, refers to himself as the site's "mayor," with everyone else "doing their own thing, managing their own projects, while I keep the plumbing running."
Our Honorable Mayor goes on to say:
"Sure, conservatives can point to the Dan Rather controversy and the Swift boat episode as a measure of their success online. But that's it," Moulitsas said. "Progressives can claim to an actual movement that raises a lot of money, that helps put politicians in office. . . . Progressives can claim to actually having communities online, where an average Joe can have a voice, and not just a radio personality who happens to write a blog, too."
I am that average Joe. I've only been on Kos for about 2 years (not quite) and I've never had a diary recommeneded yet. But I've found Kos to be an excellent outlet for me to vent. And I love it here. Thank you Kos.
The article also speaks about the fundraising power of the net:
The top three Democrats, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama and Edwards, amassed more than $14 million over the Internet in the first three months of 2007; in contrast, the top three Republicans, Giuliani, McCain and Romney, collected less than half of that, $6 million. Furthermore, ABC PAC, the conservative fundraising site, has raised $385 so far for Republican presidential hopefuls; Act Blue, its liberal counterpart, has collected about $3 million for Edwards alone.
Did I read that correctly? $385???
I'll say this. If republicans think they got a "thumping" in '06. Just wait til '08. They ain't seen nothing yet. They'll be finished forever after '08.