You opened it; now you have to reply. Okay, you don't have to do a thing. You can even tell me to get lost and join the Libertarian Party or something.
But I am really hoping the community would help me out with something.
Here's the deal. I'm working on a PhD level research project on the political influence of the Netroots. I'm hoping the community here can help me out.
Follow me below the fold...
Long time Netroots bloggers -- and anyone who has read Kos' book -- is probably familiar with Jerome Armstrong's effort to challenge every Congressional seat in the country. This, of course, was an expansion of Howard Dean's 50 state strategy.
The good news is that the Democrats are doing an excellent job with this effort (and the Republicans are lagging far behind). In 2006, we fielded candidates in all but ten districts. In 2008, we failed to contest 14 seats, most of them in the South. Meanwhile, the Republicans conceded 38 seats to the Democrats. Interestingly, none of Arkansas' seats were contested in 2008. We didn't win too many of those tough seats, but we made solid runs.
Good job, you Cheetos munching DFH's.
Here's where you come in, if you so choose. I'm looking for your answers/thoughts about these things:
Have you contributed to campaigns on-line?
More importantly, have you contributed to Congressional races online?
Were the races in your home district or state or other parts of the country?
Most importantly, why do you/did you donate money? If not, is there any particular reason why you don't contribute?
Finally, why do you blog and/or post comments on line?
Thanks for your help on this. I regret that I have little more to offer than a rec of your comment and the possibility of being cited in an academic paper.
Update: ZOMG Thanks for the amazing response! (It was the word, "meta" wasn't it?) Even if I am not replying to your comment, I really appreciate all of the feedback. You all rawk!