Ever since the Dean campaign burst onto the scene with amazing internet fundraising, candidates across the board have been trying to emulate that remarkable success. Yet, few have been sucessful in this endeavor (with the notable exceptions of Paul Hackett, Ciro Rodriguez, and a few others.
Why? I'm not going to pretend to have the answer, but I agree with the general theory that we're tired of being treated as an ATM and we'd like to be engaged in the decision making.
And, there's only one potential 2008 candidate who really gets it.
Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin.
Not sure what I mean? Well, see below the fold.
First off, Senator Feingold is actually one of us. He's engaged with the blogosphere on DailyKos and elsewhere. The Senator is a
member of the DailyKos community and has posted numerous diaries and even a comment. He's also repeatedly posted over at the TPMCafe and even sat down for a week at the Table for One. But, just being engaged on blogs isn't enough. It's great that he talks to us but how does he use the internet really?
Well, he has his own PAC, Progressive Patriots Fund. No suprise there. Only instead of using it for self promotion, Senator Feingold is actually asking us for input. For example, he asks that we suggest candidates and then vote on the preferred one. Then, the PAC gives away $5000 contributions to the selected candidate. Pretty nifty eh? We give money and have input on where it goes?
On top of that, the Senator requests feedback on any and all relevant issues from people across the country. He keeps us informed of his travels and asks us to sign petitions if we agree with him on the issues. All this, without hounding us constantly for cash.
And now the Senator has taken another key step. He has just released his first ever Podcast.
And check out the great new graphic!
Why does all this matter? It's just an online video right? Wrong. This shows that the Senator is willing to experiment and go on unfamilar technologically sophisticated turf to reach out to us. And, that counts for something. A progressive voting record. A fighter. And reaching out to the netroots.
That's why we're working to elect this man President in 2008.