Howard Dean on the importance of an unfettered internet.

[madfloridian]

This column by Howard Dean appeared in Forbes in May. It was called How the Web is Restoring Democracy to Politics.

It largely went unnoticed, since the campaigns for 08 are getting all the publicity....but I thought what he was saying was vital.

These two paragraphs near the end grabbed my attention.

Repressive governments at the helm of nations that would become world or regional powers face a Hobson's choice. They can allow democracy to flourish on the Internet, or they can destroy the technology that enables their brightest and most determined citizens to network--and fall backward into Third World status.

America can still win the battle for a democratic world. The most important weapon is a free, open, commercially and politically unfettered Internet that empowers ordinary people from across the globe to speak and act in the interests of their own communities.

The Forbes column:

Wikipartia: How the Web is restoring democracy to politics

More from the column by Dean.

The Internet is the most significant tool for building democracy since the invention of the printing press. People are now easily able to create, discover and connect with networks within hours, anywhere around the globe.

This connectedness is creating a huge shift in power as ordinary citizens decide what's important and most relevant to them. They can network with like-minded individuals to create a technology-enabled global grassroots movement. New local and global communities are being formed that demand two-way communication with and authenticity from their leaders. Technology has dramatically lowered the barriers to entry for ordinary people who are now able to connect and create networks that are not constrained by geographic boundaries. These communities include college students, union workers, ethnic groups and grandparents mobilizing for shared causes or interests.

.."The implications for political parties are tremendous. Political power resides with the public; it has only been loaned to us politicians. It does not work its way from the top down. It grows from the grass roots up.

Many politicians are fighting this idea of the netroot/nutroots, grassroots involvement. I think they do so at their eventual peril.

And this statement is powerful and inspiring.

Political parties have to evolve with the times: If we don't, we lose. Power is shifting away from centralized messaging and toward voters who demand that politicians listen to them before speaking to them. Traditionally, campaigns have relied too much on advertising and not enough on listening to people. Ads and other forms of communicating with voters remain important, but if that's all you do, you can't win. Candidates shouldn't treat online communities like an ATM or expect them to "fall in line." These are networks of real people united by issues they care about. These communities will question leadership constantly, and now they have the power to change the course of campaigns and their outcomes.

And he spoke of what is necessary for campaigns and political websites.

Fundamental trust in your users is the only way to have a successful relationship with them

That is a revolutionary idea, one that politicians are not particularly comfortable with. But it's now the reality. The power in campaigns now belongs as much to these shifting networks of committed citizens as it does to the political establishment.

A month late in reading this, but it is most pertinent right now.

[madfloridian]

1. Interesting comment about Jim Webb's campaign.

I see the article is not available now, but I saved it when I saw it earlier today. Haven't been able to get back there since I posted..

Here is a comment about Webb's campaign that I found interesting. Dean recognized there were factors at play here aside from the party committees' support.

"The 2006 election saw the emergence of 22 Democratic candidates in "red districts" who won largely because of the grassroots organizations their campaigns built, thus providing a majority for House Democrats. The victory of Jim Webb in Virginia, which gave Senate Democrats their majority, was largely possible because of two networks. The first was organized by antiwar activists who propelled Webb to victory in the primary. The second network was built in less than a week by voters who used YouTube to publicize an offensive ethnic comment by Senator Allen. Both networks were built by Democrats outside the formal structure of the party. While the party and committees contributed expertise and money to Webb's campaign, Webb could not possibly have won without the extraordinary actions of mainly anonymous people who organized themselves to create change, often reacting to developments in the campaign in a matter of hours.

And as he said above:

The power in campaigns now belongs as much to these shifting networks of committed citizens as it does to the political establishment.

[madfloridian]

2. Update: Site is up again...Dean pushes Party Builder.

I just remembered because Michael is starting something new at the DNC blog....the best of Party Builder posts. So this reminded me.

From the article:

PartyBuilder, available on our site, is a facilitator. It helps people connect national issues to things that matter in their communities. We developed social networking software, much like MySpace or Facebook, and tailored it to political activism. We also gave everyone the power to set personal fundraising goals, complete with the thermometer-like graphic that tracked fundraising during my presidential campaign. When you organize an event or write a blog post through PartyBuilder, you can assign it to any or all of the groups you've joined. Right alongside all this new technology we provide traditional ways to get involved--the same Letter to the Editor and petition functions that we've always had also live within PartyBuilder. And very soon we'll be rolling out a reward system to recognize individual members and groups for the time and effort they put into building the party through this technology.

And here is a link to Michael's post about the Party Builder site.

Party Builder rescue and open thread

Yes, it is copied from Susan G's Daily Kos thread rescue. I like the idea.