Nothing But 'Net

[Nicholas_J]

Howard Dean's protest campaign has found a niche online. Could it be the next dot-com bust?

By Randolph Court

Table of Contents

When the books closed on the Democratic presidential aspirants' second-quarter fundraising drives, it was clear that Howard Dean's anti-war, anti-Bush rhetoric, combined with his use of the Internet, had successfully whipped up a sizable bloc of liberal, protest-oriented supporters in the early stages of the campaign. He had raised more than $10 million since the start of the year, much of it in small donations through the Web; well over 50,000 supporters were gathering to support him through Meetup.com; and he had won a 44-percent plurality in the straw poll staged by the online liberal activist group MoveOn.org. There was a fevered buzz: Dean, everyone surmised, had ascended into the "first tier" of presidential candidates.

But the buzz largely missed what should be an alarming revelation for Democrats: The Internet may be giving angry, protest-oriented activists the rope they need to hang the party. The vaunted new medium for grassroots political organizing may in fact be contributing to the Iowafication of the nominating process, disproportionately magnifying the voices of the activist groups with the loudest, most combative, and populist voices.

The effect has been like two currents flowing together: Caucuses like Iowa's are briar patches where born and bred activists flourish. They are run according to complex procedures, and they exclude independents. The arrival of the Internet has provided a powerful set of tools for activists to get organized well in advance of the already front-loaded nominating season -- a period when, almost by definition, activists are the only ones focused on politics. Using the Internet, Dean has achieved a virtual mind meld with those activists by capitalizing on their visceral hatred of President Bush and disdain for moderate Democrats. When all is said and done, the new dynamic could lead Democrats right into the hands of President Bush, who wants nothing more than a liberal Democratic opponent.

http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251916&kaid=127&subid=177

[Aaron]

1. Something just isn't right about those NDOL folks

I wonder if they'll endorse Bush if Dean gets the nomination. I doubt they would, but I can't believe the stuff they peddle now - so I suppose I wouldn't put it past them.