Personal Democracy Forum 2008
Note by Mr. Jordan Raynor:
Tracy Russo - John Edwards - Elizabeth Edwards was a blogger herself so John understood. Joe Trippi really understood. As soon as the "hair" clip came out from the YouTube debate, the tech people loved it because it drove traffic to the site. HRC was able to stay in the race because of online fundraising. What is undervalued is the stories Obama has been able to get out via blogs. The community on the Obama website is incredible. She was most impressed by Obama's "Call For Change" campaign (phone banking distribution via web). John McCain can not be elected President because he does not understand the internet and how it is transforming our world.
Mindy Finn - Mitt Romney - Romney was all about innovation. One of the first things was they wanted to have their own video channel and really be the leader on the web. She is a little disappointed at the outcome of the race of course and really disappointed in online supporters not being active on the ground. Much of Obama's success has been based on his experience as a community organizer. In 2004 (Bush Cheney) a lot of the credit went to the stellar grassroots organization. What wasn't really reported was how well Bush Cheney was able to connect with supporters over the internet (phone scripts and lists for volunteers, door-to-door, etc...) In 2008, campaign infrastructure is less important than ever. What is most important is how well we can reach out to volunteers on the web. She also admired most MyBarackObama.com.
Joe Rospars - Barack Obama - he has been the driving force behind the web-campaign. Obama had experience as community organizer - this helped with the web-campaign. Unlike Clinton and Edwards, Obama camp. has taken a more hands off approach to the blogosphere - Joe would disagree. 50 state strategy is largely because of the web. Obama camp. has excellent relationships with bloggers and especially readers. Part of success of Bush campaign in 2004 was due to traditional campaign successes (field staff organization). Now Democrats are leading on the web-organization side of the campaign which is increasingly more important. White House meetings should be brought on the web. Government can be more open online.
Peter Daou - Hillary Clinton - She was very savvy about the internet. He was in senior strategy meetings. He worked on Kerry/Edwards in 2004. With HRC, she launched her campaign online with a video placed on the website. The Democrats are making the campaign digital - ALL Democrats were good at it. Peter was most impressed by MyBarackObama.com. Hillary was great at creating a web campaign that listened to the voters. They really had established a "listening system". She would actually read email and respond in a few instances. How will email lists effect candidates after the election? You have to keep the community together after your candidate wins or loses. We can not simply merge our lists with the Obama campaign after HRC loses. It is illegal and unethical. Maybe the internet in politics is changing the way we think. Or, it could just be a tool to facilitate old media.
Justine Lam - Ron Paul - He enjoyed watching YouTube videos. Everyone was very impressed by the money bomb. There was a foundation built before the money bomb. There was a sense of ownership within the Ron Paul community and that is how the money bomb really happened. When Ron Paul got press for the money bomb, there was a sense of ownership for those who donated. She admired the Mitt to Mitt campaign.
Mark Soohoo - John McCain - Rick Davis has been very forward thinking. Why is McCain's blog not as efficient as Obama's? Republicans have a very different audience. Facebook supporters don't always translate into voters. There is a community of supporters for McCain but they might not be on Facebook. How will McCain lay out the web-infrastructure to win this election in such a short amount of time? - The structure of McCain campaign is divided up and for good reason. Regional campaign managers are divided up for a reason. One of the things McCain said in the 2013 speech was that he would go to Congress and find a way to make government much more open. McCain has had a huge network of supporters since 2000.
Mindy Finn - Mitt Romney - Romney was all about innovation. One of the first things was they wanted to have their own video channel and really be the leader on the web. She is a little disappointed at the outcome of the race of course and really disappointed in online supporters not being active on the ground. Much of Obama's success has been based on his experience as a community organizer. In 2004 (Bush Cheney) a lot of the credit went to the stellar grassroots organization. What wasn't really reported was how well Bush Cheney was able to connect with supporters over the internet (phone scripts and lists for volunteers, door-to-door, etc...) In 2008, campaign infrastructure is less important than ever. What is most important is how well we can reach out to volunteers on the web. She also admired most MyBarackObama.com.
Joe Rospars - Barack Obama - he has been the driving force behind the web-campaign. Obama had experience as community organizer - this helped with the web-campaign. Unlike Clinton and Edwards, Obama camp. has taken a more hands off approach to the blogosphere - Joe would disagree. 50 state strategy is largely because of the web. Obama camp. has excellent relationships with bloggers and especially readers. Part of success of Bush campaign in 2004 was due to traditional campaign successes (field staff organization). Now Democrats are leading on the web-organization side of the campaign which is increasingly more important. White House meetings should be brought on the web. Government can be more open online.
Peter Daou - Hillary Clinton - She was very savvy about the internet. He was in senior strategy meetings. He worked on Kerry/Edwards in 2004. With HRC, she launched her campaign online with a video placed on the website. The Democrats are making the campaign digital - ALL Democrats were good at it. Peter was most impressed by MyBarackObama.com. Hillary was great at creating a web campaign that listened to the voters. They really had established a "listening system". She would actually read email and respond in a few instances. How will email lists effect candidates after the election? You have to keep the community together after your candidate wins or loses. We can not simply merge our lists with the Obama campaign after HRC loses. It is illegal and unethical. Maybe the internet in politics is changing the way we think. Or, it could just be a tool to facilitate old media.
Justine Lam - Ron Paul - He enjoyed watching YouTube videos. Everyone was very impressed by the money bomb. There was a foundation built before the money bomb. There was a sense of ownership within the Ron Paul community and that is how the money bomb really happened. When Ron Paul got press for the money bomb, there was a sense of ownership for those who donated. She admired the Mitt to Mitt campaign.
Mark Soohoo - John McCain - Rick Davis has been very forward thinking. Why is McCain's blog not as efficient as Obama's? Republicans have a very different audience. Facebook supporters don't always translate into voters. There is a community of supporters for McCain but they might not be on Facebook. How will McCain lay out the web-infrastructure to win this election in such a short amount of time? - The structure of McCain campaign is divided up and for good reason. Regional campaign managers are divided up for a reason. One of the things McCain said in the 2013 speech was that he would go to Congress and find a way to make government much more open. McCain has had a huge network of supporters since 2000.
