Decentralized Organization
Jonah Seiger, a prominent Internet strategist and member of the New Democrat Network discussed the importance of Internet strategy in energizing and mobilizing political and issue based campaigns.
While the Dean camp and Joe Trippi gained a lot of notoriety for it's "effective" Internet campaign, Mr. Seiger argued it was ultimately Bush and Chuck Defeo who truly ran the more effective one.
The proof?
Bush is President.
Dean won just one state in the primary...his own.
Why?
Well, Mr. Seiger claims that, "dealing with the progressive left is not easy because they tend not to plan as well [as conservatives]."
DeFeo and the Bush team began planning their internet strategy in May of 2003 and built an infrastructure which allowed them to create the decentralized organization necessary to launch an effective internet campaign. They understood the importance of creating a decentralized organization that could be used to unite communities using peer-to-peer managing. One area they focused their strategy on as early as May..... Southern Ohio.
Sieger,
While the Dean camp and Joe Trippi gained a lot of notoriety for it's "effective" Internet campaign, Mr. Seiger argued it was ultimately Bush and Chuck Defeo who truly ran the more effective one.
The proof?
Bush is President.
Dean won just one state in the primary...his own.
Why?
Well, Mr. Seiger claims that, "dealing with the progressive left is not easy because they tend not to plan as well [as conservatives]."
DeFeo and the Bush team began planning their internet strategy in May of 2003 and built an infrastructure which allowed them to create the decentralized organization necessary to launch an effective internet campaign. They understood the importance of creating a decentralized organization that could be used to unite communities using peer-to-peer managing. One area they focused their strategy on as early as May..... Southern Ohio.
Sieger,
"The Internet is the most important thing that has happened to us as humans since the printing press...You are attempting to build a constituency, it is about building that energy and momentum...the more you build and the more people you bring into the process, the more power you have. There is tremendous opportunity for greater engagement in our democracy because of the Internet."
4 Comments:
Having worked for Dean (I'm starting to say this as if it means I had some role in the strategy. I didn't. Really, I just mean to publicize my biases), I was a little aghast at his conclusion that Dean's strategy was an "utter failure." I mean, are we talking about the same no-name governor of Vermont here?
Still, Sieger makes a great point: The Internet is not any more important than any other aspect of the campaign, and it is not necessarily a good starting point. From the country's perspective, Dean was simply the candidate who had risen to the top thanks to blogs and an innovative web strategy. Most saw little substance behind the campaign's online front.
His point that Bush's was the model for success, I think, is a bit of a stretch. After all, how can we assign his Internet strategy the victory? Are there some statistics that say this? Or is it just like saying that Bush's fundraising/communications/field/messaging strategy was tops simply because he won.
Such strident comments certainly do beg these questions.
[An aside: Any word on the Coldplay?]
By Mister Toaster, at 5:36 PM
Bush used the Internet (his Website, email etc.) to recruit and organise volunteers, Kerry used it to fundraise. There are studies that show this.
The Democrats outsourced much of their GOTV efforts and organization to 527s like ACT and MoveOn. Bush's campaign recruited 1.3 million volunteers, using the Internet as a key tool in recruiting and coordinating them.
Kerry was the first Democrat to match a Republican candidate in terms of money raised, in no small part because of his online fund raising efforts ($82 million I think)
Bush was the first Republican candidate to be better at GOTV, in no small part because of the Internet.
Kerry was able to buy a few more adverts to try and convince the dwindling number of persuadeable voters; Bush was able to get more people to the polls in Ohio.
I think I know which was the smarter strategy...
By Peter C, at 7:46 AM
I find it hard to believe that the internet was decisive in the last pres. election. I'll pin it on the voter contact question, the Bush campaign used trusted agents. Hell, the Bush campaign projected an image of being of the electorate, or at least enough of them, and made it much easier for people to feel as if they were of the campaign. But don't get me started about Ohio, since I only just moved away from there last fall it is still a bit of a sore subject.
By brooks, at 4:05 AM
brooks, your points are actually part of what I mean...namely that the Internet is a tool and it is how you use it that unleashes its potential. By using Internet grassroots organization in conjunction with physical grassroots organization, DeFeo and the Bush team created an almost unstoppable force.
Those for the power of the Internet seem to think it will replace all the old forms of media.
Those against it seem to think it is a passing fade that will never have the power of traditional grassroots activities.
What I am saying is that it is important for these sides to realize that the two worlds can coexist and a blending of old and new media can result in a powerful form of campaigning.
By Damien, at 1:57 PM
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