Not so fast...

I looked over the “Case Study: Zero to over $338,000 in 18 days using a volunteer website and blogs” and I’m not sure the results are as encouraging as we’re all taking them…

Rather, I think it is very likely that they were so successful because Daily Kos all ready had a heavy traffic website and extremely active blog up and running. It seams to me (it is also mentioned in Emi and Phil’s book in chapter 11) that in order for the blog and website to be an effective fundraising tool it has to be preceded with strong base supporters. Or have traditional campaign tactics such as direct mail, TV ads, or radio spots pave the way before hand… Will the internet ever stand alone as a campaign strategy? Or will it always be a complimentary feature? What about at the local level – do you think the internet’s role increases or decreases?

I think the community and public forum structure of the internet implies that it would be an ideal campaign tool, especially because it is comparatively very inexpensive. The only problem I foresee in any campaign is that there is just SO MUCH out there on the WWW… getting people to your website and keeping them there long enough to have some kind of effect or influence on them will always be tricky.