The Prophet Speaks

I attended a lecture today from Joe Trippi. He explained to the crowd that we no longer live in the Information Age. Now, he speculated, we live in the Age of Empowerment. The Internet, he said, has allowed people to organize the masses and change the status quo. He went into using blogs for some online fundraising. In a very entertaining story, he talked about working for Howard Dean and the power of one college kid in Tuscon, AZ making the difference in a fundraiser.

During Gov. Dean's Tour during the summer of 2003, he held a fundraiser to raise $1 million in 10 days. As the deadlined neared, and the Gov. was preparing to address a crowd watching the results of the final hours, it was apparent that the campaign would not meet the goal by about $100,000. Then, this kid posts on the campaign's blog that he's spent the most he could afford, but would be willing to give an extra $10 if the Governor would carry a red bat on stage and say "You did it." Well, people started responding, and the campaign hit the mark. However, there was no red bat. Trippi sent an intern on a last ditch effort to find a red bat at 10 pm. Just as Dean went on stage, the intern came sprinting across the parking lot, bat in hand.

I was not a Dean supporter. As a Southern Dem, I'm still not. However, if the Internet can raise $100,000 in mere hours to meet a campaign goal, then I really believe that the possibilities for fundraising, with the right campaign and candidate, could be endless.