Daily Digest: You Never Forget Your First (2 Million)

The Candidates on the Web

• MyBO NOOO! Part 2: Yesterday, we accidentally jumped the gun on Jonathan Tilove's story on controversial changes in Barack Obama's social networking system, and for that we apologize. Tilove writes an excellent article that captures the frustration MyBO users are having with the switch from a points system for taking various actions on behalf of the Obama campaign that allowed some of them to really stand out to a more generic "activity tracker” that significantly flattens the standing among activists. MyBO user Lisa Holmes puts it this way: "People say it's not about you, it's about Barack. But it's not. This is our campaign. We put him where he is. We invested in him." #

• You Never Forget Your First 2 Million: The Obama campaign is reporting that it has reached another milestone this week as it passed the 2 million donor mark. The Obama campaign has raised a total of $340 million through the end of June while the McCain campaign has raised $145 million. The Boston Globe’s Foon Rhee explains that Obama will need to keep up the pace because he isn't taking public funding while McCain, who is taking public funds, is also being helped tremendously by the RNC. #

• Channel Surfing: Interesting enough, though the McCain’s YouTube channel has dominated Obama’s this month (5 million to 2.5 million), Obama has crushed McCain this week (433,000 to 73,000). How is this possible? An Obama ad released yesterday “Three Bedroom Ranch” has somehow already gotten 74,000 views while “We’re In It Together” barn-painting campaign has gotten over 45,000. Still, those are peanuts compared to McCain’s hits before the Olympics. #

The Web on the Candidates

• le Presidente technologique: techPresident has been nominated by PoliticsOnline for The Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics. We are honored to be held in the same esteem as groups like mySociety and The Sunlight Foundation. The top 10 nominees who receive the most votes will be invited as honored guests to the world eDemocracy Forum in Paris. Allez, viens! We hope you'll vote for us (blue poll on the right)! #

• The Reviews Are Starting To Come In On McCain's Technology Plan: Communications law expert Harold Feld has a posted a critical review of McCain’s tech policy. Feld is an Obama supporter, and he zeroes in on what he sees as incongruities in McCain's policy. Most of McCain's tech "policy,” according to Feld, is merely “just variations on McCain's standard “I hate taxes” theme.” #

• Barely Interesting: BarelyPolitical.com is the third most viewed YouTube channel this week and has already posted ten videos this month. If you haven’t watched a BarelyPolitical video yet, they are usually most successful when the computer effects work. If you have ever been disappointed with the lack of bikini-clad girls in the political process, you will likely have a field day. #

• MoveOn Special Election Briefing: MoveOn.org has posted a professional video narrated by Director Eli Pariser warning MoveOn members not to get complacenct during the last 100 days of this election. The video outlines 5 reasons why Obama supporters must keep on their toes. Looks like the doldrums of summer are starting to end... #

• Baracky II: Meanwhile, here is a great little spoof of Rocky II featuring McCain and Obama, a sequel to the original Baracky. This one is well done, so well done that we wonder who is actually behind it. Here's hoping we'll get to see a Rocky IV spoof, featuring former Russian former-President Vladimir Putin as Ivan Drago. #

TechCongress and Beyond

• Those Wretched High School Freshmen!! Republican Representative Virgil Goode lashes out at the Obamajority, an ActBlue fundraising page started by a 14 year old blogger. The blogger, Populista, has on DailyKos.com has set a goal of getting 50 donors for Democratic challenger Tom Perriello. Well, mission accomplished: according to the ActBlue page, 53 donors have contributed and have doubled the amount raised since the time of posting. #

In Case You Missed It...

The Colbert Report’s Stephen Colbert covers McCain’s “wiki-policy” (that is, supposedly lifting facts from Wikipedia). Colbert says McCain is “now using the people’s voice, or at least, lip-synching to it.” #

Following Mark Penn's e-mails that leaked last week, The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg and Jennie Rothenberg Gritz have found some e-mails from the Obama campaign that show a campaign in crisis as well. #

The Economist on Technology in Politics: The Economist has a great article that provides a pretty complete overview of the importance of technology in elections since Howard Dean’s presidential run. The article features techPresident Founder & President Andrew Rasiej. #