Daily Digest: 9/27/07

BY Joshua Levy | Thursday, September 27 2007

The Web on the Candidates

The new web service Me.dium is a browser add-on that lets users who are visiting the same site chat with each other (user0001: “Hey, this techPresident is a good read!” user2000: “I totally agree!”). It’s one of those cool ideas that requires a critical mass to make it worthwhile. Today might be their shot: they’re hosting a chat to coincide with MTV and MySpace’s forum with John Edwards. With the Me.dium software installed on your browser (you need Firefox or Internet Explorer), you’ll be able to watch the noontime MySpace/MTV webcast and chat with other viewers in real time. The myriad technologies that will be employed today and in future forums suggests that this could be a breakthrough moment in online politics.
Why do we vote on Tuesday? I didn’t know either until I watched Jacob Soboroff’s video announcing the launch of his “Why Tuesday” campaign. As Soboroff points out, the U.S. ranks 139th out of 172 countries in voter turnout, and the project’s goal is to fix that. It’s purpose is to “advance the job started by the civil rights leaders of the 1960s by sparking a national discussion about voting, and seek out national reforms which will result in an America where voting is seen not just as a right, but as a democratic imperative for all citizens.” Hear, hear.

The Candidates on the Web

In honor of last night’s Democratic debate at Dartmouth, Chris Dodd has relaunched his Talk Clock, a Pez-dispenser-like chart which illustrates the amount of talking time given to each candidate and the moderator. The results from last night should be no surprise if you’ve seen the clock before — Hillary Clinton was given the lion’s share of talking time, followed by Barack Obama and John Edwards. Not so surprisingly, this is the triad referred to as the “top tier.” But Hillary wasn’t last night’s most loquacious participant; that award goes to moderator Tim Russert.
Rudy Giuliani supporters gathered for house parties across the country last night, and they were joined by the candidate himself, beamed into every supporters’ home via webcast. He was introduced by his “good friend” Yogi Berra and proceeded to go through his “twelve commitments,” which have been a cornerstone of his stump speech. A live webcast is far from new, but slowly, it seems, Rudy’s web staffers are beginning to get through to him about using the web in a way which at least suggests interaction.
The finalists for Mitt Romney’s ad contest have been announced, and Slate’s funny mock-entries didn’t make the cut. But a voter-produced ode to Ann Romney did (“Finally, I get to buy pink!”), as did three other gushing, very professional-looking vids, some featuring uncanny imitations of Hollywood-style narration. Now, Romney supporters can vote for their favorite; the winner will get shown on TV. Maybe the campaign could show a little humor and also show Slate’s “Way!” video on TV? I swear there’s no snowmen involved! Way!
Check out this email I just received from Chris Dodd himself:

I’m so flattered! Do you also get tired of all those phony HTML emails “from” the candidates, the ones with the big campaign header at the top and a giant “CONTRIBUTE” button to the right? I’m glad Chris (we’re on a first-name basis now) took the time to tap a little note into his BlackBerry — that’s right, no HTML, just text — gently asking for a donation. A welcome change.

In Case You Missed It…

In their column in today’s Politico, Micah Sifry and Andrew Rasiej look at John Edward’s upcoming visit to Columbus, KY, facilitated by his campaign’s embrace of Eventful. Letting supporters in on the scheduling process helps them get more involved in the political process, they write. “The path to the presidency doesn’t have to run through only the early-primary states and the big-money salons. If you trust the voters and give them more ways to participate, they’ll join the game, too.”

Spurred on by David Brook’s recent op-ed in the New York Times, David All thinks that, despite John Edwards’ outward appearance as a candidate who “gets” tech, he’s “he just a big phoney being encouraged by a savvy staff.” A good conversation in the comments is brewing — is David being to harsh?

From the details provided, Mike Connery thinks today’s MTV/MySpace dialogue with John Edwards will be a promising moment in tech politics, but he still has some serious concerns.

Eventful’s Alex Hunsucker writes up his impressions of the John Edwards Eventful contest that has led the candidate to visit a small town in Kentucky, calling it a “case study in ‘letting go.’”

Liza Sabater is also primed for today’s MTV/MySpace dialogue, daring to ask if it might be history in the making.

News Briefs

RSS Feed yesterday >

On Change.org, a Big-Name Call for Dimon's Ouster from New York Fed

The International Monetary Fund's former Chief Economist Simon Johnson is using Change.org to build support for his position that JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon must resign from the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Johnson, a British economist who's a longtime professor at MIT, established the petition on Wednesday. Since then, more than 3,000 people have signed on to support his position. GO

Howard Rheingold on Congress, Digital Literacy, and Making Political Movements

From Congress to the classroom, digital literacy is a key skill that's often sorely lacking, Howard Rheingold, author of the new book "Net Smart: How to Thrive Online," said on Thursday's Personal Democracy Plus call — but there are ways to change that.

Rheingold derided "the degree of technological ignorance" in government and in particular Congress. "It's worse than ignorance," he said. "It's know-nothingness ... it's so endemic." During the fight over the Stop Online Piracy Act, members of Congress could often be heard pleading their ignorance of the Internet and its inner workings even as debating legislation that some said would alter the structure of the global communications network.

The call, moderated by TechPresident editorial director Micah Sifry, was recorded and is available online here.

Should U.N. Politics Affect the Internet?

A key U.S. House subcommittee plans on examining the implications of the U.S. ceding control of key aspects of the global Internet infrastructure next Thursday. The House Energy and Commerce's subcommittee on Communications and Technology announced Wednesday that it's going to hold a hearing on proposals at the United Nations' International Telecommunication Union to afford more control over Internet governance to countries other than the United States. GO

wednesday >

This Isn't What Political Air Time Usually Means

MoveOn.org is asking supporters for $150,000 in donations to fly a plane above high-dollar fundraisers for Mitt Romney with "a message that reminds voters how he represents his corporate and 1% donors." MoveOn previously hired a plane to fly over Romney's Liberty University graduation speech with the message "GOP = HIGHER SCHOOL DEBT." GO

There's a New $200 Million Fund for Super-High-Speed Broadband Projects

An initiative to build and test gigabit-speed broadband networks is set to fund up to six next-generation Internet access projects across the country, fueled by a new $200 million broadband development funding program, Gigabit Squared and Gig.U announced this morning. GO

New Rice University Paper Chronicles Impact of the Internet On U.S. Foreign Policy

We all know that the Internet has transformed the way that the United States conducts diplomacy, and the way that it views national security, but where should we look to find evidence of this? This is the wide-ranging subject matter of a new paper published on Tuesday by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. The paper provides a round-up of some of the major turns of events between 2005 and 2011 in the realms of Internet governance, the development of online public diplomacy at the State Department, the evolution of the Internet-fueled Arab Spring, and the establishment of the shadowy U.S. Cyber Command in Fort Meade, Maryland, among other things. GO

Messin' with Lamar Smith, Revisited

Remember that grassroots fundraising campaign to put a "Don't Mess with the Internet" billboard in the home district of Rep. Lamar Smith, Republican of Texas and sponsor of the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act? All of the money required came in, and Fight for the Future, the advocacy group opposing more stringent copyright protections online, writes that the billboard went up. GO

Republican National Convention Organizers Sever Ties With Becki Donatelli's Campaign Solutions

After eight years producing online content for the Republican National Convention, GOP web consultant Becki Donatelli's Campaign Solutions is off of the project. "Campaign Solutions was retained to help develop our convention website and digital strategy, but they are no longer involved in convention planning," James Davis, the convention's communications director, told techPresident Tuesday. It's unclear what precipitated the of the relationship between the convention organizers and Campaign Solutions, which has been producing the online component of the event since 2004. But Donatelli's name surfaced in a controversial anti-Obama ad pitch sent to a Super PAC backed by TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, which appeared in its entirety in the Times last week. Ricketts has since disavowed the proposal and Donatelli has denied any involvement. GO

Online Organizing

WeGov

GOP 2012

Obama 2012