Politics 2.0: Fight Different

Fight Different: Politics 2.0

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Politics 2.0

Editors’ Note

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Politics 2.0

Fight Different

justice scale

The neutrality of this story is disputed.

Open-Source Politics


Open-source politics is the idea that social networking and participatory
technologies
will revolutionize our ability to follow, support, and influence
political campaigns. Forget party bosses in smoky backrooms—netroots
evangelists and web consultants predict a wave of popular democracy as
fundraisers meet on MySpace, YouTubers crank out attack ads, bloggers do oppo
research, and cell-phone-activated flash mobs hold miniconventions in Second
Life
. The halls of power will belong to whoever can tap the passion of the
online masses. That kid with a laptop has Karl Rove quaking in his boots. And if
you believe that, we’ve got some leftover Pets.com stock to sell you.


Table of Contents


Are we entering a new era of digital democracy—or just being conned by a bunch of smooth-talking geeks?

bullet point Politics 2.0: What we’re ready for, what we’re not

bullet point Who’s Plugged In? A snapshot of the online political elite



After crashing the gate of the political establishment, bloggers are looking more like the next gatekeepers.

bullet point MoveOn Keeps Moving On

bullet point www.president.com: How the candidates’ sites stack up

bullet point What’s Hype? Is MySpace for politicos or pedophiles?

bullet point 10,000 Deaniacs: Where are they now?

PLUS: Daily Kos’ lead site designer on the search for the ultimate digital community.



Silicon Valley conservatives are trying to build the right-wing MoveOn from the top down.

bullet point A Vast YouTube Conspiracy: Conservatives take their videos and go home.

bullet point Dick Morris’ Footage Fetish: Going after Hillary online

bullet point The Digerati Code: Know your netroots from your socnets



Despite “macaca” and “Hillary 1984,” the 30-second TV campaign spot ain’t going anywhere—yet.

bullet point TXT MSGS 2 D RESQ?: Cell-phone activism is still on hold

bullet point Stupid Tech Tricks: As politics moves online, so have the dirty tricks.


Bloggers, Politicos, and Netizens Weigh In

Interviews With:


And many more…


This package was reported by Josh Harkinson, Daniel Schulman, and Leslie Savan, with additional reporting by Leigh Ferrara, Dave Gilson, Neha Inamdar, Gary Moskowitz, April Rabkin, Cameron Scott, and Jonathan Stein.


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PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

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