June 20, 2007

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


Crashing the System
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


Meet the New Bosses
By Daniel Schulman
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.


Masters of Their Domain
By Josh Harkinson
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


The Attack Ad’s Second Life
By Leslie Savan and Dave Gilson
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.


LET’S TALK ABOUT OPTIMISM FOR A CHANGE

Democracy and journalism are in crisis mode—and have been for a while. So how about doing something different?

Mother Jones did. We just merged with the Center for Investigative Reporting, bringing the radio show Reveal, the documentary film team CIR Studios, and Mother Jones together as one bigger, bolder investigative journalism nonprofit.

And this is the first time we’re asking you to support the new organization we’re building. In “Less Dreading, More Doing,” we lay it all out for you: why we merged, how we’re stronger together, why we’re optimistic about the work ahead, and why we need to raise the First $500,000 in online donations by June 22.

It won’t be easy. There are many exciting new things to share with you, but spoiler: Wiggle room in our budget is not among them. We can’t afford missing these goals. We need this to be a big one. Falling flat would be utterly devastating right now.

A First $500,000 donation of $500, $50, or $5 would mean the world to us—a signal that you believe in the power of independent investigative reporting like we do. And whether you can pitch in or not, we have a free Strengthen Journalism sticker for you so you can help us spread the word and make the most of this huge moment.

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LET’S TALK ABOUT OPTIMISM FOR A CHANGE

Democracy and journalism are in crisis mode—and have been for a while. So how about doing something different?

Mother Jones did. We just merged with the Center for Investigative Reporting, bringing the radio show Reveal, the documentary film team CIR Studios, and Mother Jones together as one bigger, bolder investigative journalism nonprofit.

And this is the first time we’re asking you to support the new organization we’re building. In “Less Dreading, More Doing,” we lay it all out for you: why we merged, how we’re stronger together, why we’re optimistic about the work ahead, and why we need to raise the First $500,000 in online donations by June 22.

It won’t be easy. There are many exciting new things to share with you, but spoiler: Wiggle room in our budget is not among them. We can’t afford missing these goals. We need this to be a big one. Falling flat would be utterly devastating right now.

A First $500,000 donation of $500, $50, or $5 would mean the world to us—a signal that you believe in the power of independent investigative reporting like we do. And whether you can pitch in or not, we have a free Strengthen Journalism sticker for you so you can help us spread the word and make the most of this huge moment.

payment methods

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