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Friday, December 10, 2004
New Years is the new Labor Day
Posted by Bob BrighamIf memory serves me, Labor Day was once the traditional start of political campaigns. This marked the end of the lazy August afternoons and the beginning of hard-core campaigning. Labor Day began the work to win elections.
Now New Years Day is the official start of the campaign season. As has always been the case, the smartest win before the battle begins so I am using December to start my Swing State Project coverage of the next cycle.
This is an exciting time for politics. Post-modern dynamics have made non-candidate actors as relevant as the official campaigns. There is no longer an ante to engage in politics and the 2005 and 2006 elections are certain to provide many examples of how this is allowing increasing numbers of political participants. As former-congressman Ed Schrock found out, blogging is a powerful force.
The excitement around politics is likewise astonishing. One needs to look no further than the race for Chair of the DNC where tens of thousands of new activists are engaging in what was once an insider-only event. The candidates are realizing this with three online visions now available:
- Howard Dean: Speech at GWU
- Donnie Fowler: Embracing the New Politics and Perfecting the Old
- Simon Rosenberg: Who We Are
A decade ago there were maybe a thousand people who followed politics state-by-state. This year, that number grew to more than a 100,000. I see no reason why that number won't continue to increase as participatory democracy flourishes on the blogosphere.
I petitioned to join Swing State Project because I wanted to write with Tim Targaris and strengthen the farm system now that DavidNYC has gone big-time on Kos. I served as Ginny Schrader's online manager which introduced me to Swing State Project and has given me a firm grasp of the institutional history. I met Tim when he was running the online communications for Jeff Seemann and it was very helpful to bounce ideas off him as we both worked to develop new tactics for online campaigning. With two of the most aggressive blogosphere consultants posting on Swing State Project we will hopefully provide you reasons to keep coming back.
I intend to focus on covering the 2005 and 2006 cycle with analysis, occasional wit, frequent spelling errors, and links that allow you to further explore the depths of each race. To avoid the wrath of David Paul Kuhn I'll be sure to add disclaimers when my consulting overlaps with my posting. I look forward to exploring politics and elections with the good people who read Swing State Project. Thank you for all of the support you provided to Ginny and thank you for welcoming me to this community.
Posted at 04:45 AM in Site News | Technorati
Comments
Welcome to the SSP, Bob!
Posted by: DavidNYC at December 10, 2004 03:37 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment
Yes indeed. Welcome!
You already know about the respect I have for your work on Ginny's campaign. I truly look forward to the prospect of collaborating on SSP.
That being said, you are indeed correct. Having just got off the phone with a Senate candidate, campaigs are ramping up and ready to get off the ground early. The jockeying for position within the netroots promises to be intense, and to some degree has already begun.
I wish I had something more enlightening to add, but I wanted to respond in a timely fashion.
Oh, and as far as spelling goes -- I can no longer spell without MS Word.
Tim
Posted by: Tim T. at December 10, 2004 04:36 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment
I feel a little better that I'm not the only one who writes in MS Word and transfers to IE.
You definately have a LOT of new people involved in the process than you ever have before, myself included. If those of who have been around for a while can keep us involved, your cause will be helped tremendously.
Like Frasier, "I'm listening."
Posted by: Dan Hogan at December 10, 2004 05:13 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment