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Thursday, August 24, 2006

Do Not Use EchoDitto (or, Nicco Mele Must Go)

Posted by DavidNYC

EchoDitto is a technology vendor for political groups. Until just a day ago, they exclusively served Democratic/liberal/progressive organizations. However, EchoDitto's CEO Nicco Mele has now said that he plans to support John McCain's presidential campaign. Needless to say, this is completely unacceptable.

In the real world of politics, there are Democratic polling firms and Republican polling firms; Democratic consultancies and Republican consultancies; Democratic tech vendors and Republican tech vendors; and on and on and on. No one can or does legitimately work both sides. The reason for this is simple: Knowledge is power. If you had both Dem and GOP clients, what you learned from one side would necessarily affect the advice you gave to the other. No one can put up a Chinese wall inside his own head.

Therefore, if you are a current or prospective client of EchoDitto, you must understand that any and all confidential information you provide to the firm can and will make its way into Republican hands, via CEO Nicco Mele. You will be giving the GOP a totally undeserved advantage, and of course, you'll be hurting yourselves. For your own sake and for the sake of the entire Dem-lib-prog movement, please find a different technology provider.

And there are indeed many other excellent technology vendors out there. I personally always recommend Media Mezcla, makers of Campaign Engine. (Ben Schaffer, the president of MM, is a friend and colleague of mine, and his company also hosts Swing State Project.) As you can see from Campaign Engine's ad in the top-right corner of this site, they are committed to serving Democrats only. But like I say, there are many good fish in the sea. No one needs to stick with EchoDitto, nor should they.

UPDATE: Let me add the obvious point: The best solution for almost everyone (well, except for other tech vendors) at this point would be for Nicco Mele to leave EchoDitto. That way, the hard-working folks at that firm can retain their jobs, and the company's clients don't need to go through any tech upheaval.

Posted at 08:20 PM in Democrats | Technorati

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Comments

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Posted by: Stuart O'Neill at August 25, 2006 12:06 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment