The netroots have yet to establish themselves as a voting force. Not one netroots candidate has won state-wide election to date. In 2004, it was Dean, in 2006 it was Ned Lamont. Neither came close to winning. Yes, Lamont won the Democratic nomination, but that doesn’t really mean much when all you’ve done is remove the D from the winner and made him show his true colors (which probably led to a more conservative voting record as well). In 2008, the candidate is either Obama or Edwards, and both are trailing Hilary in the polls.

With this being said, I don’t think the netroots are irrelevant. The netroots have proven to be a fantastic resource for fundraising. It’s probably because of them alone that John Edwards is even in this race. They have funneled a lot of money to a lot of candidates, and that has made a difference. They are also excellent at spreading outrage about the Republicans. Yesterday, they jumped all over Rudy’s $9.11 fundraiser, and have helped bring Bill O’Reilly’s latest outrages to the mainstream.

Of course I’m overly simplifying this issue, but at the end of the day, the netroots are not in control of the Democratic Party, but they clearly are a force any Dem must (and should) deal with when running for office.

After a very busy summer, I’m back and ready to start writing again. There is just too much going on online not to comment. Hopefully there are still some people out there who might be waiting in anticipation for me to say something. Well, I’m working on a post about David Brooks netroots column in the NY Times yesterday. You might be surprised to hear what I think….

We won the straw poll at the Anderson County convention in South
Carolina last night! 63 hunter, 33 romney, 9 mccain, 7 guiliani, 5 thompson,
4 brownback, 4 newt, 3 tthomson, 2 huckabee, 2 cox. This is a
significant win!

Really? That is significant? Also, note that Fred Thompson’s (or is it Tommy Thompson?) name is spelled wrong and all are in lower case letters (plus there is an extra space in there).

In some of the other emails they actually include attachments. Unless it’s really important, never do this. It most likely will look like spam to your supporters, take longer to send out, and no one really wants a .pdf from a campaign anyway.

Sloppy and careless messaging like this will drive people away from you. Whether you are a candidate or non-profit, professionalism is key. So to round up:

Sometimes it’s good to see examples of what not to do in order to develop stronger messaging.

Still waiting on Barack Obama’s online fundraising numbers. I expect to be impressed.

Now back to the hack. Campaigns are going to have the be extremely careful in using MySpace. The high profile candidates can expect to have this happen to them. MySpace is not known as the most secure site on earth, so it is a prime target for hackers. That being said, it is certainly still worth each having their own page.

it is certainly much better than what he had before, but for a frontrunner, I was expecting more.

Overall Grade: B-

I say that because of the hysteria surrounding the video. Who made it? Were Republicans behind it? Did Obama do this on purpose? The greater impact is that ANYONE could have made this. Someone in their basement in Kansas or a guy in a studio in LA. Video editing software is so cheap and easy to use now, many people have it on their home computers. This is only the beginning everyone, these videos are going to start popping up everwhere (in fact, they already are). This is going to change politics forever. So many ads will be floating around, I would argue that the most interesting and compelling ones will get attention. This generally means it won’t be the ones coming from the campaigns, but individuals themselves. With YouTube and other video sharing sites viewed by millions a day, it is going to be a lot tougher for campaigns to compete. Plus, how will campaigns respond to all these new ads? How will campaign finance laws make sure campaigns aren’t hiding behind fake user names? This video has raised a lot of questions, and not many answers to this point.

If you think campaign attack ads are vicious already, just wait until everyone with a computer can make one.

The message is simple. If MySpace wants to give you free publicity TAKE IT.

Barack Obama’s team just sent out an email to his supporters with the embeded video below. It’s a powerful reminder of Obama’s consistent opposition to the Iraq war. More importantly, it highlights the differences between some of his Democratic rivals who originally voted for the war and are now against (Edwards and Clinton most specifically). YouTube has allowed for easier access to what cadidates have said in the past. Maybe it won’t be on the same level as television ads in ‘08, but clearly YouTube is going to play a vital role in the next election.

First up the good stuff. The site’s main goal at this point is to collect emails of supporters. As someone who is very well known throughout the US, this is a good move. There is also an RSS feed (something lacking on most sites), so you do not have to check the site every day for updates. There is also a prominent donation button in case you didn’t know all candidates need money to be successful.

On to the bad stuff: This site just doesn’t do it for me. While the design is clean, it’s just not an inspiring place to visit. There is zero engaging content. No videos, audio, or the slightest hint at any social networking sites. And what is up with the URL: www.joinrudy2008? Who is going to remember that?

There is not a lot of stuff on this site, and to be honest, I expected more from the Giuliani campaign (who has hired many top-flight GOP insiders). What I will assume is that there is much, much more to come. Before Barack Obama announced, his exploratory committee site was very dull. Once he announced it was a different world. If this site changes, I will certainly change my grade.

Overall Grade: D

Quite well actually. The Governor’s site is clean, to the point and easy to navigate. It is very easy to sign up for email alerts and he has links to his social networking sites directly on the homepage. That being said, he has a long way to go as he only has 1250 friends on his MySpace page, compared to the tens of thousands for some of his competitors. And how come his interests are not filled out on his profile? People like to vote for candidates whom they like. What better way to start that process than to show some of your likes and interests?

There is also a campaign blog, but I would use that term loosely. No comments, trackbacks or diggs on this blog. It’s more like a short diary than anything interactive. People want to be able to share their opinion. Even if the comments were moderated, at least it would give some flexibility to people who want to participate.

So the campaign has done a decent job of getting a site up that is engaging and one that people might come back to. They are not in the top-tier of websites, but a decent job.

Overal Grade: B

Up tomorrow will be former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani

As a special thank you, we have another piece of exclusive John McCain 2008 gear. Today, we are offering the official John McCain 2008 hat with your contribution of $100 or more in response to this email.

They’re giving away hats for $100 contributions? One thing I’ve learned is that donors appreciate you spending their money in an effective way. For the Senator who has championed government waste, this seems like a huge waste of money and resources. Unlike many environmental campaigns, donors have not come to associate getting gifts with donating to political campaigns. If people aren’t expecting it, why offer? This means the campaign will actually receive less profit from each donation and it will take critical staff resources to manage the relationships with the companies distributing these hats. Not a great fundraising appeal in my opinion.

Brownback is clearly one of the lesser known candidates, which makes you think it would be very important for him to take the Edwards approach of signing up for every social networking site out there. Every supporter counts and he needs a lot to catch up to the more well known Republicans running.

Overall Grade: C

Up tomorrow: Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM)

So I’m asking you to promise to match the donation of someone who hasn’t taken the leap yet.

Here’s how it works:

-You choose the amount you want to match.
-You write a message to a potential donor about why it’s important to own a piece of this campaign.
-You’ll be matched with a fellow supporter who’s making their first donation because of your promise.

Yet another brilliant strategy that is going to bring in more money and even more supporters. Anyone who works in the non-profit world is familiar with matching gift campaigns. Those usually work by getting a large donor to give a specific amount and then ask smaller donors to give and the large donor will match it. In this case, Obama is asking his small donors to make a small match. Donors who have recently given are going to be compelled to give again, and others who are thinking about giving, will probably make the move (As of this writing, over 2400 people have already pledged to give again in less than twelve hours). For a campaign that is depending on a large grassroots movement, this is another brilliant piece of marketing. It’s all about deepening engagement online, and the Obama campaign has it down to a science.

Another impressive thing about Edwards online strategy is his aptly named “One Corps.” Created as a way to get people more involved, this group allows people to take action in their communities not just to help get Edwards elected, but to make a difference (though let’s be clear, this was done to help get Edwards elected). From collecting food for a local pantry to pushing for energy independence, the One Corps is connecting Edwards supporters across the country. This is going to be extremely useful in the coming months.

The one negative I will say is that I have not seen an Edwards email for quite some time. With the focus so early on in this presidential race, I would have expected Edwards to continue his aggressive email strategy (in January-February I was getting weekly emails it seemed). Where did these go? There have been studies done that show if you do not email your list for over a month, it has a negative impact on your future results.

Overall grade: A

Up tomorrow: US Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS)