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Me#1You#10
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Joined: 06 May 2004
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 Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 4:00 pm Post subject: "The Victory Caucus" Internet Debut |
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A new internet presence has made its debut...The Victory Caucus. Might be worth a looksee...
| Quote: | Internet Gives Voice, Power to Populist Election Wild Cards Like Victory Caucus
by Mark Tapscott
February 18, 2007
Examiner.com
Independent presidential candidate Ross Perot raised lots of eyebrows in the media and the hopes of legions of political activists by garnering 19 percent of the vote in 1992, but he was barely a factor in the next run for the White House.
Aside from the personal oddities of Perot and the success of Bill Clinton in triangulating on issues and special interests, a case can be made that the strongest independent electoral movement in recent American political history faded into irrelevance between 1992 and 1996 because it was unable to sustain among its field leaders and troops the energy and focus that brought it into being in the first place.
That's how the American political system traditionally operates, with the two major parties coopting the issues and energies of independent movements before their influence has a chance to extend beyond an election or two.
N.Z. Bear of Truth Laid Bear is in the process of demonstrating another way in which the Internet is changing everything in politics. Bear is one of the major lights behind the creation of Victory Caucus, a blog for every American who thinks America can and must win the War on Terrorism in Iraq.
Here's how the mission of Victory Caucus is described on the web site:
* Deliver the perspectives and news on the war effort which the mainstream media neglects to help the American public understand the nature of our conflict and its true progress.
* Provide tools and infrastructure to help citizens who are committed to victory organize into a recognized and influential caucus.
* Identify opportunities for the caucus to act and exert influence on America’s leaders and to directly aid and support the men and women of our military.
Victory Caucus just went live a week ago and very quickly traffic shot up to 55,000 daily visitors. I won't be suprised if Victory Caucus is soon among the most widely visited political web sites on the Internet.
Victory Caucus represents something new - an Internet-based campaign wild card with the power to shape the outcome of an election. These campaign wild cards give voice to a decisive segment of the electorate whose concerns are being ignored and/or attacked in and by the major party candidates and the mainstream media.
Unlike the pre-Internet era that saw the Perot movement slip away, I believe it is now becoming increasingly possible with the Internet to not merely conserve the energy and focus of an independent electoral movement but to grow it over time, maintain its focus and even expand its internal structure and coherence.
Sooner or later, as the tools for managing a campaign wild card are developed and become more sophisticated, and as the two major parties ignore or only give lip service to major segments of American opinion, one of these movements could pass a tipping point and become a viable political party.
In 2004, the election wild card was the Swift Boat Veterans. It was inevitable that something like the Swift Boat Veterans would appear because the mainstream media wasn't about to dig into the facts and challenge the Kerry campaign's portrayal of the Massachusetts senator's Vietnam service as heroic and emblematic of why voters could trust him with the nation's security.
Similarly, President Bush and the GOP feared being accused of questioning Kerry's patriotism by pointing to factual issues and otherwise questioning Kerry's military record.
But Establishment politiical activists in both parties and the mainstream media have long failed to appreciate the enduring intensity of the widely held view among heartland Americans of a certain age that the Vietnam cause was fundamentally honorable and noble. It was arrogant and misguided politicians who hamstrung the military and thus prevented a successful outcome.
Closely related is the continuing resentment of the role of people like Jane Fonda and other luminaries of the anti-war crowd like Kerry in forcing the American withdrawal from Vietnam. For millions of Americans, including people in both parties and especially among Baby Boomers, the sight of Kerry stepping to the podium and saluting in acceptance of the Democratic presidential nomination was too much.
Swift Boat Veterans provided a voice and an effective political channel for these voters, without whose passion and votes Bush might well have been relegated to a one-term presidency. More than 100,000 individuals contributed an average of $71 each via online credit card donations to Swift Boats, which had a specific, limited, one-time purpose.
Today, millions of Americans still think the War on Terrorism in Iraq and elsewhere is worth winning, even as the Democratic party is swept with a withdrawal fever fed by decades of ideologically induced blaming of America first for the world's ills.
Simultaneously, GOP ranks in Congress are divided over the war in Iraq, with some of its most visible and respected leaders caving in to the same fever, and most of the rest being reluctant or at best only half-hearted in labelling Democrats as a party of retreat and defeat.
In other words, virtually nobody in the Washington Establishment is speaking for those in heartland America who want victory against the terrorists in Iraq and elsewhere. That's why Victory Caucus is getting such a tremendous response so quickly. People "out there in the real world" beyond the Washington Beltway yearn for leaders who speak for them on behalf of winning.
It's not guaranteed, of course, but Victory Caucus has the look of the election wild card of the 2008 presidential campaign.
Mark Tapscott is editorial page editor of The Washington Examiner and tracks the internet revolution in media and government. He is a member of the National Freedom of Information Hall of Fame and a member of the Media Bloggers Association board of directors. He is also a founding member and host of NewsTrust.net, as well as a visiting journalism fellow at The Heritage Foundation think tank.
Examiner.com |
HT: Bill Faith at Small Town Veteran |
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LewWaters
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Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 4042
Location: Washington State
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| Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 8:15 pm Post subject: |
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I looked in on it the other day and registered last night. It appears to be a good alternative to a couple of other high profile left winged sights claiming they are the soul of the Democrat party now.
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Deuce
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Joined: 19 Mar 2005
Posts: 589
Location: FL
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| Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 8:34 pm Post subject: |
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Originally intending to comment on...then realizing you could write a book about | Quote: | | ...the Vietnam cause was fundamentally honorable and noble. It was arrogant and misguided politicians who hamstrung the military and thus prevented a successful outcome. |
I gave up on that, we all know we're in a 30 second soundbite world of halftruths!!!!! but came across this interesting (to me) aside on the author's origins...Newstrust.net...founded by 50yr old Fabrice Florin, friend of Steve Wozniak:
| Quote: | The idea that journalism is in jeopardy and that technology can make a difference motivates Florin, who started his career as a television journalist before joining Apple's Multimedia Lab as a founding member. Florin subsequently launched Zenda Studio, an independent development studio that provided software R&D services and multiplayer games.
From Zenda, Florin moved to Macromedia, where he helped create Shockwave.com. In 2001, he founded Handtap.com, which provides multimedia content to mobile phones. Now owned by Andrews McMeel Universal, Florin continues to advise Handtap on content and business strategy.
Florin said he is concerned by both the cutbacks in traditional media, as well as the enormous increase in unconventional sources on the Web. ``There's a problem: It's hard to know if you can trust the information that you can get. But there's also an opportunity,'' he said.
A community has already begun to form around NewsTrust, with more than 2,600 people submitting stories for review. Florin believes the rigor built in to the site can help ordinary people evaluate new sources of information, at the same time forming connections with each other and deepening the dialogue about civic affairs.
NewsTrust is also trying to offer extra rewards to participants; for example, subscribers can receive e-mailed digests of highly rated stories that otherwise might not get called to their attention. ``What we care most about is seeing the community enlighten itself,'' Florin said. |
more at: http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/rss/16334481.htm
Deuce |
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