June 25, 2008
Internet For Everyone? Its About To Happen...
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A new campaign aims to bring broadband accessibility to everyone. As Americans continue to pay some of the highest prices for the slowest Internet access, the launch of www.Internetforeveryone.org could provide a solution.
The launch of the new site, "Internet For Everyone", was highly anticipated and celebrated at the 2008 Personal Democracy Forum in New York City this week. PdF's blog has the entire summary of the representatives who spoke at the forum.
The goal of "Internet For Everyone" is to work with Congress and the President to provide complete and open internet access to every American. The new campaign plans to “take the temperature” of the nation, to gauge people’s interest and determine the most effective plan for designing a national broadband service.
Robin Chase, founder and CEO of Zipcar and Meadow Networks and a proponent of the campaign, explained the importance of universal internet access: "Maybe [broadband Internet] is not as basic as water, but it's as basic as hot water.”
An interactive map on the site highlights the statistics of broadband access for each state. Promoting its four main principles, Access, Choice, Openness, and Innovation, Internet for Everyone explains the importance of providing universal internet access: it isn’t just a matter of instant access to games, music, and movies, but to “guarantee all citizens play an active role in our democracy...to enable everyone to take advantage of our economy and become fully engaged."
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 24, 2008
Drilling Petition Fueling Online Movement
In 30 days, Newt Gingrich’s "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" online petition has reached 1,141,740 signatures and has received more traffic than MoveOn.org, which recently aired a much publicized anti-McCain ad.
Americans are flocking to the online pro-drilling petition, which President Bush and Sen. McCain recently endorsed.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's American Solutions Group has figured out how to run a successful viral campaign, offering its supporters an investment widget, a petition widget, an option to endorse the campaign on your site, banners supporting the movement, a YouTube campaign site, a Solutions lab, and an “action pack” which includes a printable version of the ‘Drill Now’ petition.
So far, over 73,000 people have made online donations to fuel the ‘Drill Now’ petition. All of the supporters receive a free bumper sticker, which helps spread the virtual movement offline.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 03:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 18, 2008
Senator Barack Obama Reached Over 1,000,000 Facebook Supporters
Yesterday at 10:35pm, Barack Obama reached over one million supporters on Facebook, gaining far more supporters than any other page in Facebook history.
Here is the note posted on Barack Obama’s Facebook page:
Today we crossed an important threshold: one million supporters for Barack Obama on Facebook. The Obama page has by far more supporters than any other page – whether it’s a politician, celebrity, or band – on all of Facebook.
For those who have touted the conventional wisdom that young people don’t care about politics, there couldn’t be a better testament to the energy and enthusiasm of young people today. One million Facebook users have made clear that not only are they engaged with the political process, they are ready for change to come to .
The skeptics can still be heard to wonder, “But will these people vote?” In primary contests across the nation, young people answered that question with a resounding yes, turning out in historic numbers.
But this is only the beginning. We now enter the general election when it will be even more important for Obama supporters to engage one another online and then to take that energy and enthusiasm to the ground.
There’s still plenty you can do on Facebook. Install the Obama application, where you can get up-to-date information on what’s happening with the campaign and show off your support even more easily. Find or create a local Obama group in your town or your school to organize supporters moving into the general election.
Reaching this threshold is only the beginning of what we can do when we work together. This is our time.
To date, Obama has 1,004,180 supporters. McCain weighs in with 147,091 supporters.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 02:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 17, 2008
Al Gore Announces Obama Endorsement In Blog
Last night, Al Gore proclaimed his endorsement for Illinois Senator Barack Obama as “The next President of the United States”. Gore first announced intentions to endorse Obama in his blog at 2:51pm yesterday afternoon.
Gore, a former Vice President and award-winning environmentalist, enlisted his supporters to donate to Obama’s campaign through his website, AlGore.com. He wrote:
“I've never asked members of AlGore.com to contribute to a political campaign before, but this moment and this election are too important to let pass without taking action.”
Gore, who was heavily courted by both Clinton and Obama, has held off endorsing a Democratic candidate until now. With great fervor, Gore listed the many reasons why ‘elections matter’ and went on to rally a stadium full of eager Obama supporters at the Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 13, 2008
McCain Connects To The Daily Kos
McCain’s camp recently launched The McCain Report, a new blog seeking to act as an online sounding board to reach all voters.
Worth noting is a link on McCain’s blog to the Daily Kos. Is John McCain extending an online olive branch to this liberal powerhouse?
Through the McCain Report, conservative bloggers are encouraged to promote open dialogue on the Daily Kos, earning ‘points through the
Although it seems more likely that McCain is leading his lambs into the lion’s den by encouraging conservative posts on the Daily Kos, it is refreshing to see efforts being made to promote discussion about American politics online.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 12, 2008
Obama Fights Libel On The Net
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Today, the Obama camp launched a new and truly innovative political site, www.fightthesmears.com, to refute viral smear campaigns being spread on the Net.
Obama is fighting fire with fire by creating a website condemning the libel and defaming rumors being swirled around on the Net and encouraging supporters to “spread the truth”.
Historically, political candidates have shied away from acknowledging slanderous rumors, but once again, the Obama camp seems to be acutely aware of the capabilities of the Internet, harnessing viral web power by launching a counter-attack on false rumors spreading on the Internet.
This new site allows supporters to upload their Outlook contacts to “spread the facts” and quickly email all of their contacts a ‘fact-based’ email. In an effort to quell some worry that the online Obama campaign system is becoming unstoppable and more powerful than Google, supporters are reassured that the uploaded email addresses from their Outlook folders will not be held on to. There is also an outlet on the site where Obama fans can report Obama slander on the Net to watchdog@Obama.com.
Campaign spokesman Tommy Viertor announced, “We created an interactive tool to allow our supporters to fight back against these smears in the same way that they received them—on the Internet.” He goes on to say, “Whenever challenged with these lies, we will aggressively push back with the truth and help our supporters debunk the false rumors floating around the Internet.”
Posted by Buzz Webster at 07:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 04, 2008
The 21st Century Election
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Sen. Barack Obama has secured the Democratic Nomination for president, bypassing one of the most well-run ‘old style’ campaigns and proving that a new era of Internet campaigning is on the horizon.
Senator Obama surpassed an ‘old school’ campaign, changing and breaking the rules of the Washington game. He has taken a quantum leap from the stale websites of past politicians, going on to raise millions of dollars through small donations from millions of people and creating a network of diehard volunteers.
While ensnared in one of the most cut-throat political campaign races in history, Sen. Obama’s online campaign helped to diminished the quantitative significance of the million mark; whether it was millions of supporters, millions of YouTube video views, or millions of online donations. Raking in over $265 million is as worthy of historical prose as being an African American with the name Barack Hussein Obama.
Sen. Obama has lead the ultimate Web campaign, proving that a 21 century candidate must know how to utilize the Internet as a campaign tool in their arsenal; employing YouTube videos, social networking sites and online fundraisers to inform, educate, and call to action millions of citizens. A 21 century candidate must realize that their actions and decisions, their choices about how to run our world, are going be streamlined on the Internet, ready to be scrutinized by people around the world tuning into politics online.
“This was the moment, this was the time when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves and our highest ideals.” - Barack Obama's Victory Speech.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 07:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
