American Forum

I attended American Forum, a panel discussion at my alma mater, American University on Wednesday night. The theme for the night was “From Grassroots to Netroots: The Impact of the Internet and Other Media Technologies in Campaign ’08.” The panelists were:

• Cyrus Krohn: director, e-campaign division, Republican National Committee


• Josh McConaha, internet director, Democratic National Committee


• Jeannne Cummings, political reporter, Politico.com


• Dotty Lynch, political consultant, CBS News and AU professor


• Adam Greene, campaign director, MoveOn.org


• Moderator: Jane Hall, AU journalism professor

I was expecting a good, lively discussion and I was not disappointed. Much of the themes and ideas touched upon were items and news that have been well-publicized and known to regular readers of political blogs. Information such as: that the Democratic Party is much better in utilizing the Internet as an organizing tool than the Republicans; that Barack Obama is the candidate that is most effectively utilizing the Internet as an organizing and fundraising tool; that no one comes close to Obama’s effectiveness in the Internet both in the Republican or Democratic side; that there is no right or Republican equivalent to MoveOn and why that is so.

Interesting to me and a revelation was how the Obama campaign was able to mount such a formidable Internet-based campaign (by holding massive events and rallies, charging $5 per head to attend the event, and creating a mailing list of all attendees; attracting and raising money from small donors).

Adam Greene made a pointed observation that the Internet is creating a new set of winners and losers in politics. That ordinary people are no longer dependent on the DNC or the RNC for activism and political participation, and what we are witnessing with the advent of technology such as YouTube and 10Questions, is a new, people-powered politics. And that is a good thing.

Questions from the audience were also taken and there were some good ones. One audience member asked what the major parties were doing in terms of turning out the vote. Cyrus Krohn gave a cryptic answer which left me wanting to hear more. He said the RNC was experimenting with Internet-based techniques on getting out the vote which he cannot divulge. But that such techniques were instrumental in the recent election of Bobby Jindal in the Louisiana governor’s race.

Another audience member asked why Obama was doing so well with young people. Jeanne Cummings explained that he was a fresh face but also that he had an active campus outreach to college students—something Hillary Clinton is limited in doing so because of the presence of Secret Service agents whenever she is around.

Another provocative question asked is are we getting better politics out of this? The panel mostly gave positives such as more honesty and accountability among candidates and politicians. However, they also said that the increased scrutiny and accountability also breeds more partisanship and negative campaigning. The increased scrutiny also forces candidates to be more robotic and scripted and unwilling to deviate from “safe” formulas and being “on message” all the time. Toward the end, all panelists agreed that television is still the best medium to reach a mass number of people and is the most important news source for the majority of voters.

The last question posed to the panel was what is in store for the future? Cyrus Krohn said mobile phone technology and a convergence between television and computers. Josh McConaha said that people who use the technology, are ultimately the most important thing that will decide the future.

I found the American Forum to be a good introduction and discussion of the topic of how the Internet has influenced politics. It presented the surface of what exists out there in mainstream politics and resources available on Internet-based activism. All in all, however, I came out of the Forum telling myself that it was a very general discussion that is good for the average layperson who is probably not exposed to this information on a regular basis. To someone like me who is immersed in this world via my blogging activities, subscribing to technology and politics-related blogs in an RSS feed, and an active participant in the blogosphere, I came out of the forum wanting more.

Innovative efforts such as 10Questions were mentioned. But absent in the discussion were resources such as Personal Democracy Forum and MobileActive which are useful sources of information on the cutting edge of the use of technology in politics and culture. Also absent were the role of blogs and blogging in driving political discussion of certain issues.

The discussion also focused exclusively on what the Internet means for political participation along major party lines. I was disappointed with the absence of third-party, Independent, or reform voices and how as political outsiders they are making use of the Internet in their efforts and whether or not they are succeeding. American politics and democracy, in my mind, should be much bigger than the question of who will win in 2008 between the Democratic and Republican candidates. It should also include outsiders like third parties, independents and reform efforts—voices which serve as a potent critique of the limitations of the two-party system and who are trying to do something about it. I would have also liked a discussion about the impact of Internet technologies for ordinary people and its potential for realizing the promise of “we the people” democratic political participation.

Some resources if you are interested:

• FairVote


• CUIP


• Third Party Watch


• Ballot Access News


• 10Questions


• Smart Mobs


• Personal Democracy Forum


• MobileActive

This post is cross-posted in An Ordinary Person