Lights, Cameras, ACTION
Online Political Warfare 101
We're worse off in congress, Bush was re-elected, and Ashcroft might be the next Chief Justice. But all is not lost, we still control the Fifth Branch of Government: The Internet.
The GOP gained ground on us this year in electronic politics, but our numbers still allow an advantage. To maximize our position, we need to refocus our efforts on Action.
The GOP is better at stage lighting. They learned the lesson of Nixon and spent the eighties bringing
We also need better lighting when it comes to framing issues. While most of the attention has been focused on the words we use to frame the debate, what about the pictures? We need better pictures and the fact we have more cameras presents yet another potential. Link and echo good pictures and video.
But Action is where we win. Online, we need to focus on getting things done instead of just complaining.
We need links to action items blogged before the standard block-quote from the latest story. If Ashcroft were to be nominated, the best post would start out, "Help People for the American Way stop this madness" and then have the news quotes and the analysis on the updated situation. But start with the action, that must be the concern.
As more and more online quantification is based upon the number of links, a focus on compounding links is critical. Many of us have freeped Yahoo news, but posting links lets us freep www.blogsnow.com. If you see something smart, link and echo it. Especially calls to action, if you see an Action you agree with, link and echo it.
Also, we need to have kick-ass Rapid Response online ads. If you care about winning the online battle, check out BlogPAC:
Writing a blog post is not enough. Reading a blog post is not enough. Commenting on a blog is not enough.
Being educated is the first step toward political change. But the next step requires doing something.
BlogPac.org is that next step -- a group of bloggers not content to simply write words or read them, but eager to take action on the pressing issues of our day. We will not sit idly by and merely chatter as everything we care about burns. And you join us in our efforts.
Most of us understand the necessity of winning online. Who would we rather decide our ad strategy than the people behind BlogPAC?
Here's a partial list of the bloggers behind BlogPac, those serving on the advisory board. Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos, Jerome Armstrong of MyDD, Duncan Black of Atrios, Jeralyn Merritt of Talk Left, John Aravosis of AmericaBlog, Matt Stoller of BOP News, Anna of Annatopia, Jesse Taylor of Pandagon, & others that are aligned with the effort. We will have more info on the direction of BlogPac in the near future.
It is important for our third of the country to know how they are fucking up our Country. But it is imperative that our third also be versed in what Action we are taking to oppose the administration. It is time to fight back and online is the quickest method.