Why Internet Organizing Will Matter

And remember... (0.00 / 0)

BOR has its own YouTube group. So we're here to stay active, and help you stay active, as best we can.

Now, a very great man once said that some people rob you with a fountain pen.

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by: Phillip Martin, Progress Texas @ Thu Jul 20, 2006 at 00:36:43 AM UTC

Truth in all of this... (0.00 / 0)

back in march we had people actualyl vote on campus in the primaries here at Texas State.  The majority of the dems turned out to be alot of members of our facebook group.

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by: eric.heggie @ Thu Jul 20, 2006 at 04:20:02 AM UTC

totally (0.00 / 0)

Students are variable in voting for sure and the group probably most influences by social pressure to vote. That's how in Precinct 148 at UT, there was 99.7% turnout for the 2004 election, 1% turnout for city elections the next May, and the huge increase from 2.4% to 24% turnout for the 2005 Constitutional Amendement election (where we ran facebook ads at UT for the first time).

Students touching students politically is very powerful. But the variability is frustrating I will say that. You can't always predict it.

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by: Karl-Thomas Musselman @ Thu Jul 20, 2006 at 04:42:06 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Students touching students... (3.00 / 1)

What actually goes on at those UDems meetings?

:)

Now, a very great man once said that some people rob you with a fountain pen.

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by: Phillip Martin, Progress Texas @ Thu Jul 20, 2006 at 05:31:53 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

yhahahahahhahah (0.00 / 0)

hahahahahahhahaha

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by: eric.heggie @ Thu Jul 20, 2006 at 19:19:12 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Don't mean to steal your sunshine... (0.00 / 0)

But we DO have to remember that in most districts the average age of our voter is over 55 and most of them do not use a computer regularly.  Although the social networking movement certainly affects districts with colleges in them and young urban professional boxes, one cannot say it has yet reached a critical mass to affect the majority of voters.  They will still continue to vote based upon who shows up in their living room (either on the television, via the mail, or actual physical doorknockers (placed in order of affectiveness)).

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by: David O. @ Thu Jul 20, 2006 at 13:22:57 PM UTC

GOTV with students (0.00 / 0)

David,

I think KT has a valid point though. If visibility is raised among the students who are of voting age, then there is a greater change we can get out the vote in greater numbers among students.

Campaigns are going to have to think outside the traditional box to get more voter turn out, and this is just one option. It doesn't mean older folks who don't have the internet will be ignored.

I have already set up a MySpace page for my candidate, Amy Manuel. If it helps get more people to vote for her in our precinct, then it was well worth the 5 minutes it took to set it up. Not to mention, MySpace is free!

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by: John McClelland @ Thu Jul 20, 2006 at 15:20:20 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Agreed... (0.00 / 0)

You have UNT in your district, right?  If so, then that's a great idea.  Where I think this could work well is by using myspace to organize volunteers.  Any way to get a person into a field office is a good way.  I was just saying, you have to focus on the voters that show up every single election and work on winning them back to the Democratic Party... they USED to vote for us, but now they don't.  We need to find out a) Why b) What can we do to become their party of choice again?

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by: David O. @ Thu Jul 20, 2006 at 16:03:04 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

yes (0.00 / 0)

Yes UNT is about 25 mins north of the district my candidate is running in, and its mostly a commuter school as it is. A lot of schools in Dallas area are commuter schools (like UT-Dallas, Brookhaven, etc), so even if they're not in district, they will likely have voters that live in your district.

A good way to target these people who stopped voting Dem is to attend their community functions and meetings in person, and reform that bond. A lot of what Democrats in our area believe are definitely the same thing that they believe. But the message just never gets conveyed easily anymore.

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by: John McClelland @ Thu Jul 20, 2006 at 17:08:58 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

You hit the nail on the head... (0.00 / 0)

The message just never gets conveyed easily anymore.  That's precisely the problem.  We have to find a way to effectively make our message resonate with voters.  This means we need more money to spread the message and the correct language to use.  It also means we need to focus on "real" issues and not artificial social issues.  Finally, we need spokespeople who are credible (cannot be torn down via personal attacks). 

It won't be easy to do, but it simply MUST be done.  Chet Edwards is a prime example of somebody is able to do this.  Jim Turner was that type of person, before his district was stolen away.  In another post on this board today, we find an excellent post on message points about the economy/budget.  We HAVE to stress that the budget is a moral document that shows what our country believes in and that a strong economy is something WE fight for.  We HAVE to stress that we're the party that can be fiscally responsible.  We have to retake the "daddy" frame (to use Lakoff's terminology) of being the bread and butter party.  We bring home the bacon and we make good decisions about how to spend that money. 

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by: David O. @ Thu Jul 20, 2006 at 18:22:58 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

surpassing goals (0.00 / 0)

I know I said 250,000 yesterday. That facebook group is now up to 362,000 people in 24 more hours.

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by: Karl-Thomas Musselman @ Fri Jul 21, 2006 at 04:11:49 AM UTC