Keywords

Edwards 2.0

Edwards08, Info Tech, Politics

Last election bloggers, many of whom had initially supported the tech-savvy Howard Dean campaign, felt that they had to drag the Kerry campaign into the 21st century. If the official Edwards web site is any indication, this election will be very different. The Edwards campaign has embraced virtually every possible new technology: Flickr, MySpace, YouTube … Even bittorrent. The site’s Take Action tab has a section where you can sign up to Become a Citizen Journalist for Edwards, as well as a place to register your blog, etc.

What you might miss amongst all of this is the prominence given to One Corps.” What is One Corps? It seems to be something like MoveOn, but … further to the left. Here is their mission statement:

Over the coming weeks and months, One Corps chapters and their members will be working to …

  1. Fight poverty in their local communities; addressing important local needs through community organizing and service projects.
  2. Help elect local, state and federal candidates who support One America ideals, and who are fighting for all Americans.
  3. And, spread the message of One America by writing letters to the editor, calling local radio stations, talking with other members of their communities at events and meetings, and recruiting new members to the One Corps community.

Together, through these and other actions, we can and will make a difference in this country from the ground up.

MoveOn, the paragon of web activism, has largely stuck to fairly mainstream issues: the war, social security, and electing democrats; but Edwards’ One Corps wants people to work on poverty issues and elect progressive candidates. Edwards isn’t just following the blogsphere — he is leading it in new directions.

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