I have been checking out the myconservatives.com tool and it really has all the makings of a top notch campaigning tool. Having just finished reading the brilliant ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ by Joe Trippi, I was struck at how far behind their US peers, British political parties are. After looking at the new platform for myconservatives, I’m struck by the fact we have made pretty big step in catching up in the e-campaigning stakes. It certainly puts us a mile ahead of where Labour or the Lib Dems are.
There is some great functionality on the website that facilitates local campaigns and helps with online fundraising. For the first time, a British political party has begun to understand that the internet can be a major tool in re-engaging the public with politics. Whereas television, radio and the first generation of the internet gave politicians new avenues to talk to the electorate in a top down way, new generation internet gives voters the potential for the first time to talk to the politicians in a bottom up way, and play an active and engaged role in the political process.
More than simply being a new campaigning tool, platforms such as myconservatives have the potential to help reenergise politics – once again placing the citizen right at the heart of the political process. Just look at what Joe Rospars of Blue State Digital says about the Obama website – the campaign worked because it “took ordinary people seriously.” New media has the potential transform modern politics to empower voters and lead to engaged politics at a community level. The launch of myconservatives is a good step in that direction.
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