In search of America's first 'tech president'

Online activists are savvy, passionate - and beyond campaigns' control.

NEW YORK - The Web operatives for five 2008 presidential candidates sat in a row, clutching water bottles and waxing philosophical about their campaign chains of command when the projector screen behind them lit up.

The last line of a live chat between laptop wielding audience members flashed for all to see, "Is any campaign going to do anything innovative this time around?"

As the panelists chatted on stage, participants in the Personal Democracy Forum's conference on the Web and politics used the big screen behind them to debate ways to upgrade American politics with a people-powered version and provide the country with its first "tech president."

Micah Sifry is editor of PDF, a website, blog and newsletter that connects technology and politics. He says the battle for campaigns to control their message and direct strategy from the top faded in the last election.

"It's lost. You've lost control. Get over it," Sifry said.

That control has shifted to a horde of online political junkies who blog, set up unofficial campaign websites and edit political videos outside the influence of the candidates.

This group has its own language, separate from the insider talk of Washington. (A "meme" is an idea that can wind its way through the "long tail" of the Internet to spread "virally.")

Conference speakers from both parties eagerly employed this lingo to describe the way Web-based populism can change the way politics works, a common thread throughout the conference.

"We are moving from a top-down political structure to one where the voter can participate and make being involved in politics be more relevant than abstract," said PDF founder Andrew Rasiej.

Along with a new way politicking, the Web community has its own list of policy goals.

PDF urged the candidates to endorse six initiatives, including establishing government-backed universal wireless Internet; the ability to search government as easily as a website on Google; and a "NetGuard" force to restore connectivity after a terrorist attack or natural disaster.

PDF presented its agenda to the presidential campaign Web directors attending the conference and asked the candidates to endorse the platform, or come up with something better.

Politics 2.0

When Eric Schmidt glanced out into the audience, he saw a familiar sight: bald spots and glowing Apple logos. "This looks like a Google meeting," he said.

Those heads buried in their laptops were busy broadcasting Schmidt's keynote conversation with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman across the Web through blogs, chats and instant messaging.

Friedman said the efforts of people like these would create the energy in campaign politics next year.

"Washington right now is brain-dead, but the country is really alive," Friedman said.

Danah Boyd, a professor who studies social networking, said the only way for candidates to harness that energy would be through online "handshakes" with virtual supporters.

Several presidential campaigns have attempted to do this with website tools that allow supporters to network, raise money and plan offline events. But online volunteers have struck out on their own to support candidates, resulting in conflicts over who owns the message in a presidential campaign.

Struggle for control

For Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., the tale of two popular social networking sites blurs the line between official political operative and avid online volunteer. In January, Farouk Olu Aregbe started a group, One Million Strong for Barack, on Facebook, a social networking site.

Aregbe is a student government adviser at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He spoke at PDF about his experience building the group to more than 300,000 members in five months and answering thousands of e-mails from Obama supporters.

The group exists outside the control of Obama's campaign and relies on ideas from group members to keep it going, Aregbe said.

"This is how we take these masses of volunteers from online to offline," Aregbe said.

When Joe Anthony, a paralegal living in Los Angeles, started a group for Obama fans on the networking site MySpace, it grew to more than 160,000 members.

As the site grew, Anthony worked with the campaign, but the relationship became strained, forcing MySpace to turn the website over to Obama. Anthony got to keep his network of 160,000 friends.

The move to bring the site under the campaign's control and freeze out an ardent online supporter caused an outcry among those who watch Web politics. Obama's misstep with a new brand of political volunteer shows the challenge facing presidential candidates in a world where anyone can create content and control the message of the race.

Sifry cautioned the candidates against trying to hold too much sway over those who support them online.

"They think they can bottle this," Sifry said. "They really have not figured out what to do with the fact that a lot of these people are just going to stay independent."