Effectiveness of a grassroots campaign in the days of big money politics
Found this opinion article: Will 'Draft Gore' movement bring change? I have to say, I do understand the points and agree with a lot of them. Al Gore is in a place right now where he can let the proverbial mud slide off his back. What does he care if an article gets written about exaggeration? He knows his points and the data are getting through to the people he wants to hear them. But if he ran for president, all of a sudden, he'd be in the middle of all the crap that's being slung around. People would attack him (and his books and his movie and everything he's done and enjoyed doing the past 8 years) and he would be forced to care. Because he wouldn't enter the race unless he knew he could win. He wouldn't enter just to run again. It's too damn hard and time-consuming and exhausting and, frankly, the man has better ways to spend his time and money. He'd join the race to win.
That being said, I would like to reiterate that I think there IS a way to run a presidential campaign in the age of social media and the new millennium and trash the old ways of chucking crap at your opponents, all the while hoping they'll endorse you when they get kicked out of the race by your attacks. There's a nice, effective, community-oriented way to talk to voters; it doesn't have to be a dirty mud-wrestling battle. If anyone can figure out the details of that way, a real change in political tactic, Gore and his people can. How can you run a campaign you're truly proud of, while not wasting time and money and resources, while not viciously attacking opponents without due discussion, while not pandering to the lowest common denominator, while not extending the campaign season longer than it really needs to be? I'm halfway done Assault on Reason; I'm convinced the author of that book can gather around him the brightest minds of today and form a team with them to figure it out. It's a big problem. But so is climate change. And Al's figured out a way to educate millions of people around the world on that.
That being said, I would like to reiterate that I think there IS a way to run a presidential campaign in the age of social media and the new millennium and trash the old ways of chucking crap at your opponents, all the while hoping they'll endorse you when they get kicked out of the race by your attacks. There's a nice, effective, community-oriented way to talk to voters; it doesn't have to be a dirty mud-wrestling battle. If anyone can figure out the details of that way, a real change in political tactic, Gore and his people can. How can you run a campaign you're truly proud of, while not wasting time and money and resources, while not viciously attacking opponents without due discussion, while not pandering to the lowest common denominator, while not extending the campaign season longer than it really needs to be? I'm halfway done Assault on Reason; I'm convinced the author of that book can gather around him the brightest minds of today and form a team with them to figure it out. It's a big problem. But so is climate change. And Al's figured out a way to educate millions of people around the world on that.
Labels: Al_Gore, Assault_on_Reason, election_reform, presidential_election_2008
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