As I write these words, it’s becoming increasingly likely that John Kerry is going to be the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate in 2004. I was looking at Kerry’s website the other day and was struck by how far advanced the U.S. Presidential candidates were in their use of the net.
There are features on the Kerry site that I’d never seen before, such as “MeetUp”. Clicking on that link would take you to an independent website which organises meetings around the world for people who share common interests. Over a million people in more than 50 countries have registered for the service, and they meet to discuss nearly 4,000 different topics, of which the John Kerry campaign is only one. If you register for the site, you can agree with others who share your interest on a date, time and place for a meeting, and you then meet up. Kerry’s campaign is using this well
Dean used the internet early on and much more effectively than Kerry. A lot of money was raised and Deans Meet-Ups were the most popular of any of the candidates.
You’re absolutely right — my point being that EVEN the Kerry website which is probably not nearly as cutting-edge as the Dean one — is FAR better than what most unions produce, and that’s why we can learn so much from it.
Eric