Growing Power Of Small Money - Boston Globe

[helleborient]

Cheers for Dean, MoveOn, and Soros!!!

Bringing more people into the system, and possibly a Democratic victory!

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/money/articles/2003/11/12/growing_power_of_small_money/

Excerpts:

"FOR THREE DECADES, ever since Richard Nixon's 1972 campaign raised bushels of corporate money and overwhelmed George McGovern, liberal activists and candidates have had two opposite fantasies about how to level the financial playing field. The first was to get big money out of politics. The second was to mobilize small money in a big way."

"A few states, most notably Maine, have shown that it's possible to enact voluntary "clean elections" options, which give financial rewards to candidates who opt for public funding. But this promising approach has gained little traction in Congress. Now, however, for the first time, a major candidate has realized the second fantasy -- of small money beating big money. More precisely, Howard Dean became the leading Democratic candidate by using the Internet to mobilize thousands of enthusiasts who in turn become small donors (average third-quarter Dean donation: $73.69.) The progressive Web-based group, MoveOn.org, has done much the same thing."

"The Dean phenomenon has been widely misunderstood. It's not that Dean invented a better website. Rather, Dean offered his supporters an energizing message that generated excitement and loyalty; second, he used the Internet in a way that played to that medium's natural strength. If a group of Dean volunteers somewhere wanted to organize their own website, Dean headquarters just let it bubble up, Web-fashion, rather than insisting on central control. Affection turned into dollars."