Joseph Lieberman Beats the Internet Activists. Senator more powerful than ever!

~~` Back after the Connecticut Democratic primary this year , the world -- or at least the press -- proclaimed "Internet, activists help topple prominent US Democrat".

Well at the time , I was not impressed . And now we have , once "Democratic" Sen. Joseph Lieberman,

as now INDEPENDENT Sen. Joseph Lieberman.

With just a one vote Majority in the senate the Democrats will have to quake every time Lieberman speaks his mind. Lieberman is now more powerful then ever, thanks to the Internet !?!?

If Internet "activist" are going to proclaim victories, they are also going to have to accept the lessons of this big defeat.

The lesson is , while the Internet is a great "tool" for political organizing, it is still only one "tool" among many, and alone it cannot win for you.

Electronic Voting . Bad Idea , now and forever .

~~ I really wish this concept of Electronic Voting would go away,, click here and here and here for earlier rants on this topic. ~` TP

------------------------

Diebold Source Code Leaked Again
by Robert McMillan, IDG News Service
Monday, October 23, 2006 06:00 AM PDT

Source code to Diebold Election Systems voting machines has been leaked once again. Last week, former Maryland state legislator Cheryl C. Kagan was anonymously given disks containing source code to Diebold's BallotStation and Global Election Management System (GEMS) tabulation software used in the 2004 elections.

Kagan, a well-known critic of electronic voting, is Executive Director of the Carl M. Freeman Foundation, a philanthropic organization based in Olney, Maryland.

The disks were created and distributed by two federal voting machine testing labs run by Ciber and Wyle Laboratories. They had been testing systems on behalf of the state of Maryland, Diebold said in a statement.

This is not the first time that Diebold source code has been leaked. In early 2003, Diebold critic Bev Harris uncovered similar source code while conducting research using Google's search engine.

=============

Internet, activists help topple prominent US Democrat

~~` Lieberman would have lost w/o the internet ,, just like when Lieberman defeated Lowell Wicker to first enter the Senate in 1988 .

Please do not confuse the medium for the message. Unpopular incumbents loose primaries , because they lost the support of the core that first elected them. The internet reflected public sentiment that was already there, the internet did not create it. Plus Lamont had big $$$ , that helps more !!

-------------------

----------------

"Internet, activists help topple prominent US Democrat"
By Patricia Wilson
WASHINGTON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - "Fueled by opposition to the Iraq war and anger at U.S. President George W. Bush, liberal grass-roots and Internet activists on Wednesday claimed their most significant political victory -- the defeat of Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman.

The three-term senator from Connecticut was repudiated on Tuesday by voters from his own party who chose Ned Lamont -- a relative unknown with a fierce anti-war message -- to represent Democrats in the November election.

"The winner is people-powered politics," declared the Daily Kos Web site, a sentiment that echoed throughout the liberal blogosphere.
Lamont, a millionaire businessman who has never held state or federal office, had almost zero name recognition and very little political experience when he entered the race."

PCWorld.com - Backdoor Found in Diebold Voting Machines

~~~ I am not a supporter of electronic voting.
As I have written about often here . ~~~ TP
--------------------------------

PCWorld.com - Backdoor Found in Diebold Voting Machines:
by Robert McMillan, IDG News Service Monday, May 15, 2006

"Diebold Election Systems plans to make changes to its electronic voting machines, following the disclosure of a number of serious security flaws in the systems. {The} Company says it will make changes to the electronic voting machines before the November 7 2006 general election."
"After the November 2000 presidential election exposed flaws in traditional paper ballots, many U.S. states have rushed to adopt electronic voting systems. But computer experts have pointed out numerous security flaws in these machines, and some consumer groups have called for them to be dropped altogether."
======================

California's 2006 Candidates for governor reach out by Web, iPod

~~~ For over a decade many technopolitical folks have been heralding how the Internet
and digital / wirelesss things will change politics.
I , as I write about out here, dissagree with that vision.

All politics is local.
Face to face human interaction will always be the core of
of political activity. Which is why close elections are won and lost by field organization, and always will be.

How well can you get out the vote on election day is what the game is all about. Seniors , low-income folks, and many on the religious-right, do not use the internet as much as other voters-- yet . These voting groups can only be reached by old -fashioned local field work. Knocking on doors, holding rallies , and working the bus & subway stops.
~~~ TP
===================================

Article: News - Candidates for governor reach out by Web, iPod:

By SORAYA SARHADDI NELSON
The Orange County Register www.ocregister.com

"Welcome to California's 2006 gubernatorial race, where winning traditional grass-roots support is more about bandwidth than shoe leather. Campaigns are following the example of Howard Dean, a littleknown former Vermont governor who used a network of Internet-connected supporters to leap onto the national stage in the 2004 presidential race".

"California's gubernatorial candidates hope the same Web-based techniques will make their campaigns more accessible and supporters feel vested. With new campaign contribution limits and skyrocketing costs of TV advertising hampering campaigns, the Internet has become a vital tool to boost contenders' visibility, especially among the grass roots, experts say."

Q: "Internet Injects Sweeping Change Into U.S. Politics ? A: " NO !!

~~ Yes the Internet is becoming part of the political campaign arsenals.
But has the internet produced better candidates or any major shifts in power ?

It is still the democrats and republicans.
The medium may be new but the players are the same.
Not only the mega- political players,
but the mega- media players too are the same .
In the end the Internet has re-enforced the status quo. See here for more .

Yes Blogs have some impact, but it is still the mega-media that makes "what is news" , so there too , the Internet has done little to tilt the power center.

The hope of the Digital Age was that people would produce a better, a fairer and more representative government through cyber involvment.

Well the Internet is only really 10 years old, so maybe there is still hope.


~~ technopolitical
-----------------------------------

Internet Injects Sweeping Change Into U.S. Politics - New York Times:
April 2, 2006
Internet Injects Sweeping Change Into U.S. Politics
By ADAM NAGOURNEY

"The percentage of Americans who went online for election news jumped from 13 percent in the 2002 election cycle to 29 percent in 2004, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center after the last presidential election. A Pew survey released earlier this month found that 50 million Americans go to the Internet for news every day, up from 27 million people in March 2002, a reflection of the fact that the Internet is now available to 70 percent of Americans.

This means, aides said, rethinking every assumption about running a campaign: how to reach different segments of voters, how to get voters to the polls, how to raise money, and the best way to have a candidate interact with the public. In 2004, John Edwards, a former Democratic senator from North Carolina and his party's vice presidential candidate, spent much of his time talking to voters in living rooms in New Hampshire and Iowa; now he is putting aside hours every week to videotape responses to videotaped questions, the entire exchange posted on his blog.

'The effect of the Internet on politics will be every bit as transformational as television was,' said Ken Mehlman, the Republican national chairman. 'If you want to get your message out, the old way of paying someone to" {end quote]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/washington/02campaign.html?hp&ex=1143954000&en=003299f756f21d88&ei=5094&partner=homepage
-

Introducing Mr. McDean? - Los Angeles Times

~~~Sen. Russ Fiengold is trying to become the next internet sensation. Can he succeed where Howard Dean failed? In the end I think that grassroots door-to-door canvassing , handshake rallies, and a good core activist base is what is needed to win elections.
Remember , in the end all politics are local !
The Internet can help, but good field organization is what gets the vote out. ~~~ TP
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Introducing Mr. McDean? - Los Angeles Times: "
"Feingold clearly is courting the Dean vote as he positions himself to the left of other Democratic presidential hopefuls. He is reaching out to the Internet-savvy, airing video podcasts on the website for his political action committee and holding an online 'listening session.'

'Howard Dean was one of the first people who recognized the power of the Internet as a [political] organizing tool, and absolutely we are picking up that mantle and using those tools,' said George Aldrich, spokesman for Feingold's PAC."

Fla. attorney general says his e-mails aren't spam | CNET News.com

~~ Political emails may be propaganda, but to call them spam --- which is commercial -- is unfair. We expect politicians to stuff our real and virtual mailboxes with reasons why I should vote for them. I am just thankful to live in a country where election violence , bombings & etc does not occur [anymore ] . If the price for that is a little "political spam" , well I am cool with that ~ `~~ TP

Fla. attorney general says his e-mails aren't spam | CNET News.com: "Florida's attorney general has spearheaded an aggressive campaign against unsolicited e-mails, or spam. But as a candidate for governor, he appears to be generating some unwanted Internet clutter himself."

Just Three More Years !!!

~~ So Bush admits, with his anti-terror flag wrapped tightly around him,
Congress is ticked off. Hearings will come with the new year.
Well at least it will not be a boring three more years. ~~ TP

===================

Lawmakers Call for Domestic Spying Probe - Yahoo! News

"Lawmakers Call for Domestic Spying Probe"
============================

http://news.bbc.co.uk

Bush admits he authorised spying

President George W Bush has admitted he authorised secret monitoring of communications within the United States in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks.

" Sen. William Proxmire Dead At 90 "

~~ The second Senate giant to pass this week. Like Sen. Eugence McCarthy , William Proxmire is one for the history books. A unique maverick who often defied labels. Mostly "Liberal" , but against abortion. Thifty , but always bought home the milk-price supports to the home state. Most importantly Sen. Proxmire also led the charge to get the USA to sign the International Genocide Treaty. A very complex man indeed, and like Sen. McCarthy the type of politician who probably could not get elected today.~~ TP
----------------------------------

CBS News | Sen. William Proxmire Dead At 90 | December 15, 2005 "Long before the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law was a twinkle in the eye of lawmakers, and at a time when millions were spent campaigning for Senate seats, Proxmire made a point of accepting no contributions. In 1982 he registered only $145.10 in campaign costs, yet gleaned 64 percent of the vote."

McCarthy's rare mold: USATODAY.com

~~~ I have been reading a lot of o-bits about Sen. Eugene McCarthy, and this one from 'USA Today' struck the chord I was looking for. ~~ TP
---------------------------------------------------

USATODAY.com - McCarthy's rare mold: "McCarthy's rare mold
Most politicians whose biggest claim to fame was a second-place finish in a presidential primary would barely rate a footnote from historians.

But Eugene McCarthy, who died Saturday at age 89, wasn't like most politicians." it is hard to imagine someone as quirky or principled as McCarthy surviving in today's political environment. He didn't take the oath of self-preservation and mindless partisanship that seems to be an officeholder's first action today. He didn't base his stands on the winds of the moment......

......The nation would be well-served if more people of McCarthy's unwavering integrity were drawn to public service. It would also do well to have more officials like McCarthy with interests in poetry and other areas beyond politics and the law.

......But he was an unusual politician at a unique moment in history. It's probably safe to say there won't be many more like him anytime soon. ~~` How True , and that is what is too bad . ~` TP

Internet redefining politics: new survey

~~ I disagree with the findings here. While the Internet is becoming "part" of politics in the USA, there has not been , nor will there be soon any major shift in political power.

The Republicans have used the internet to help
solidify their base better than the Democrats have.

This is because there is still a major Digital Divide in the USA,
with the wealthier Republicans having more broadband to use politically . ~~ ` `TP
----------------------------------------------------------------

Internet redefining politics: new survey: "Online campaigning is transforming US politics and empowering individual voters dwarfed by the might of the print and broadcast media, the author of a major new Internet use survey said."

http://www.physorg.com/news8706.html

EFF moves to block certification of e-voting systems | CNET News.com

I do not see any reason to believe that the Internet will be able to overcome the fundamental issue of trust for election voting anytime in the near future.

Paper ballots and their "hanging chads" while time consuming to count and not at all perfect, are still physically tangible.

And it does not take an advanced degree in micro-processor technologies to re-count the votes if there is a challenge by the losing side in a close race.
If the Florida votes in dispute during the 2000 Bush-Gore Presidential race had been Internet-Cast-Votes, history may have been different,
Maybe not, but I would not choose to risk it. To have the core of the American democratic process become an activity of cyber-space is something I find spooky. Hackers have proven to be some of the most talented minds of our time and there has yet to be a cyber-system that has been made impregnable to attack. When it come to voting for President or anything else, I would rather take my chances with the hanging chads~~~ TP .

***

EFF moves to block certification of e-voting systems

By Anne Broache

http://news.com.com/EFF+moves+to+block+certification+of+e-voting+systems/2100-1028_3-5988243.html

Story last modified Thu Dec 08 17:57:00 PST 2005 The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a court complaint Thursday aimed at blocking North Carolina's recent certifications of voting machines, saying state elections officials failed to meet legal requirements before signing off on the systems. The complaint (click for PDF), filed in Wake County Superior Court by the EFF and a Raleigh lawyer on behalf of a local voters' advocate, calls for a judge to void certifications that the Board of Elections issued last week to Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia Voting Systems. It also requests a restraining order that would prevent elections officials from certifying any new systems until they comply fully with state election laws. The state legislature modified those laws this summer, setting new standards for e-voting machines and requiring that existing systems be decertified. State elections officials 'exceeded their statutory authority' in signing off on the systems, because they disregarded the law in two areas, the complaint charges.

During the 2004 Election Cycle, Internet & digital became more embedded..... Howard Dean raised $$ , but still lost the nomination to Kerry.

During the 2004 Election Cycle, the Internet & digital tech

toys became more embedded into election campaign

arsenals.

Howard Dean raised $ on the Internet like no one before,

---and certainly helped to set the stage for Team Obama's masterful TechnoPolitical triumph in 2008---

but still,

in 2004 Gov. Dean lost the

Democratic nomination to John Kerry.

~tp

------------------------------------

Friday, June 20, 2003

Democrats vie in Internet 'primary'

Democrats vie in Internet 'primary'

By Tom Curry, MSNBC
Fri, 20 Jun 2003

Some activists smell something fishy about next week's Web-based "primary" to test the early strength of Democratic presidential contenders. While a number of the candidates are urging their supporters to vote in the Moveon.org event, some strategists see it as skewed toward Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor who shares the group's antiwar views. "It appears to be rigged," said Erik Smith, a spokesman for Rep. Dick Gephardt's campaign.

Could blogs trump stumping in Iowa? | csmonitor.com

~~ No !!!!

Handshakes, kissing babies ,, and meet face to face with the Big $$$$, will ALWAYS win elections.

Internet is not local . All Politics Are Local .

---------------------------

Could blogs trump stumping in Iowa? | csmonitor.com: "The power of the Internet has led the Pew Center's Michael Cornfield and others to say that we should now speak of a much more visible 'virtual primary.'

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R), Sen. Russ Feingold (D) of Wisconsin, Sen. Evan Bayh (D) of Indiana, and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D) of New York all blog or occasionally post on prominent blogs.

Senate majority leader Bill Frist just started a blog. Last week House Republicans initiated a 'Capitol Hill Blog Row,' inviting a number of bloggers to meetings and briefings."

The defeat of election-law aid for bloggers | CNET News.com

Democrats defeat election-law aid for bloggers | CNET News.com: "Democrats on Wednesday managed to defeat a bill aimed at amending U.S. election laws to immunize bloggers from hundreds of pages of federal regulations."

I am only blogging this under protest !!

Advertising in the Age of the Empowered Voter - A View from Washington

~ I Got this by e-mail.
This event wil explore lobbying and activisim from a TechnPolitical view.

~~~ enjoy ~` TP ~~ `

=================

"Advertising in the Age of the Empowered Voter - A View from Washington"
When:Wednesday, September 21, 2005 1:00 PM - 7:00 PM

How do mobile, blogs, and podcasts change political and advocacy communications?

E-Voter Institute is hosting bipartisan events to delve into the ways in which these and other new technologies are changing the political landscape.

Join campaign strategists, online pioneers, researchers, journalists, and media experts for the first of three lively discussions about the role of Internet and wireless technology for politics and advocacy.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005 1:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Minn. Man Aims to Alter Judicial Campaigns - Yahoo! News

~~~ I like any legal campaign inovation that adds substance to the electoral discourse ~` TP

-----------------

Minn. Man Aims to Alter Judicial Campaigns - Yahoo! News: "By BRIAN BAKST, Associated Press Writer Sat Aug 27, 6:42 AM ET

MINNETONKA, Minn. - When Greg Wersal last ran for Minnesota's Supreme Court, he toted plywood cows from town to town, dragged around an oversized ball and chain and adopted his wife's Scandinavian name for political advantage."

TV Campaign by a Public Advocate Candidate Stresses a Wireless City - New York Times

~~ Very interesting and forward looking. Now the Homeless & Welfare recipients can sleep easily, knowing the city will be wired for broadband. But yes, down the road this is inevitable in all cities, but should it be a priority now ? -- when the $$ could go to help those who are more worried about food & health ~~~ TP

August 19, 2005
TV Campaign by a Public Advocate Candidate Stresses a Wireless City
By JONATHAN P. HICKS http://www.nytimes.com/

Throughout the campaign, Mr. Rasiej (pronounced Ra-SHAY), has championed an unconventional platform of expanding computer use and high-speed information technology for the public. As a cornerstone of his campaign, he said he would seek to create wireless Internet access throughout the city and in the subways. The campaign declined to disclose how much the ad campaign cost. "New Yorkers, look around you," Mr. Rasiej states in one of the ads, with a blur of traffic on the screen and a montage that lifted some footage from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's campaign commercials. "See your city as it could be. Imagine if firefighters could download floor plans of burning buildings on their way to a fire. Imagine signs on subway and bus stops telling us when the next train or bus is going to arrive. Imagine being able to call 911 in a subway in an emergency." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/19/nyregion/metrocampaigns/19advocate.html

BBC NEWS | Technology | Netting the connected electorate

~~~ In the USA 2004 race the Bush team "netted" the religious right. ~~ TP

BBC NEWS | Technology | Netting the connected electorate
"Widespread access to and use of the net is influencing the complex balance of influences that determine voting patterns and electoral outcomes. One of the comments made by several commentators this time around was that we did not seem to be having a "national" election but instead it was a collection of local contests. I know that this is how it is supposed to work, but the last 50 years have seen this model break down as national questions and national politicians dominate the debate, manipulating a suitably pliant media into reporting it in these terms. " The net, by creating connections between people and giving anyone who wanted it access to a vast pool of information on candidates, policies, likely outcomes and strategic options, did what it does best: it connected the nodes on the electoral map and allowed information to flow.