Tom Friedman (NY Times) glimpses the future of electoral politics.*

The internet has flung wide open the doors of access to, and communication with, our public servants and if the Democrats don’t use it to their advantage, if they continue to use the old model, they will lose out on the single biggest opportunity to advance their agenda - freedom, equality, opportunity, prosperity, fairness and security for all Americans.

*”The technological model coming next - which Howard Dean accidentally uncovered but never fully developed - will revolve around the power of networks and blogging. The public official or candidate will no longer just be the one who talks to the many or tries to listen to the many. Rather, he or she will be a hub of connectivity for the many to work with the many - creating networks of public advocates to identify and solve problems and get behind politicians who get it.

“‘One elected official by himself can’t solve the problems of eight million people,” Mr. Rasiej argued, “but eight million people networked together can solve one city’s problems. They can spot and offer solutions better and faster than any bureaucrat. … The party that stakes out this new frontier will be the majority party in the 21st century. And the Democrats better understand something - their base right now is the most disconnected from the network.’” Read more…

ADDENDUM: To find about more about Andrew Rasiej and his campaign for NYC Public Advocate, come to http://www.rasiej.com.

And if you want to support our campaign for municipal wifi, go to http://www.wifi4ny.com.

Micah Sifry
eCampaign Director
Advocates for Rasiej

This post was written by Mary Mancini