Home > Net brings activists out in force
By Matt Wells, New York
With politics in America more polarised than any time since
the 1960s, there is one thing that all the parties can agree
on this crucial election year - the power of web-based
activism. New York City may be a bastion of Democratic Party
politics and support, but that didn’t stop the Republican
grassroots’ campaigner-in-chief, Ralph Reed, from attending a
downtown seminar in late May on politics and the internet.
The legendary right-wing organiser - who is leading the
president’s re-election team in the south-east - told his
mainly left-leaning audience that local democracy was being
regenerated through the internet.
That was plain to see a few nights ago, when hundreds of John
Kerry supporters gathered in venues around the world, via the
Meetup.com site. The presumptive presidential nominee for the
Democratic Party is not the first contender to harness the
communication potential of Meetup.
Failed candidate Howard Dean mobilised thousands of
supporters in every state and led the way in internet
fundraising.
The organisation which he bequeathed after leaving the
Democratic race, Democracy for America, has the largest
membership of any political group on the Meetup site -
165,200 people.
Mr Kerry now comes in second, with 113,600, and the monthly
meetings which anyone can organise and attend are being
viewed by the campaign as crucial to its long-term success.
On a Thursday night at the end of May, loose groups of Kerry
supporters gathered in London, Paris, Toronto, and across the
whole United States.
Grassroots power
In downtown Manhattan alone, five different Meetups were
convened, mostly led by activists affiliated to the national
Kerry organisation.
There was one notable exception. I joined up with an earnest
group of about 15 young New Yorkers at the fashionable 88
Orchard Street cafe. Most lived locally, and had already
attended at least one previous meeting.
"I found out about it from a friend who was doing a Meetup
for owners of pug dogs," Liz Merker said. "I looked at the
site and offered to volunteer to do something for the
campaign straight away."
Being in the Meetup is better than sitting around in some
stiff meeting with campaign staffers Matt Townsend Leading
the meeting was Kerry campaign volunteer Pagan Harleman, who
had met other team officials last week to set out an agenda
in order to give focus and direction to the evening. After 20
minutes of chatting in the dimly-lit Moroccan-style basement
festooned with cushions, a guest joined us with a puzzled
look on his face.
It turned out that our new arrival, Dominic Pisciotta, who
works for the city council, had organised another Kerry
Meetup in the trendy bar next door:
"So there’s another Meetup going on, on the other side of
this wall," Ms Harleman said. "Are you running an ad-hoc
group that has no idea what’s really happening?"
Mr Pisciotta was contrite: "Yeah, basically that’s it. We
ordered drinks and stuff, so we can’t really join you here."
Anarchic element
An experienced Kerry-supporter was despatched to the bar next
door to take control. When I wandered through shortly
afterwards, a group of 20 people were gathered around a large
table, sipping Mexican beers and margaritas, talking through
the myriad ways that activists have devised to raise funds.
As Democrats outnumber Republicans by five to one here,
fundraising for the real election fight in the so-called
"battleground states" where the parties are close, is the
chief preoccupation.
One activist organises weekly jogs through Central Park under
the banner "Run Against Bush". Others organise telethons
where people gather one evening a week to use their free cell
phone minutes, and call voters in key states like Ohio or
Florida. The anarchic element of Meetup culture is at once
its greatest strength, and also a weakness for the
centralised campaign teams.
The Kerry and Bush regional headquarters want to harness the
power of grassroots activists, but also must accept that they
have no executive authority over them. Being "on message"
goes against the Meetup ethos.
Ms Harleman was also keen to remind the group that the
presidency is not the only thing at stake: "If the
Republicans keep Congress and we lose the Senate race, we’re
looking at 15-20 years of Republican control. A Democrat
president is only part of it."
Anti-Bush connection
Everyone at the Meetups has a slightly different reason for
being there. For 24-year-old Larissa Chernock - a recent
Harvard graduate - it’s all about international stability:
None of us are here for Kerry, we are here because we hate
Bush Meetup attendee "This election involves the whole world,
and even though New York is a shoo-in for Kerry, we mustn’t
be complacent. He could be doing a little better and he’s not
as charismatic as say, Bill Clinton, but whether you love him
or not, it’s time to get Bush out." That lack of real
enthusiasm for Kerry is something tangible that is worrying
party pollsters. Another young woman at the meeting put it
this way: "None of us are here for Kerry, we are here because
we hate Bush. Anyone but Bush would do for me."
Mr Pisciotta, organiser of the "rogue" Orchard Street Meetup,
is putting his energy into beating Mr Bush, after the
president supported the idea of a constitutional amendment to
ban gay marriage:
"My partner and I have twins who are 14 months," he says.
"When Bush came out against gay marriage that was my ticket
to start speaking out. I grew up in Virginia which is real
Bush country, so I know only too well where my interests
lie."
Ideas forum
After handing out copious sheets listing anti-Bush and pro-
Kerry groups, several Meetup participants began discussing
ways they could canvas the prized swing-voters face-to-face,
without leaving the city.
Matt Townsend, 28, who lives just a few blocks from the café,
volunteered to lead a "tourist outreach" group which will aim
to seek out battleground state voters around Times Square,
every few weeks:
"Being in the Meetup is better than sitting around in some
stiff meeting with campaign staffers. I think it’s a
comfortable place to have some real ideas," the multi-media
company writer said.
So if you are accosted by a group of young Kerry campaigners
while you wait in line to buy a ticket for a Broadway show
this summer, it’s all part of the new web-led culture that is
transforming the face of political campaigning in America.
June 5, 2004, BBC News