Link: Pew Internet & American Life Project: Campaign 2004.
"The internet became an essential part of American politics in 2004. Fully 75 million Americans – 37% of the adult population and 61% of online Americans – used the internet to get political news and information, discuss candidates and debate issues in emails, or participate directly in the political process by volunteering or giving contributions to candidates."
A commentary on the internet and politics by Michael Cornfield accompanies this report. The Howard Dean campaign is credited with these five innovations: News-pegged fundraising appeals, Meet-ups, Blogging, Online referenda, and Decentralized decision-making.
The George W. Bush and John Kerry campaigns built upon this, with Bush focusing on grass-roots organizing and mobilization. Kerry focusing on fundraising.
This study confirms some of the observations I made during the 2004 Iowa Caucus. Patrick Ruffini, webmaster of the Bush Cheney '04 blog comments on the study.
