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In
the news
Brack named Internet innovator
MARCH
2004 -- A new book on the Internet in politics names Charleston
businessman Andy Brack as an Internet pioneer for his use
of the medium in the 2000 congressional election cycle.
In Politics
Moves Online, George Washington University Prof. Michael
Cornfield said Brack's use of an online campaign diary in
2000 served as a precursor to the blogs that grew into mainstream
grassroots tools in the 2004 presidential race.
"[His]
digital road diary served as the precursor to the official
campaign blog. The blog added the capability of outside
comments and blog-to-blog links. Those touched by the candidate,
and kept in touch with by the campaign, could now touch
back -- and outward to other people -- all in the same software
program, and all in the same folksy manner."
Brack
noted his online campaign diary, which chronicled a 240-mile
walk along the South Carolina coast in his quest to win a
congressional seat, was a common-sense, practical way of using
the Internet to communicate and motivate voters.
"By
making the Internet a backbone of the campaign, we were able
to energize people and get them to help in all sorts of new
ways," Brack said. "At the time, it just made common
sense to use the power of the Internet to organize. Looking
back, it's gratifying to see the campaign's use of the Internet
blazed a trail for future campaigns."
More
from the book:
"Brack
made a multidimensional, down-home play for his candidicay.
He recruited supporters, built team spirit and established
himself as a trustworthy, knowledgeable, and winsome fellow.
He could not have done this without the Internet."
More
info: Politics Moves Online: Campaigning and the Internet
is a Century
Foundation Report by Prof. Michael Cornfield, March 2004.
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