The couple that started Move On.org the changed the entire way that grassroots political organizing and, most importantly, fundraising is done in this country. Joan Blades and Wes Boyd, were instrumental in creating a platform that, according to Federal Election Commission filings, was able to raise more money (and consciousness) in a shorter amount of time than anyone has ever done before.
I consider MoveOn to be a more genuine grassroots effort, unlike many of the “grassroots” front organizations that conjure the illusion of a campaign and opinion mobilization where none in fact exists. MoveOn uses e-mail as its main conduit for communicating with members. It communicates primarily through a variation on a chain letter. Almost every e-mail MoveOn sends encourages recipients to forward it on to others who share an interest in the topic. This is how they build their membership and it provides a foundation of trust among the recruited. The MoveOn website also contains an area called the "Action Forum", which functions as an electronic discussion group. On the Action Forum, members vote on submissions and the highest ranked issues rise to the top, thereby establishing MoveOn’s priorities. Any member can propose priorities and strategies to which others can respond, and the most-supported ideas rise to the top. That means ceding control over much of the content to motivated online participants, producing interactivity that adds grassroots credibility.
MoveOn's fundraising success can not be understated. Their strategy reflects a successful adaptation to changes in federal election laws. Under the terms of the McCain/Feingold election finance reform legislation, which went into effect in 2002, political parties were allowed to raise larger amounts of "hard money" contributions, but were forbidden from raising "soft money" — a change that tended to favor Republicans, who have historically been more successful than Democrats at raising hard money. As a result, individuals who sought to influence the 2004 election gave money to non-party organizations like MoveOn, which are still able to engage in political advertising using soft money under section 527 of U.S. tax code. MoveOn was perhaps most successful at adapting to this new era of issue and candidate campaign financing, as they succefully solicited soft money from millions of members to push issues and candidates supported by genuine grassroots efforts. MoveOn’s unsurpassed ability to adapt to this new campaign climate and bring governance to the average citizen makes the co-founders of MoveOn.org, Joan Blades and Wes Boyd, deserving in my opinion of the Manship Prize for Exemplary Use of the Internet in Political Communication, to honor these political entrepreneurs who utilized the Internet in creative and groundbreaking ways that enhances communication among candidates, campaigns and the public.
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The couple that started Move On.org the changed the entire way that grassroots political organizing and, most importantly, fundraising is done in this country. Joan Blades and Wes Boyd, were instrumental in creating a platform that, according to Federal Election Commission filings, was able to raise more money (and consciousness) in a shorter amount of time than anyone has ever done before.
I consider MoveOn to be a more genuine grassroots effort, unlike many of the “grassroots” front organizations that conjure the illusion of a campaign and opinion mobilization where none in fact exists. MoveOn uses e-mail as its main conduit for communicating with members. It communicates primarily through a variation on a chain letter. Almost every e-mail MoveOn sends encourages recipients to forward it on to others who share an interest in the topic. This is how they build their membership and it provides a foundation of trust among the recruited. The MoveOn website also contains an area called the "Action Forum", which functions as an electronic discussion group. On the Action Forum, members vote on submissions and the highest ranked issues rise to the top, thereby establishing MoveOn’s priorities. Any member can propose priorities and strategies to which others can respond, and the most-supported ideas rise to the top. That means ceding control over much of the content to motivated online participants, producing interactivity that adds grassroots credibility.
MoveOn's fundraising success can not be understated. Their strategy reflects a successful adaptation to changes in federal election laws. Under the terms of the McCain/Feingold election finance reform legislation, which went into effect in 2002, political parties were allowed to raise larger amounts of "hard money" contributions, but were forbidden from raising "soft money" — a change that tended to favor Republicans, who have historically been more successful than Democrats at raising hard money. As a result, individuals who sought to influence the 2004 election gave money to non-party organizations like MoveOn, which are still able to engage in political advertising using soft money under section 527 of U.S. tax code. MoveOn was perhaps most successful at adapting to this new era of issue and candidate campaign financing, as they succefully solicited soft money from millions of members to push issues and candidates supported by genuine grassroots efforts. MoveOn’s unsurpassed ability to adapt to this new campaign climate and bring governance to the average citizen makes the co-founders of MoveOn.org, Joan Blades and Wes Boyd, deserving in my opinion of the Manship Prize for Exemplary Use of the Internet in Political Communication, to honor these political entrepreneurs who utilized the Internet in creative and groundbreaking ways that enhances communication among candidates, campaigns and the public.
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