How the DNC Rules New Media

This afternoon, I received an email from Organizing for America (namely Natalie Foster, the OFA Director of New Media). OFA wants testers for a new tool they are going to deploy. The tool is meant for phone-banking from your own home without the need for a call sheet. As described from the College Democrats of America website

The tool detects where you are, automatically brings up contacts in your area, and takes you straight to a script. And you don't even have to create a new username -- you can sign in using either your Facebook or my.barackobama.com accounts

In other words, if you're like me and hate canvassing, but don't mind phone-banking and have any sort of free time, you can help ensure a Democratic victory this November. I tested the program and it is very easy-to-use and straight forward. You bring up the website, a person information is listed (name, address, age, sex, and phone number); a script is provided; you call the person and record the results with the online form (this is all on a single web page). And you can do as many or as few calls as you wish.

However, if any of you have been following any of the other improvements OFA and the DNC have been developing, you know that this tool is the tip of the iceberg.

Currently, both the DNC and OFA have iPhone and iPad apps. They allow for you to read recent blog posts, get discussion points, find events, and contact members of Congress.

On the OFA app, you have an option to "Go Canvass." The app will determine your location and provide you with a listing of residences in the neighborhood to persuade to vote for the Democratic candidates. Once you get to the house, you can bring up your canvassing script. Instructions are provided on what questions to ask and when to stop. Once you're done, you reply back with the result and that gets sent back to OFA. As an incentive, with the more people you contact, the more awards you receive (like FourSquare badges).

Of course, none of the phonebanking or canvassing really matter if the people aren't registered to vote. So, the Technology Department at the Democratic National Committee created a website widget called "Raise Your Vote." Simply, it is an online form that you can add to any website. Users open up the form, enter their information, and a PDF which the user has to print and mail in is generated. We currently have it on our website (http://www.fordham.edu/democrats), if you choose the "Register to Vote" link on the left navigation.

Finally, as proof that the Democratic Party is the Party of open government and politics, they open sourced much of their codes on Open.Democrats.org. Of course, they do not have their core codes listed (that would lead to users finding possible security lapses), but the source codes for the peripheral programs and widgets are freely available for anyone to download.

I don't know any other way to put it, but the work by the DNC's new media and technology teams is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

On The Night Before (in PA)

Editor's note: the author of this post has been a long-time Specter supporter

Tomorrow is the Democratic Primary race between Congressman Joe Sestak and Sen. Arlen Specter. For those of you that do not know, Sestak is a retired Navy Vice Admiral and Specter was a long-time Republican senator and used to be Senate Judiciary Committee (the ones who approve Supreme Court nominees to go to the Senate floor for a vote) Chair.

Rep. Sestak has been attacking Sen. Specter for switching parties in order to keep his job and saying how he (Sestak) has been a life-long Democrat, like in this add:



However, the clip is cut short:



For as long as I knew of Senator Specter, I have been a fan of his. I find myself to be an independent thinker and I have the ability to discern wolves in sheep's clothing. I knew for a long time that Senator Arlen Specter was a Democrat at heart.



I was in the audience when this video was taken (it was cut due to time purposes). The senator explained his reason for being a RINO (Republican In Name Only) and the story he gave. He grew up as the son of European Jews that escaped after the Nazis came to power. This was also during the midst of the Great Depression. The Senator's parents were both Democrats due to support of FDR's New Deal. Specter was raised in that same sort of mindset. Later in life, he decided to be a local district attorney with the promise that he would be a strong prosecutor. However, the local Democratic Party did not want a bulldog prosecutor to run with them. So, the Republicans took him with open arms. The rest was history.

Until, he voted for the Stimulus Package. He explained that being the son of poor immigrants, he saw the economic downturn the United States could have faced and knew how essential the Stimulus Package was to ensure there would never be another Great Depression.

This blog post has no real message except for that people should not look at a candidate based on party affiliation, but more on the experience, plans, and personal vision the person has for the position. Speaking as a New York City resident D and R are simply characters. If someone looked at Mayor Michael Bloomberg's stances on the issues, one would see that the only difference is merely a letter after his name

SAFRA Press Conference Call

Yesterday, the College Democrats of America (CDA) hosted a Press Conference Call regarding the passing of the health care reform reconciliation bill, more specifically about the provisions regarding the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA). The call was lead by DNC Chairman Governor Tim Kaine and CDA President Katie Naranjo. If you were unable to make the call, you can listen to what was said at http://my.democrats.org/page/-/audio/calls/ConfCall033010.mp3