The Howard Dean campaign has a weblog, and it looks like they’re doing a good job of using the web to build a network of support.
They’re using Meetup to organize a local network.
The blog and Meetup are both soliciting money for the campaign.
The blog is written by supporters, not by Dean himself, but they seem to have access to the candidate. They’re doing a Slashdot-like interview, gathering questions from readers to report to Dean.
A recent post shows that the blog-campaigners get the point. They’re using the web to help organize a national grass roots network and national funding.
A big reason why McCain lost in 2000, besides SC, was that he lacked a nationwide campaign structure that might have benefited from his NH win. The combination of the very crowded early primary schedule and the massive nationwide influx of volunteers (see Meetup.com) supporting Dean have made it possible for the Dean campaign to build a national campaign much earlier.
Hi – the campaign has an official blog at http://deancalltoaction.blogspot.com/ and several other bloggers (myself included) are maintaining blogs focused on the campaign. I think the Meetup numbers (a 10x registration in favor of Dean over Kerry, the nearest candidate) are indicative of the campaign’s net-savvy and net support.