How to win the Presidency on the Internet

Wednesday, February 23, 2000 by Dave Winer.

A loop-close  

On Friday, I wrote: "If there's an effective voter insurgency in either party, there's a chance that the US can overcome the multi-generation legacy of meaningless elections.

"If Gore and Bush coast into their conventions, there's no chance, in my humble opinion, of there being choice. So vote for McCain, and after he wins, let's ask him about free speech on the Internet."

No endorsement  

Denise Caruso, columnist at the New York Times, asked if I was endorsing McCain. No. I wanted McCain to stay in the race so there would be a chance for choice.

Meaningless elections  

"Multi-generation legacy of meaningless elections." Think about it.

The last time we had a choce, imho, was Nixon vs McGovern in 1972. That was the last time I worked for a presidential campaign.

In 2000, this year, I'd like to work for one.

McCain is still alive  

After his win in Michigan yesterday, McCain is still alive, in fact his campaign is on the verge of front-runner status. The March 7 primaries in 15 states including California, New York and Ohio will probably determine the nominee. So this is a very fluid time in US politics. If there ever was a time to be active, this is it.

I have a very simple statement the candidate I support must agree to. I could support McCain or Bradley. I'd have a hard time looking Gore or Bush in the eye and not feel dirty, but yes, if they got the Internet religion, I could support them too. I'm basically a one-issue man.

Ask not  

An image from the past. A young president with a big reach.

"Ask not what the Internet can do for you, ask what you can do for the Internet."

In 1961 it was our country that you didn't ask.

He took us to the moon.

Now it's the Internet.

Think big!

How to win  

So here's a very rough mockup (done by a writer, not a graphics guy) of an ad McCain could run.

http://static.userland.com/misc/snImages/roughMcCainAd.gif

It would also work well for Bradley. ;->

What is the Internet?  

The Internet is a bunch of wires, routers, servers, protocols, engineers, software, writers, designers, artists and users. But the Internet is also a philosophy. A spirit of open-ness, a world-wide honor system. (Now that non-techies know about Denial-of-Service attacks, isn't it amazing that the Internet runs at all?)

Knock knock  

The Internet really works, and no leader in Washington or Davos has really connected with this, become one of us. Not Clinton, and certainly not Gore. Now the opportunity is open to any and all. We can teach you how to reach the bright spot in Internet users.

http://davenet.userland.com/2000/02/19/findASharedVision

Dave Winer  

PS: This morning CNN became a My.UserLand channel. They're the first part of the AOL Time-Warner media empire to do the open syndication thing. This is very good. Let the links flow!