I put it together initially, for the purpose of demonstrating to the campaign that they should be doing something like this.  The "aha" moment was when we realized that neither Kerry nor any other candidate would use the Internet for political organizing, and Dean could.  I've got a long and convoluted political theory about how progressive candidates and the Internet need each other, and how the synergy between them will shortly change the political landscape, which isn't very relevant to your research, but is the rationale behind using web-based tools for Dean.
 

>> Have you done anything like this before, i.e. web work/political activity?

I was the Technology Director for RobertReich.org, the campaign web site for a gubernatorial candidate in Massachusetts.  Mike Weissman was my second-in-command.  I've done volunteer work for progressive campaigns for 20 years, but the Reich campaign was my first full-time involvement.  I've done web work since just after the Internet was invented, doing political work on the Internet most seriously with www.Issues2000.org.
 

>> When did the site go up?

February 2003.
 

>> Have you made any significant changes to the format/design of the site since it was launched?

Yes, that was Jamie's role. He did a revamp to make it look a little more professional. A second revamp is underway.
 

>> What sort of feedback have you received (can you cite any specific examples or general classes of messages you get)?

The most common feedback is "sign me up".  Second most common is "list my website."  Third is "How come I haven't heard anything from the campaign?"  The third reason is why we're doing this -- the campaign has no capacity to respond to volunteers, so we do.
 

>> Have you heard anything from the campaign?

Yes, we've visited campaign HQ a couple of times, and are in regular contact with them, but we don't "coordinate" with them.
 

>> How frequently do you/your colleagues update the site?

As often as possible, but not nearly enough.  We have a "news coordinator" who posts news stories daily. I try to update links as people write in.  I keep an e-mail list, to which we send periodic newsletters (once every 2 or 3 weeks). The e-mail list is by far the better means of communication than the website.
 

>> What have you learned from running DeanVolunteers.org?

That we need a PAC, because there are many things that the campaign can't legally do, and which we can't afford.

Democracy in Action asked Mr. Gordon if he could clarify and expand upon his response to the first question:

>> You write that you "realized that neither Kerry nor any other candidate would use the Internet for political organizing, and Dean could."  How did you come to realize that?
 

I wrote to the Kerry campaign first, since it's a foregone conclusion that all good Dems in Massachusetts would support Kerry.  That idea made me ill, but being a good Dem I met with a Kerry staffer anyway.  After an appropriate
wait for a Kerry offer, I sent my resume to Dean.  Mike considered working for Kerry too but never liked the idea of that either.  The Dean campaign is remarkably disorganized, so we never got a reply.  I pushed for a meeting through several contacts of Dean supporters in Mass, and eventually got one.  It was by then very apparent that the campaign couldn't handle the volume of incoming volunteers, so I decided to take that on.  I'd have preferred to do it in a paid capacity, but that's unlikely it seems.

Prior to our first visit to HQ, we attended a Dean Meetup.  That was in early February, and had 8 attendees.  5 of them were college students looking for authorization to do something.  I provided it, with the web site.  Jamie got
recruited at the second Dean meetup in March.
 

>> ...the other sites I've been looking at, the creators state outright that they were greatly impressed and inspired by the candidate, and so forth.  You didn't express any such sentiments.

I'm too cynical to get impressed.  Most of the other volunteers would express that sort of sentiment.  They're young still.
 

>> Is this a theoretical exercise for you?  If you had gotten some encouraging signs from Kerry would this be a KerryVolunteers.org site?

Kerry's ideology and campaign style would not have lent themselves to KerryVolunteers.org -- that's my convoluted political theory.  Kerry would have needed something different -- a better web site, for sure, but not a volunteer network.

Not theoretical -- I intend to found a PAC and get lots of money and be recognized as the force behind Dean's surge in the polls.  (But only when I'm in a grandiose mood).  More realistically, I hope to demonstrate the power of
the Internet for progressives and make it the standard for the future.
 
 

>> ...on Issues 2000, what did you do for that site?  Do you know if anyone is doing anything similar this cycle?

...I founded Issues2000.org and sold to Speakout.com in 1999, then went NPO in 2001, and now we're struggling to get going for 2004.  Our name will be OnTheIssues.org.  Same concept as DeanVolunteers.org -- open Internet helps
progressives, progressives help the political Internet, that synergy changes the world.

Try vote-smart.org and dnet.org for our competition.  If you're interested I'll explain why we're superior to both, but they also help progressives (although I don't think they realize it).
 

>> Can you give me a couple of example of things you would be doing if you had additional funds?

For Dean: sponsoring tables at each state Dem convention, to hand out Dean lit; making large quantities of copies of anti-war lit (fading now); gay pride lit; numerous other lit for distribution at appropriate events; mailing buttons and bumper stickers to all who ask; hiring competent web site staff instead of relying on volunteers.

For Issues2000: A full site overhaul -- I've got a very disorganized 18,000 pages.  Need serious money for this project, not small donations.  Need several 1000 hours of editing time -- semi-paid in 2000, need the same now.