Long Tail Politics: How the niche is revolutionizing politics
In 2004, Presidential candidates tasked their largest contributors to tap in to their networks to raise enormous sums of money through large dollar contributions. In the 2008 cycle, candidates have improved the model and are focusing on small-dollar donors who can contribute smaller amounts in monthly contributions. What impact has this Revolution of People-Powered Politics had on the 2008 election cycle?
Chair: David All - President, The David All Group
David All is the president of The David All Group, LLC, co-founder of Slatecard, founder of TechRepublican, and an active contributor to techPresident and The Open House Project.
All most recently served as the communications director for Congressman Jack Kingston (R-GA), the vice-chairman of the House Republican Conference and chairman of the Republican’s special messaging operation, Theme Team. During the 2006 campaign cycle, he was the communications director for Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Bouchard.
During his work for Kingston and Bouchard, All effectively raised their profile and interacted with their constituencies by blending “old media” techniques with modern media strategies. In doing so, he helped position Kingston as the “King” of the blogosphere on Capitol Hill and the “Number One Blogging Congressman” by conservative bloggers, his colleagues and news outlets. Kingston has since won the 2007 Golden Dot People’s Choice Award for Online Politician of the Year, which is sponsored by the Institute for Politics, Democracy, & the Internet at George Washington University.
All continues to be widely recognized by media outlets, conservative bloggers, and his colleagues for his work to push-and-pull the Republican Party to the modern world.
Prior to joining Kingston, All served his native state as the deputy communications director and speechwriter for Ohio Senator George Voinovich, managed a targeted Congressional campaign in 2002, and worked as an aide at the Ohio House of Representatives. He lives in Washington, DC.
Matt Salisbury - Candidate, U.S. House of Representatives
Tradition and service run deep with Matt Salisbury.
When Matt announced he will seek the opportunity to serve Idaho in
the United States House of Representatives, it was simply another step
in an already distinguished tradition of service.
Matt Salisbury was born in Augsburg, West Germany while his father
served in a Pershing Mobile Missile Defense unit during Viet Nam. One
ancestor fought in the Napoleonic wars and another was General William
Tecumseh Sherman’s favorite Scout during the Civil War. Matt was an
active duty Army Airborne Ranger and a disabled Iraq War veteran having
recently served America in the Idaho National Guard based in Boise.
Service means more than just his military career to Matt. Community,
church and family have an equal importance. Matt has served on the
coaching staff of both the Kuna and Nampa High School Boys varsity
soccer programs. Back from Iraq, Matt continued working with youth,
starting the first Nampa branch of the Upward Soccer League — a
national interdenominational youth sports program — and continues to be
active in youth soccer programs. Service also means speaking up. Matt’s
comments about the historic 2005 Iraqi election were lauded by
President Bush when he was in Nampa, Idaho in August of 2005.
Matt’s roots run deep in the families and values of Idaho. He’s a
4th generation Idahoan educated in the Idaho Public School system. Some
say Matt’s tenacity is learned from his grandmother, Darlyne Markus,
who has been delivering the Idaho Press Tribune for 49 years and
counting. The honor of public service may be instilled from his
grandfather, Bruce Markus, who served as Canyon County Assessor over
thirty years ago. His faith has been inspired by his late grandfather,
Phil Salisbury, an educator and a tailgunner in WWII who also served on
the Board of Regents at Northwest Nazarene College and was a life-long
member of The Gideons International. It comes down to compassion, hard
work and service.
Matt got his feet wet in politics putting up Ronald Reagan yard
signs in Nampa in 1980. He jumped at the opportunity to work on the
George H.W. Bush Presidential Campaign in the summer of 1988. His work
resulted in an invitation to work at and attend the Inauguration in
January of 1989. He has been active in Canyon County Republican
politics since 1997, having managed and volunteered on a number of
county and state campaigns
Matt Salisbury has a reputation as a hard worker who makes it look
easy. He earned his way through Northwest Nazarene College (now NNU)
starting a roofing business while serving as team captain for the NNU
soccer team. Firsthand, Matt knows the issues confronting every small
business owner. He has held management positions in the technology,
heavy-duty automotive and import industries. Today, Matt is a Senior
Sales Engineer within the Electrical Harness Division of Phillips
Industries. Matt’s workaday experiences reflect those of many Idahoans.
Matt married the former Chandra Youngblood in 1993. They share the
joy of three wonderful children Claire-8, Christian-4, and Madeline-3.
Matt and Chandra have lived in Nampa for most of their lives, with a
brief departure while on active duty
Cyrus Krohn - Director of eCampaign Division, Republican National Committee
Cyrus Krohn is director of the Republican National Committee's eCampaign Division. He joined the RNC following two years at Yahoo! as director of content production and election strategy. Prior to Yahoo!, Krohn spent 10 years at Microsoft. He was Slate.com's first employee and then publisher while the webzine was owned by Microsoft. Krohn also managed the political advertising efforts for MSN.com, the Microsoft Network, and was executive producer at MSN Video. Krohn worked in CNN's Washington, D.C. bureau producing Larry King Live and Crossfire and served as an intern for Vice President Dan Quayle.
Clay Johnson - Founding Partner, Blue State Digital
Clay Johnson is a founding partner at Blue State Digital and is responsible for business development at Blue State Digital. He has many years of experience building online communities and has played an integral role at the forefront of Internet technology, including starting and directing three of his own companies.
As a college student, Clay founded KnowPost.com, the first Internet-based knowledge exchange, which connected people who had questions to people who had answers. Clay's work at KnowPost included building a community of over 100,000 people who participated in this information exchange. Clay's interest in knowledge management also led him to work at Ask Jeeves as their lead syndication engineer.
Before starting Blue State Digital, Clay was the lead national software engineer behind the online grassroots organizing technology for Gov. Howard Dean's presidential campaign. He built numerous software programs, including one that enabled over 300,000 people to write letters and make 50,000 phone calls to undecided voters.
Clay has been featured in the New York Times Magazine, TIME, Entrepreneur, Chronicle for Higher Education and USA Today; he has also been interviewed on CNN. He is an advisor for the New Progressive Coalition and is a founder of Georgia for Democracy.
Zack Exley, Strategic Consultant for ThoughtWorks, Inc.
Zack Exley is a strategic consultant with ThoughtWorks, Inc., where he advises organizations on communications, organizing and technology. He is also a co-founder and president of the New Organizing Institute. In 2005, he directed the online campaign for the British Labor Party's re-election, and was Director of Online Organizing and Communications at Kerry-Edwards 2004. Before that, he served as Organizing Director at MoveOn.org, and was an adviser to the early Dean campaign. He writes on politics for the Huffington Post.
Zack spent the 90's working as a union organizer. He entered Internet politics via his political parody website GWBush.com, which earned him the nickname "Garbage Man" from President Bush, as well as other early experiments in online organizing. He blogs at the Huffington Post and ZackExley.com.
Zack speaks on progressive strategy as well as online organizing, advocacy and fundraising. He has appeared as a commentator on Hannity & Colmes, Hardball with Chris Mathews, Scarborough Country, All Things Considered, the Diane Rehm Show, BBC News Hour and others. He has been profiled by the Wall Street Journal, New York Observer, the Los Angeles Times, CNN Presents, Wired News, and other publications.
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