Some interesting back-and-forth in the blogosphere today after Matt Stoller at MyDD spotted this item by the online campaign director of Bush-Cheney ’04, about how the party killed the notion of allowing supporters to write on its blog when it became clear they wouldn’t stay on message.
“The plans for the launch of GOP.com last spring included two things that have never made it to the light of day – a viral fundraising component, and a ‘MyGOP’ functionality that would have let activists build a MySpace-like site on GOP.com. Practical reality set in, however, and killed both. The trouble with the MyGOP concept was the conflict it created with incredibly tight internal controls on message.
“When we were forced to pull a Social Security Testimonials tool off the site because someone dared to use the word ‘private’ instead of the more acceptable ‘personal’ accounts, it became apparent that our internal tolerance for self-expression would not allow that sort of openness. Arguments that restrictions of that nature are ridiculous and hamper our ability to be effective online were met with stony silence. In the end, MyGOP went nowhere.”
