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From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...

Tuck your shirts in.  

Howard Dean was the first politician to grasp the power of the Internet as a tool for fund-raising, organizing, and message delivery.  What's disappointing is how few Democratic politicians have followed Dean's lead.  Too many of them use the Internet as a place to post press releases and photos.  To be truly effective, we believe Democrats have to adapt to the technology rather than trying to use print-era tactics online.  At their simplest, Democrats' websites should follow the style of the truly successful progressive websites, like Daily Kos, Buzzflash, and Talking Points Memo.  Each of these sites delivers news, but all of them do it with attitude.  Kos, especially, has created a vibrant, strong sense of community.  Democratic officeholders and candidates should use their websites to receive information, not merely disseminate it.  That is, they should be asking folks to share their opinions, their stories, their perspectives on the issues of the day.  A thriving blog is a must.  The key to it is a daily post that's actually written by a politician.  It can't read like a press release drafted by an uptight twenty-two-year-old straight out of the Ivy league.  It must be informal, folksy, and accessible.  Democrats are the party of the people.  They should be much more aggressive about using a medium that so dramatically empowers people.

---From Take It Back by James Carville and Paul Begala

We're curious...who do you think has the best website and/or blog on our side of the fence?  Personally, I like Lieberman's.  His Chutes and Ladders Tip of the Day is pure gold.

Thanks to the power of beans, Cheers and Jeers starts extra vibrantly and strongly in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!]  RIGHTNOW!  [Gong!!]

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