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At O'Reilly's Digital Democracy Teach-In, Wes Boyd of MoveOn gave the five-year history of the organization, which formed in response to the call for Bill Clinton's impeachment hearings and has evolved into a significant political force. Boyd said that MoveOn wants to be about democracy, but is forced to play an attack-and-defend game because that's the kind of narrative favored by broadcast media. Attack-and-defend breeds cynicism and undermines civic engagement, but it's a form of entertainment, and as such, it sells advertising.
The Internet is a different kind of media environment than broadcast, pluralistic and highly interactive, a potential platform for civil discussion and debate where, says Boyd, "you can win by saying things that are sensible and moderate, not crazy." This is what MoveOn has tried to do.
Boyd says there may be an emerging public mind that is smarter than any of us as individuals, its nature not yet completely clear. "We're all actors in making it happen," he says. He'd like to get people who are not in agreement talking to each other. He'd like to see more empirical work to figure out what's really going on with people.
For the moment MoveOn is working to enourage replication, partnering with other advocacy organizations.
My own thought is that an organization like MoveOn could become a democratic platform (technically, socially) for various kinds of progressive advocacy, a framework in which MoveOn, its partners and engaged citizens can work to stimulate participation in political process.
Brainstorm: what online tools are most effective in catalyzing political action? What political tools would you like to see in the future?
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Attack and defend
I think what he said was that they were trying to avoid it, but that they hadn't been able to avoid it altogether. At least that's the way I recorded it in my notes. If I get a chance I'll listen to the recording to clarify. I think you can't escape it entirely at this point and still be effective in large-scale campaigns, like the presidential race. Whatever the case, MoveOn is clearly hoping to see that culture fade, and Wes is going to do his part to make that happen.
Attack and defend
Jon,
What I took away from Wes Boyd's talk was that they'd had to go to some effort not to get caught in attack and defend, not that they'd been forced into the cycle.