] The press that didn't understand what the campaign was,
] now sees itself qualified to judge if its a success or
] not. Broadcast politics has failed us miserably. No
] debate about the Patriot Act. DMCA isn't being discussed
] during the mainstream media. Its all on the Internet.

I previously memed two different text versions of this, both of which had various gaps. Here is the actual audio. Stream it. This is 46 minutes of incredible stuff. Furthermore, this site has tons of other very good Etech talks archived. If you find something particularly notable please meme it.

I want to clearly explain what this talk is about. Trippi is a dull public speaker. However, his content is worth his monotone. This isn't about Dean. This isn't really about the democratic party. Obviously the democrats have a problem, in that the Republicans do a much better job a actually mobilizing grass roots support, and Trippi discusses that. Obviously Trippi is a democrat first and a dean supporter as well. However, and Trippi makes this clear, this is about who the political constituency is.

In working with EFGA in the mid nineties I dealt directly with the political system first hand, and I learned one thing primarily. Politics is about power. Unless you can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the issue you are concerned with is of clear strategic importance to the viable operation of the country, or has unquestionable implications for established Constitutional law, you win or loose based on how powerful you are.

When I say power I mean real power. People usually operate on the naive belief that things like petitions and protests are effective at changing political decisions. This is wrong. No one cares what you think unless they are trying to keep the matter out of the press. If they don't have an interest in keeping the issue off the media radar, then they only care about your money, or your vote. If you want to influence the situation, you need to provide actual financial or direct voting assistance to a particular politician who will do what you want.

Most people just don't get that. They think the government ought to do what they want simply because this is a democracy and thats how democracy works. Wrong. The government does what you want because it does not have a choice. If you can't put the government in that position, you will not get what you want. That is what democracy is all about. Giving the people the ability to put the government in a position where it cannot operate in a manner contrary to their interests.

This talk is about who actually has the power. This talk is about who the political constituency is. Is the constituency built of the ruling class, that controls the party system and funds the campaigns, or is the constituency built of the actual people. Do we really have democratic institutions?

My wording their sounds conspiratorial. Its not. Listen to the talk. There are particular people who select candidates and put them in office. They are a subset of the society. They have particular interests. They are not always the richest people, but they are the people who understand how to make the political system work for them, and they are the gatekeepers who control access and actually mobilize large numbers of voters. Trippi explains this in clear, financial detail, and furthermore, he clearly explains that the Democratic party is far worse about this then the Republican party.

That is what this is about. and the reality of this is important regardless of what side of the isle you identify with. (In fact, I would go further to say that identifying with a side is also part of the problem, but then I'll loose most of you.)

Politics is about power. If you are in the position to influence who wins or looses an election, you have power. Right now that power is in a small collection of hands, and it is centered around the broadcast news media, and who can afford access to the broadcast news media, along with a handful of well organized grass roots organizations with widespread membership, such as the NRA, the Christian Coalition, and the NAACP.

Most Americans are not in control of the broadcast media and they are not properly represented by single issue organizations. They are disenfranchised. You are disenfranchised. But the internet is changing that, by creating a technological platform that can be used to mobilize large numbers of people but which cannot be controlled by particular interest groups or gatekeepers. That is what this talk is about. Its about a revolutionary change in who actually has power in the political system.

Joe Trippi (Dean's Campaign Manager) at Etech