Podcasting and Technology
Yesterday, I was on Jennifer Napier-Pearce's InsideUtah podcast. My portion starts at the 8:18 mark. We talked about my background, the need for change, responsiveness to Utah issues, bloat of the federal government, and -- not surprisingly on a podcast -- technology.
Technology makes my campaign possible by levelling the competitive playing field. What used to take hundreds-of-thousands or millions of dollars (contacting people and getting out the message) now takes some volunteers and technology (and some money). The democratizing potential of this is nothing short of revolutionary. While campaign finance reform largely has been culling the pool of potential candidates down to incumbents (who receive the bulk of PAC and special interest money) and multimillionaires (who can self-finance), technology makes it so that a guy with a couple thousand in the bank and 4 kids in a 1,400 square foot home thinks he has a shot at the United States Senate. What a time!
One commentor called me Don Quixote. I prefer to think of my campaign as a frisky little start-up with something that people really want. What do people want? Energy, focus, and responsiveness. We don't want the past approach of expensive billboards, autodialiers, soundbites, and "just shut up and pay your taxes." We want a future where government works for us and communicates with us. We want to be heard and we want real dialogue.
I would guess every leader believes he or she governs in the best time ever. I don't know how the raw potential of representative democracy could be better than it is now. When I first took office, I was one of the few legislators to have a website. It was cool for the time, but it was very static and people could not interact on it. Now, just 5 years later, I can let constituents know what I'm thinking on an issue and receive their input. They can introduce me to new concepts, criticize my reasoning, and work on moving me to a new position, and my constituents can watch it all. I can talk about my race for the Senate, and people can react. They can even call me Don Quixote, and I will hear them. Doesn't that just beat the heck out of talking to a billboard or autodialer? Press 5, if you disagree.
Technology makes my campaign possible by levelling the competitive playing field. What used to take hundreds-of-thousands or millions of dollars (contacting people and getting out the message) now takes some volunteers and technology (and some money). The democratizing potential of this is nothing short of revolutionary. While campaign finance reform largely has been culling the pool of potential candidates down to incumbents (who receive the bulk of PAC and special interest money) and multimillionaires (who can self-finance), technology makes it so that a guy with a couple thousand in the bank and 4 kids in a 1,400 square foot home thinks he has a shot at the United States Senate. What a time!
One commentor called me Don Quixote. I prefer to think of my campaign as a frisky little start-up with something that people really want. What do people want? Energy, focus, and responsiveness. We don't want the past approach of expensive billboards, autodialiers, soundbites, and "just shut up and pay your taxes." We want a future where government works for us and communicates with us. We want to be heard and we want real dialogue.
I would guess every leader believes he or she governs in the best time ever. I don't know how the raw potential of representative democracy could be better than it is now. When I first took office, I was one of the few legislators to have a website. It was cool for the time, but it was very static and people could not interact on it. Now, just 5 years later, I can let constituents know what I'm thinking on an issue and receive their input. They can introduce me to new concepts, criticize my reasoning, and work on moving me to a new position, and my constituents can watch it all. I can talk about my race for the Senate, and people can react. They can even call me Don Quixote, and I will hear them. Doesn't that just beat the heck out of talking to a billboard or autodialer? Press 5, if you disagree.
posted by steve u. at 7/30/2005
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2 Comments:
Right on Steve.
You are one of the few elected officials that I have seen that gets it in regards to blogs. For a cheap (free), easy, down and dirty quick jump into your own podcasting radio station just go here and follow the instructions........
http://www.audioblogger.com
Just follow the instructions and set up your own free statewide radio broadcasting station right here at your blog.
Just call your blog on the telephone, say whatever you want to say, press 1 to post, and bingo, whatever you just said shows up on your blog as an audioblog post for all of your readers to hear!
I'll look forward to an audioblog report from you right away.
Thank you very much.
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