久久亚洲国产成人影院-久久亚洲国产的中文-久久亚洲国产高清-久久亚洲国产精品-亚洲图片偷拍自拍-亚洲图色视频

  Home>News Center>World
         
 

Internet gives rise to people-driven political movements
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-25 09:41

FORT MYERS, Florida (AP) _ Frustrated by government and empowered by technology, Americans are filling needs and fighting causes through grass-roots organizations they built themselves _ some sophisticated, others quaintly ad hoc.

This is the era of people-driven politics.

From a homemaker-turned-kingmaker in Pittsburgh to dog owners in New York to a "gym rat" here in southwest Florida, people are using the Internet to do what politicians can't _ or won't _ do.

This is their story, but it's also an American story because ordinary folks are doing the extraordinary to find people with similar interests, organize them and create causes and connections.

"People are just beginning to realize how much power they have," said Chris Kofinis, a Democratic consultant who specializes in grass-roots organizing via the Internet.

"At a time when we are craving community and meaning in our lives, people are using these technologies to find others with the same complaints and organize them," he said. "They don't have to just sit in a coffee shop and gripe about politics. They can change politics."

Mary Shull changed her life, if not politics.

A lonely and frustrated liberal, the stay-at-home mother of two joined the liberal online group MoveOn.org in 2004. Working from home, the Pittsburgh woman helped round up votes for presidential candidate John Kerry and other Democrats. On Election Day, Kerry prevailed in Pennsylvania, but failed to unseat President George W. Bush.

"I was upset with Kerry's loss, but what really devastated me was the loss of that sense of empowerment in my life, this sense of engagement, that I got with MoveOn," she said.

Shull, 31, was brimming with ideas for liberal causes, but MoveOn had virtually shut down after the election and the Democratic Party was catatonic. So she took matters in her own hands, e-mailing the 1,500 contacts she had made through MoveOn and asking if they wanted to keep busy.

Their first meeting drew 85 people. They got involved in local races, and Shull tended to her e-mail list _ each name coded with the person's pet issue.

"This wasn't about a huge agenda. This was people gathering together and working with each other on things that interested them," she said. "It was just a way for people to connect with each other."

Politicians took notice. When former Rep. Joe Hoeffel decided he might want to run for lieutenant governor, he called Shull and asked for her support.

"Ten years ago, somebody like Mary would be as interested as she is in politics, but her circle of influence would not have extended beyond her home or block or even voting precinct," said Hoeffel, a Democrat who gave up his House seat in 2004 for an unsuccessful Senate bid.

"Now, she's got 1,500 other self-motivated and influential people at her fingertips, and carries as much clout as half the people I've been calling."

MoveOn, founded in 1997 to fend off President Bill Clinton's impeachment, raised $60 million (euro51 million) for liberal causes in 2004. The group put its organizing muscle behind Cindy Sheehan last summer and helped make the "Peace Mom" whose son was killed in Iraq a symbol of the anti-war movement.

Political activist Tom Hayden believes that the anti-war movement in the 1960s, which he helped organize, could have gained steam sooner had the Internet existed.

"Movements happen so much faster today," he said.

And they come in all shapes and sizes.



Egypt's opposition leader sentenced to five years in jail
US to reduce troops size in Iraq early next year
Rebels kill 8 policemen in ambush in Peru
 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

China to abolish age-old agricultural tax

 

   
 

China helps Russia tackle chemical slick

 

   
 

Criminal law amended for gender balance

 

   
 

Bus runs into freezing river, 27 missing

 

   
 

China: No interference in HK affairs

 

   
 

Newly-built church marks Beijing's Xmas eve

 

   
  Tsunami survivors mark first anniversary
   
  23 confirmed dead in Azerbaijan air crash
   
  North Korea calls on Japan for progress in weekend talks
   
  Saddam's Iraqi lawyer echoes abuse charges
   
  Cuba's Castro says Bush 'very much a fool'
   
  New York Times: NSA spying broader than Bush admitted
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产日韩欧美在线观看不卡 | 国产精品久久久久久久毛片 | 87精品福利视频在线观看 | 国产99久久精品 | 一区二区国产精品 | 国产精品免费一区二区区 | 狠狠色综合久久丁香婷婷 | 亚洲免费网站在线观看 | 九九色视频在线观看 | 久久高清免费视频 | 成人欧美一级毛片免费观看 | 国产三级a| 亚洲影院手机版777点击进入影院 | 国产成人高清精品免费5388密 | 特级aa毛片在线播放 | 韩国一级理黄论片 | 欧美另类亚洲一区二区 | 久久精品操 | 亚洲成人自拍网 | 男女性生活网站 | 国内自拍第五一页 | 国产在线手机视频 | 亚洲精品一区二区三区在 | 久久精品久久精品久久精品 | 欧美视频一区在线 | 精品欧美日韩一区二区三区 | 国产精品免费一区二区区 | 国产一区二区日韩欧美在线 | 国产一区二区三区免费播放 | 久久99精品视频 | 久久手机在线视频 | 欧美一区二区三区在线 | 亚洲精品综合一二三区在线 | 成人精品一区二区久久久 | 99久久久国产精品免费播放器 | 久草中文视频 | 久久凹凸 | 日韩亚洲欧美综合一区二区三区 | 成年人免费黄色 | 手机看片自拍自自拍日韩免费 | 久久精品国产99国产精品亚洲 |