Opposition and web 2.0

Girl from the South has an interesting post on the Republican Party and Web 2.0 - that is, why aren't they down with it?

She opines (and I'm paraphrasing quite a bit) that it's partly about whose in power in the party and the youth vote and all that and a growing divide between the old crusty party apparatchiks and the youthful foot soldiers for whom life without the Net is unimaginable.

Well, partly. But she herself points out that Howard Dean neatly got it. He didn't just use it, he worked it. As a member of the Democratic Party (but not a Dean supporter), I was a pretty amazed but just how fired up his supporters were and many remain. Howard Dean's early presidential campaign and new style of leadership were transformational for those folks (and actually for the rest of the party, too - just in a less obvious way). And let's face it, Howard Dean isn't exactly an under-35-er. But he managed to capture the real power of the social internet - where people at a distance collaborate online and people close by actually meet up and get stuff done.

Rather than something inherent in conservative or liberal approaches or the Republican or Democrat parties. I think there's something about opposition.

Here in the UK, the Conservatives are leaps ahead of Labour when it comes to the use of social media. Take Conservative Home, for example. It was groundbreaking in the UK. Or 18 Doughty Street (British conservative "web tv"). And these aren't sites that are part of the official Conservative Party - in fact, contributors to these sites can be quite critical of party leaders and party policy. But folks like George Osborne (the Shadow Chancellor) who I saw recently speaking on such matters (and open source government) at least say that they embrace this grass-roots online movement. (And they probably do for now - Osborne is a bit of a Geek, but he also understands the need for buzz).

What do top Labour thinkers do? Well, folks like Matthew Taylor (Labour policy and research guru) criticise blogs and bloggers. The entrenched Left in the UK resist the power of the grassroots, because - well, because they can. And so long as Labour is in power, the entrenched Left can see online activists as nothing but a threat (whether they come from the Left or the Right).

Even when Labour does copy some of the concepts that Conservative activists are using they do so in such a hack-handed way - (e.g. Labour Home - c'mon guys get a new name - and anyway that sounds like a lock-up institution for unwed mothers). Labour isn't going to get with it until they get out of power. Failure and desperation to return to Government is what makes people innovate and strive in a (largely) two-party state.

That isn't to say that the Right hasn't had their day in the US. Think back to the early days massively popular talk radio - before the Internet was in everyone's home. Who dominated there? The Right - and in some instances it was kinda, even like a real conversation. Who still dominates talk radio? The Right - despite efforts like Air America or Nashville's Liberadio.

So how does that play out for GFTS's fears for an unwired Republican party? I'm not sure - maybe like the American left they won't be able to catch on to new media. One thing's for sure - so long as Republicans feel they're in power (in the White House), the current power structure isn't likely to move over to make room for the grass roots geek.

And I can't say that breaks my heart.