Niche groups use Web to gain ear of '08 contenders

NICHE GROUPS USE WEB TO GAIN EAR OF '08 CONTENDERS
[SOURCE: The Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: Ariel Sabar]
The Internet-driven political activism that helped bankroll former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's insurgent 2004 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination is back, in ways that are starting to transcend fundraising. Groups of voters tethered by little more than a website are drawing campaigns' attention for their numbers and political savvy, not just their dollars. "The size of an organization's e-mail list will get more attention now than it would have two or four years ago," says Andrew Rasiej, cofounder of TechPresident.com, a website tracking the intersection of presidential campaigns and the Web. A seat at a big-ticket fundraiser or the ability to raise large sums of campaign cash is under no threat of extinction as the quickest route to face time with a major presidential candidate. But voters uniting under the banner of a website are getting a level of notice ­ even if still relatively brief ­ unseen in earlier election cycles.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0529/p01s01-uspo.html