Netroots Rising: How a Citizen Army of Bloggers and Online Activists Is Changing American Politics

The 2006 elections will be remembered as the year when the center of power in American politics shifted from traditional “top-down” central broadcasters to new “bottom-up” decentralized activists in the blogosphere and netroots. The authors give firsthand accounts of the burgeoning power of the netroots to determine the outcome of political contests, most notably as when the national balance of power was tipped by Jim Webb’s “rag-tag army” of bloggers and netroots activists who provoked and exposed the gaffe that proved fatal to George Allen’s senatorial bid. Veteran online campaigners Feld and Wilcox recount and analyze many other political campaigns in which netroots activism was decisive or instructive, including:* U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s downfall. *Tim Kaine’s election as Virginia govenor. *Howard Dean’s and Wes Clark’s presidential campaigns. *Ned Lamont’s primary victory over Joe Lieberman. The authors conclude with an assessment of the prospects for Netroots 2.0: Will the netroots hordes “crash the party” or will they work out an uneasy cohabitation with the traditional party power elite? The foreword is written by Markos (“Kos”) Moulitsas Zuniga, founding editor of the world’s biggest political blog, Daily Kos.
Customer Review: Important Social History of a New Political Phenonemon
I suppose you really could start Netroots Rising and put it down. I’m also told there are people who can eat just one potato chip.

The book reads almost like a novel, with several narrative lines that switch back and forth between the points of view of both authors, Nate Wilcox and Lowell Feld. It has a rising story line with twist and turns, obstacles, and complications. And the varying plotlines converge at the end.

The book opens with the state of the political sphere in 2002, where the advantage went to the Republicans. Most fundraising in both parties consisted of large donors writing checks for at least $1,000 or $2,000 a pop. But the GOP had the lock on donations from small donors thanks to their mastery of direct mail and earlier computer technology. They built better databases than the Democrats and led the way with grassroots GOTV field efforts. Their ground game was cleaning the Democrats’ clocks in every election cycle.

In addition, the earliest, most successful websites and blogs were dominated by Republicans like Drudge Report, Free Republic and Instapundit. They duplicated the success of Republicans, who had long dominated the airwaves on cable TV and radio, with talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh.

Netroots Rising opens from Nate Wilcox’s point of view with the situation in Texas and recounts the struggle of the progressive grassroots and the new netroots activists in local races there. It covers the antics of Tom DeLay and his newly formed Texans for a Republican Majority PAC (TRMPAC). It briefly describes Republican dirty tricks in other states, such as those that defeated Vietnam veteran and triple amputee Max Cleland in Georgia, and describes DeLay’s successful attempt to force an unprecedented and barely legal mid decade redistricting scheme in the Texas legislature. The tome describes in fascinating detail the various attempts to unseat DeLay and the role of a growing grassroots activist core, which did an admirable job of challenging him.

The book then segues into the mounting frustration of Lowell Feld, who watched, with increasing dismay as the 2000 election unfolded, followed by 9/11, the invasion of Iraq, and the Democrats’ totally ineffective 2004 election campaign, when John Kerry was Swiftboated into defeat while a core of paid professional consultants and party insiders appeared helpless to counter an aggressive Republican spin machine.

Lowell had earlier enlisted in the Draft Wesley Clark movement, attended meet ups, and gradually got involved in both netroots and grassroots activism. Meanwhile, Wilcox joined Howard Dean’s campaign, one of the earliest to utilize the Internet effectively.

The book goes back and forth between Wilcox in Texas and Feld in Virginia. Of course, it ends with the triumph of Jim Webb’s election, truly one of the glowing success stories of the progressive Netroots in 2006. It gives the behind the scenes account of the famous maccacca incident that led to George Allen’s defeat by Webb.

The conflict between the grassroots and netroots activists versus the party insiders and professional staff is a constant theme running through the book. The tome also details the difference in campaign philosophy between the somewhat chaotic and exuberant bottom up style of the activists versus the top down, button down professional discipline of the professionals and insiders. A traditionalist would think that the top down model should be the more successful one because of its discipline and focus. But that wasn’t borne out by the results. Democrats kept losing elections under the helm of the party professionals. So, grassroots activists, especially those newly enlisted from the netroots, felt justified in questioning the old top down model.

The book does not end on a triumphant note, however, content to rest on the laurels of Webb’s and Jon Tester’s victories in the Senate. Instead, I sensed a growing frustration on the part of authors Feld and Wilcox at the fact that netroots activists are still not exactly greeted with open arms by party insiders. There is dissatisfaction that, despite all the hard work of netroots and grassroots activists, they haven’t been embraced as part of the Democratic Party’s mainstream but are still outsiders looking in. So, Netroots Rising ends with a question: What is the future of the Netroots?

The answer to that question will have to await future election cycles. But hopefully Feld and Wilcox will be there to document the results of the netroots continuing efforts. Meanwhile, this is a fascinating social history of an important new movement in politics. If you want to understand modern electoral politics in the U.S, you owe it to yourself to read this book

Customer Review: Fascinating window into new media politics–penned by two of the best
For people involved in the tsunami of online political activism over the past five years (a.k.a. ‘The Netroots’), Lowell Feld and Nate Wilcox are household names, and reading through their fascinating new book, *Netroots Rising*, reveals exactly why that is. Part social history, part activist manual, part political biography, *Netroots Rising* is–at its core–a first-hand description of the 2006 Virginia Senate race, wherein the Democratic Party candidate Jim Webb out hustled and out smarted the incumbent Republican George Allen, thereby giving delivering a new Democratic majority in the Senate. If ever there was an election tale that could make even the most disengaged reader jump out of their chair and shout, the 2006 Virginia Senate race was it. *Netroots Rising* is a perfect case study for college courses and field trainers alike. But what makes the book so rewarding to read, however, is more than just the tale from the trail. It is the masterful way Feld and Wilcox put their experiences in Virginia in the big-picture context of a shifting reality in American electoral politics. Insiders will relish the chance to read Feld and Wilcox’ version of ‘L’Affaire Macaca’–wherein George Allen insulted a Webb field staffer with an obscure, but well-documented, racial slur. Newcomers to the netroots will devour the brilliant genealogy of online politics that Feld and Wilcox lay out starting from the presidential bid of Gov. Howard Dean. In the end, Feld and Wilcox walk their reader from an election culture of flipping pancakes and soulless media buys purchased by shadowy consultants, to a brave new world of open-source campaigning, tech-savvy staffers, and engaged citizen journalists who take on the most powerful politicians with little more than a hand-held video camera, a laptop computer, and a fearless turn-of-phrase. Want to know how U.S. politics changed over the past five years, who changed it, and how you can join the fun? Stop listening to the pundit-rubes who litter the 24/7 network and cable shows and pick up a copy of *Netroots Rising*. And while you’re at it: buy a few copies for your friends and family, too. “BUY NOW”

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