1) Joe Trippi, Howard Dean's former campaign manager, argues that the over $40 million raised by Dean's campaign was used to test online tools and platforms to engage citizens in politics rather than to elect Dean as president. 2) Trippi believes Dean's campaign pioneered internet-focused campaigning and mobilizing supporters online, opening the door for future campaigns to utilize these strategies. 3) However, others argue that Dean's own missteps and controversies in Iowa caused him to lose internet supporters and momentum, leading to his demise rather than failures of the media or other campaigns.

1. Trippi: Net Politics Here to Stay by Noah Shachtman Wired 2004, February 10

2. “ Forgive the hundreds of thousands of people who gave Howard Dean more than $40 million in contributions last year. They might have thought they were trying to elect a president, but they were wrong, according to Dean's former campaign manager, Joe Trippi. Instead, he said, all that money was used to beta test a new, online revolution in American politics.”

3. "This wasn't about one guy," [Trippi] said. "This is the beginning of the tools, and a platform, to take the country back."

4. Trippi’s reasons for why Dean went down: Rival campaigns Conventional news media that picked apart his campaign Media’s disapproval of Internet fueled campaign activism

5. "Why do they want this movement to fail?" [Trippi] asked. "What's so scary about millions of people becoming involved in democracy?"

6. Trippi’s analysis Dean campaign wasn’t the train wreck the media played it out to be Use of the internet to mobilize and encourage supporters opened the door for future Internet-focused campaigns

7. Success from the Internet The most money ever raised by a Democratic presidential candidate Hundreds of thousands of supporters Increasing willingness on the part of Democrats to speak out against the Bush administration

8. Thanks, Al Al Gore voices support for Dean The media "who, frankly, could never figure out what the Dean campaign was" saw him as a threat Teamed with Dean’s competitors to ruin any chance of nomination

9. Seiger’s opinion: Jonah Seiger with George Washington University's Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet Says Dean brought down his own campaign Controversies wouldn’t let him seal the deal in Iowa

10. Accounts of missteps on Dean’s part traveled quickly, especially to the Internet community When Dean lost the Internet-goers, he lost the core of his supporters

11. “ In the New Hampshire primary and Iowa caucuses, a series of surveys showed, Sen. John Kerry actually beat Howard Dean among those who used the Internet to find out about the presidential candidates.”

12. "The cat is out of the bag," said Scott Heiferman, CEO of Meetup.com. "People have it in their brain that they can organize themselves."

13. Discussion Questions What do you remember most of the Howard Dean campaign in 2004? Did you pay more attention to the Internet or to traditional media during the 2004 election? How do you think that the media is combating popular Internet coverage of campaigns?

14. Discussion continued: Have you or would you attend a campaign party sponsored by a group like Meetup? After exploring candidate’s websites and sponsored sites, which features do you now find beyond the “how to contribute” page? Which features do you find to be most helpful or resourceful when researching candidates?