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The Internet and the political process 371A TURNING POINT? THE HOWARD DEANPRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN IN 2003The 2004 US presidential race provides a striking example of how willingnessto cede control can transform a campaign. Howard Dean’s run for theDemocratic nomination illustrates the interplay between political organizations,political messages, technologies of freedom, and an electorate that wantsto increase its autonomy. Dean, one of nine candidates in the Fall of 2003,made the Internet an integral part of his strategy, running an online campaignthat surpassed the others in online fund-raising, grassroots mobilization, andinteractivity (Drinkard and Lawrence, 2003; Getlin, 2003; Giegerich, 2003;Kessler, 2003a; Scheiber, 2003; Schulte, 2003). Dean’s campaign uniquelyallowed full autonomy for supporters to engage with the campaign in theirown ways, particularly through the web log (blog) and a range of participationoptions.The effectiveness of this campaign was not simply an outcome of using theInternet: it grew out of a strategic convergence of political issues, politicalInternet users, and the Internet itself. Specifically, Dean’s campaign message,advocating universal health care and opposition to the Iraq war, resonated withthe liberal and left-wing electorate, who tend to be both disillusioned withmainstream politics and Internet savvy. The point here is that a segment of theelectorate, who happen to be active Internet users, found Dean’s messageappealing; and, because the campaign was open to letting them participate innew ways, it found a loyal following that could communicate and organizeitself using the Internet as a tool.Dean’s Internet success prompted other candidates to beef up their onlinecampaigns, although, by November 2003, they had been unable to achievesimilar results (Bolton, 2003). The most established candidate, Joe Lieberman,who used the Internet in his 2000 campaign (Mosquera, 2000), was running afairly traditional campaign. Interactivity and autonomy were not strongcomponents of his online strategy, which emphasized information provision,although there were some unique applications, such as a fund-raising challenge,capitalizing on the symbolic value of the number 18 to a segment of theelectorate (CNN, 2003; Kessler, 2003b). The other front-running candidate(Wesley Clark) decided to “capitalize on the Internet” partly because his lateentry made it difficult for him to catch up using traditional methods(Associated Press, 2003). The Clark campaign used online mobilization andfund-raising tools similar to the Dean campaign but did not show the samecommitment to using the Internet intensively (Clough, 2003; Scheiber, 2003).Dean’s campaign, in contrast, capitalized on the three strengths of Internetcommunication – information dissemination, mobilization, and interactivity –not just separately but in combination, and in ways that enhanced autonomous