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Is the Internet rewriting the rules of political campaigning?
At the intersection of the Internet and politics, presidential
candidate Ron Paul's supporters are rewriting the rules of
political campaigns. NOW explores how the Texas congressman and his
supporters are using the Internet to attract voters - and massive
contributions - from across the political spectrum. Supporters
include anti-war progressives, anti-tax libertarians, civil
libertarians and even some white supremacists. The common theme is
anger over where the country is heading.
"Ron Paul's campaign is so extraordinary to many of us because even
while it was getting massive online traffic, you'd be lucky to get
a whisper of his campaign in a lot of media outlets," says Zephyr
Teachout, Howard Dean's former online organizer and now a Duke
University professor.
That anonymity changed when, on November 5, 2007, Paul's campaign
raised a record-breaking $4.2 million - even though many of his
followers have little political activism experience and were acting
online without the help of Paul's official campaign.
"I think the message should be the only thing that counts, but you
can't get the message out without the money," Paul tells NOW.
Can viral energy and passion in the virtual world translate into
real world votes?
See a special sneak preview of this show at
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/350
. Starting Friday, December 14, 2007, NOW Online also will feature
an extended web-exclusive interview with Congressman Paul.