The House adjourned this morning without considering energy legislation. Nancy Pelosi and company were quick to make an exit, turning off the lights and the microphones in their wake. But some House Republicans stayed on the floor. At 3:30pm, they're still on the floor staging what's being called an "uprising" and a "revolt."

The lights are off. The microphones are off. CSpan isn't taping it. Nancy Pelosi "sent Capitol Police to clear the press gallery [and] lock the doors" according to news on RedState, but "Reps. Bunt, Shadegg, and Hoekstra have been taking turns remaining with media in the gallery in order to keep it open."

This revolution is not being televised. But thanks to online communication we know about it. It's on blogs like RedState, it's on the Twitter feeds of Reps. Culberson, Boehner, and Hoekstra. And now it's spreading as one person brings it up to another. I just mentioned it to a non-political friend in Texas. Her response? "Wow. This is like old school politics. This is amazing!"

This revolution is not being televised, but who the hell cares? To borrow from Rep. Culberson's tweet this morning: "Here is a powerful use of social media - when they turn off the mike we can still communicate."

(H/T to David for capturing this video.)

I agree 100% with Trippi's assessment of the GOP candidates and competition on the net. (Notice how candid he is about his guy Edwards being behind Obama, so this is not just spin.) There is no underestimating the world of pain we will be in if we don't get the small donor and email list size thing right, and get it right by February 5th so that our nominee can go toe to toe with Hillary (1 million email addresses), Obama (258K+ donors), or Edwards (Joe Trippi's guy).

What are the GOP campaigns doing about this? Do they even view this as a problem, or are they too bogged down in winning short term tactical victories with high dollar donors and padding cash-on-hand figures? Do they care more about the next quarter, or building a sustainable 50-state, 3,141 county, $400 million-plus movement to take on Hillary or whomever is strong enough to beat her in the primary? Where is the synergy between short-term tactics and long-term strategy?

Last Wednesday (June 27), Fred Thompson filed this blog post at the "Fred File", his official campaign blog. (Note: the letters FDT are Thompson's initials, Fred Dalton Thompson.)

Besides attracting a fair number of comments on each post, Thompson is also using podcasts to 1) reach out to voters and 2) communicate his message, and in this case, a response, directly out to the country.

Fred's Latest Podcast

From the sounds of the audio, it was recorded over the phone, perhaps using Skype or the likes. In any event, yet another tool in FDT's portfolio of Internet tools. With such a great radio voice, and a direct style, these podcasts are sure to please--let's hope the campaign keeps them up.

Last week Patrick Ruffini wrote about benefits of using the web to mobilize grassroots and reach opinion leaders and early adopters. Young Voter Strategies at George Washington University recently released a new study that shows e-campaigns aren't just added bonuses, but crucial to winning tight elections.

Something changed in 2004 and again in 2006. Suddenly, voters aged 18-29 started turning up at the polls. Millenials, those born between 1977 and 1997, cast 4.3 million more votes in 2004 than 2000 with 49% of the age group voting. In 2006, Millenials increased their votes by 2 million from the 2002 mid-term election. If this trend continues, our youngest voters will be the deciding factor in many elections.

The bad news is that Millenials largely favor Democrats. In 2006, 60% of 18-29 year-olds voters cast ballots for Democratic candidates. The picture gets a little more scary when factoring in research that voting is habit forming, and once an individual supports a particular party for three elections, they are likely to form a life-long loyalty to that party. However, not all is bleak for the Republicans.

According to YVS,

Today's young Republicans are very loyal Republicans--but they need to be targeted and turned out. ...young Republicans are more loyal and more intensely Republican than older Republicans. 60% believe the country is headed in the right direction. President Bush has a favorable rating of 76%, and the Republican Party has a favorable rating of 85%.

Young supporters of the Republican Party are out there and excited about being a Republican, but they won't show up on their own. They need to be asked, and the best way to reach them isn't through more paid advertising.

E-campaigns are crucial for reaching these eager, young voters. If asked, not only will they turn up at the polls, but they'll volunteer and work long hours to help out. The key here is reaching out to them on their terms. Millenials are more tech and media savvy than any other generation. Broadcast campaigns won't reach them. If tight races mean turning out every potential vote, campaigns must invest resources in the web.

This requires creating a strategy that goes beyond candidate blogs. Social networking is the hub that Millenials' lives revolve around. A Harvard Institute of Politics study in 2006 found that 97% of all college students logged onto Facebook at least once a month and that population is quickly entering the workforce. According to Facebook numbers, average users log onto the site at least 10-12 times a day.

While Facebook may seem like the silver bullet of the youth vote, it takes personal interaction to reach these voters. The tactics aren't expensive but are labor intensive. The key to recruiting new Republicans is developing one-on-one relationships. Facebook works to recruit, identify and gather these supporters. It's up to the campaigns to invest the manpower to reach them.

YVS sums it up pretty well:

For Republicans, the past two elections should spur them to devote resources to stemming the flow of today's youth to the Democratic Party. Not all young adults vote Democratic, and plenty of those who did in 2006 are not yet wed to the party. In 2008 and beyond, Republicans should develop a strategy to win back many of those young voters and build their party for the future.

That's what Justin Miller of Real Clear Politics seeks to help answer (following up on his similar report on the Democrats).

Justin and I went back-and-forth via email and I urged him to follow-up with his post because, for the first time, the Republicans were doing some neat things on YouTube with regard to quick debate response.

A joint project that both Keith and I are involved in, MajorityAP.com, has been named this week's "Hot Site" by PoliticsOnline.

MajorityAP.com - Republicans Strike Back Via the Web

HotSite:

The Majority Accountability Project (MAP) is gaining recognition as an independent, web-based news and research service keeping a watchful eye over the Democratic House Majority. Majorityap.com was launched in April and is emerging as a prominent online source for the GOP. Founders Michael Brady and Michael Giuliani created the MAP with a vision to inform and update the public on pledges made by Democrats when they took over the house in January. The site attempts to counterbalance politics on a web vastly dominated by progressive media.

Yesterday, Senator Craig Thomas passed away from leukemia at age 74. He was diagnosed with the disease last year, while running for re-election. Senator Thomas was a former member of the House of Rep's, Wyoming legislature and a Marine.

The Hill outlines Wyoming's unique process for filling the seat:

Thomas will be replaced by a Republican. But the process is unusual.

The state’s governor, Democrat Dave Freudenthal, is formally notified of the vacancy, he will contact the state central committee of the outgoing incumbent’s party — in Thomas’s case, the Republicans.

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Posted over at Politico.com:

"A digital community linking Capitol Hill to town halls across the country has blossomed recently, thanks in large part to a creator who brims with more techie enthusiasm than any high school math club president.

Later on in the story it is mentioned that:

"Every Monday Harper blasts out an e-mail to users with featured items and unscientific polls on legislation. Those who care about a bill can set a "watch" that alerts them when the section about the bill is being edited."

It's never a good idea to give away too much, but I'm going to present the basic outlines of a blog strategy for an underfunded challenger (running against an incumbent) over the next few posts. The premise is simple - the gerrymandering of the districts, like in my home state of Missouri, creates landslide elections for House members of over 60%. When you're a challenger, you get no hope of money from the national party if you're not in striking distance, and the internet is pretty much your only hope of leveling the playing field.

Your Blog Strategy will consist of three blogs, started 18 months before the election, with specific purposes for each.

Crossposted from Eye on 08.

Patrick Ruffini wrote an interesting post about, what he called, different modes of activism. I thought that he was arguing that the online left was unfocused, and that it was hard to convert to GOTV, which was where the rubber really meets the road. I responded and argued that there was a real disconnect on the left between the "movement," which the netroots are pushing, and the party, which is much more static.