Comments on T N T — The Network Thinker: Networks of Voters

One of the biggest reasons Kerry lost was reliance...

2008-07-20T15:34:00.000-04:00

One of the biggest reasons Kerry lost was reliance on people making $7.50 / hr to knock on doors instead of the friend to friend method.

He can't take all the credit -- it sounds like he ...

2008-07-17T14:09:00.000-04:00

He can't take all the credit -- it sounds like he read this:

Steven J. Rosenstone and John Mark Hansen, Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America (New York: MacMillan Publishing Company, 1993)

They write that social embeddedness determines who participates and when. Leaders mobilize opinion by identifying strategic issues and opportunities, and by propagating that information through their networks. (Incidentally, that's also the model that describes the uproar over the Prophet Muhammad cartoons.) So, temps or out-of-towners are not the best way to reach people.

Conservatives have been savvy about using social n...

2008-07-10T18:11:00.000-04:00

Conservatives have been savvy about using social networks for some time. Consider how they promote political positions and candidates through the social networks of evangelical Christian churches and through NRA clubs. Those organizations are conglomerations of "cells" of like-minded people who share not only religion or gun-ownership, but also lifestyle similarities such as moms-with-kids, motorcycle ownership, middle-aged businessmen, etc. Within the cells, the ties to the religion or NRA goals are strengthened, and also the political positions that are promoted.