Scott Smigler's BlogFounder of Exclusive Concepts and Conversions On Demand

I just finished reading Joe Trippi’s, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” There are a number of things I should be doing on this fine Sunday morning, but I feel compelled to catalog my thoughts having read the book cover to cover yesterday.

This is not so much of a “review” of the book; it is more like a reflection. Here is a brief overview, but if you want to know more about the book – read it!

Joe Trippi was Howard Dean’s campaign manager in the 2004 Presidential election. Trippi has been involved in elections since his college days, working 110+ hours weeks at times to “get his guy in office.” These long hours were typically for the Presidential elections. And since Trippi tends to go for the underdog, these were quite challenging hours.

In his book, Trippi talks about giving the election back to the people. Actually, it’s more like… recognizing that the election BELONGS to the people. He talks about the detriment caused by television commercials, and its 30-second attack ads that inspire Americans to think in 30-second quips, rather than engaging viewers and asking them to think for themselves. Television, at its core, is a “push” medium. He contrasts that with the Internet, which is, at its core, a “pull” medium. One medium creates demand by telling you what you want (TV), the other satisfies demand (Internet).

Trippi demonstrated the power of the Internet when he linked up to MeetUp.com from Dean’s website early in the campaign, and watched as 600,000 people used the MeetUp website to get together offline… and to organize in order to promote Dean locally, share ideas, and clean rivers. That tool, combined with the overall concept of an “open source” campaign that was transparent, and enhanced by the people on a constant basis (helped by blogs, transparent fundraising goals, and e-mail) propelled Dean further than he should have gone… to the point that he was the front-runner for the Democratic nomination.

The genius of Trippi’s management of Howard Dean’s campaign was that he quickly realized that the campaign was riding on top of a powerful bull whose will would not be denied. If the Dean campaign tried to reign in that bull and steer it for its own tactical objectives… ostensibly censoring, or at the very least, controlling its will and objectives, the bull would have tossed the Dean campaign off its back and would have continued on, taking its funds, and its activism with it .

When I was in high school I saw Howard Dean on TV. I thought to things: 1) This man is special, because, as it seemed to me, he would stare down the barrel of a gun before compromising his principles, and 2) It’s sad that a man like this could NEVER be President.

I was lamenting the current status of our society.

Whether you are a democrat or republican, you should be able to respect another man or woman, even if he or she holds views that differ from yours. I can say that I respected Howard Dean as I watched him on TV in high school, and the fact that this man was so close to winning the Presidency, a man with too much integrity and character to EVER have the chance to be President (at least these days)… is utterly amazing!

What took place in Howard Dean’s bid for his party’s nomination is more than a phenomenon. It’s more than an anomaly in politics that future campaigns will learn from in order to raise more money, and foster more supporters in future elections. What took place was a demonstration of something much bigger than that. It proved that people could be inspired to take action. That they would flood in to the good fight. To fight for what they believed in or felt passionate about… to fight to change the world, whether or not they have a chance to win this battle or not.

It demonstrated that if you build it, they will come. And they will come in exponentially growing numbers.

Trippi argues that these lessons are not merely lessons to be embraced by Presidential campaigners, but by everybody… everybody who serves a constituency composed of individuals who share a common cause. He argued that Ford Motors should use the principles of online, Internet communities to allow its customers to work together and build the car they want to buy. The thinking? Who will help you build the more economically viable car… a focus group that represents your customers, or your actual customers!

Trippi argues that institutions, regardless of whether they are political in nature, or corporate in nature… must recognize that change is inevitable, and if you fail to recognize that the people have the power, thanks to the Internet which helps them organize, you will be swept away in their wrath.

This is demonstrated by Dean’s campaign, which is only one of many examples that show how powerful online communities are, and their power will only increase with time. Again… it is simply amazing that Howard Dean got as far as he did… he had no right being so close to victory, and but for people… the minority of people… who allowed themselves to believe in a candidate who SEEMED to have integrity, simply because he had integrity… who allowed themselves to resist the powerful force of cynicism that crushes idealism in so many, Dean would not have gotten so far. Trippi invited the people to the Dean campaign… they accepted the invitation, and were the first ones to the party, and the last ones to leave. They brought the food and drink, and the cleaned up once the party was over. The Dean campaign provided the location… and they did the rest.

That Dean did as well as he did proves the following:

1) There are millions of people in this country who actually do care, who do have a hunger for knowledge, who are open-minded, who are willing to fight for what’s right, who want to change the world.
2) The right candidate, with the use of the Internet, can harness these people that are used to being ignored, who have a hunger inside them to do something positive. These people are the real minority… the thoughtful few with the ability of inspiring their neighbors, and the desire to do so if only someone would listen.

If we build it, they will come. That is what Joe Trippi proved.

Trippi, like it or not, YOU are the pioneer of this movement. You didn’t create it… it is the people’s. But you are one of the first who not only “got it,” but who “applied it.” Who saw it work in the real world.

Where do we go from here?