It is my observation that the tech community in the United States likes to think of itself as much more influential than they really are. Tech is a cog in the system but its not the whole system. That’s why I don’t give generally too much credence to causes that petition for a so called TechPresident.

I don’t believe that the internet is going to make or break the winning candidate. I don’t think that user-generated content is going to sway people to change their votes more than what they hear from the candidates themselves. And I don’t think that a MySpace page, or Twitter account configured and managed by a campaign staffer indicates anything in particular.

As someone who loves gadgets and the internet its a nice thought to imagine my special candidate scrolling their iPod Touch for my podcast. Then setting up a wireless network in the Oval Office. And finally updating their Facebook profile and shooting off a quick Twitter before a national security briefing.

The Real techPresident

I do believe that Americans should be encouraged and not hold back on their analysis and opinions on campaign issues that matter to them. And although tech is not an issue that moves me in Presidential politics I do like the effort that the people over at techPresident are putting in. The site is rich. There is a lot of information. They’re building a community there. And they’re using Drupal

So this techPresident effort is obviously something that the founders of the site are committed to. They have proven that by building a site that’s chock full of info and updating it on a regular basis. They even have a sister site called 10 Questions that utilizes YouTube to query candidates and track their responses.

If I had to recommend a starting point for those who are really motivated by tech issues then I would start at the techPresident website.

TechCrunch Tech President Primaries

Yesterday I saw that Neville Hobson pointed folks to the new TechCrunch Tech President Primaries (notice the space between tech and president) with a post titled, “Political influencing just had a major shift.”

Neville is very bullish on the idea that the TechCrunch brand can take tech related issues to the next level in the 2008 election. Neville does a thoughtful analysis but I disagree with his conclusion that TechCrunch and their new political off-shoot “…just changed the game, probably forever.” The following points are the reasons why I disagree with Neville’s conclusion .

1. TechCrunch is very much a ‘johnny come lately’ in the political blogging game - There are many more powerful social political initiatives in the U.S. that have been around since the beginning of the primary process. In addition to techPresident you have MySpace Impact, YouTube Debates, Politico.com and many others that have a strong audience base of people who are very passionate about this campaign. TechCrunch is playing catch up here, most likely as a scheme to boost page views by capitalizing on the hysteria over the 2008 campaign.
2. The tech issues on the TC site don’t move the electorate - U.S. Presidential campaigns are won and lost based on two categories of issues, money and death. Very few people give a damn about H1B visas, the mobile spectrum auction, identity theft, internet taxes or any of the other issues listed there. We’ve got a war in Iraq, impending recession, skyrocketing health care costs just to name a few issues that far outweigh tech issues in the minds of the electorate.
3. The TC audience is not large enough to influence voting results - They have a powerful and widely read blog as blogs go. That’s for sure. But what percentage of the TC constituency have the right to vote in the U.S.? And how many of those people will be moved to vote based on tech issues? If every single one did then you would have about half of one percent of U.S. voters based on the fact that 120 million people voted in the last election.
4. Mainstream media sources still rule when it comes to politics - As much as we like to believe that social media source are major public influencers, that’s really only true with respect to people who regularly consume social media. And there are still many people who rely on sources like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and television news for their daily dose of news and opinion.

These are just a few reasons why I don’t share Neville’s enthusiasm on the news that TechCrunch has become a player in political news.

The Power Lies In The Passion

It has been my experience in social media that power lies in passion. Sites like DailyKos.com, Politico.com, techPresident and others where politics are the central issue, communities are in place and the writers have spent time on the core issues are more likely to be the ones that yield the most influence on the small tech influenced electorate in the United States.