Interestingly, the nefarious looking folks with flip cameras at the back of your next campaign event or town hall meeting might not be all that . . . nefarious.

Case in point: Chris Shank is a Maryland State Delegate from Washington County (he’s also an alum of our Graduate School of Political Management and a professor in program). When the Herald-Mail editorial page slammed Delegate Shank on May 12, supporters didn’t just write in to the editor supporting Shank – one of them also posted video.

Rex Harrill, a resident of Haggerstown, took his digicam to a speaking appearance held by Delegate Shank the next day, uploaded six minutes of video onto YouTube, and included a link in his letter. In the video, Delegate Shank discusses his role as a public servant. The video isn’t perfect, but it feels patriotic and authentic in ways that a typical political message can no longer convey.

I asked Delegate Shank about the impact this one little video made on his role as a state legislator:

I was fascinated by the integration of old-media and new-media. For years, we’ve been relying on letters to the editor to provide campaign messaging in down-ballot races. Here was something new, however, that provided a new media tool to provide un-filtered, no cost, messaging directly to my constituents. It also bypassed the negative messaging that the newspaper was hitting me with. The message from my constituent that was so refreshing was –”see for yourself.”

I also asked him about the rather – ahem – small viewership. When I tuned in this week, the video only had 50 views. Can you really change the district with 50 years?

The fact that only 51 people viewed it really wasn’t that big of a deal, I have a pretty small district. The whole episode has provided me with the desire to utilize the technology far more to connect with my constituents. I’ve always run as a grassroots guy and I see how this could really help facilitate that connection pretty easily.

Couple this response with my interview with Ric Cantrell from Utah a few weeks ago, and I can see that we are beginning to build a portfolio on how online communications is taking off on a state level.

It was hard not to miss the headline “Grass Roots Roared and Immigration Plan Collapsed” on the cover of Sunday’s New York Times.

Julia Preston’s article profiles a group called Grassfire.org, which gathered 700,000 signatures opposing the immigration bill last week. The site asks users to take an action, from downloading the petition to calling the White House. Or you can check out their Where’s the Fence? ad.

At the same, talk radio shows like “The John & Ken Show” in California asked listeners to take action – in the case, place an opposition call to Senator Feinstein (The Times reports that she received 30,000 of them).  

Preston writes,

Organizers described a new Internet-linked national constituency that emerged among Republicans, much like the one that Democrats pioneered during the presidential candidacy in 2004 of Howard Dean.

Note the reference to the 2004 Dean campaign. It might be a slightly exhausted reference, but we’re still talking about it almost four years later because it remains a shining example of what we want (real, powerful online community) and what we don’t want (to lose).

We’re also still debating the question of “which political party uses the Internet the best.” Last week’s events appear to illustrate that a just having a polarizing issue isn’t enough.  You still have to have the right issue at the right time through the right messager on the right medium with the right call to action and in the right language.

That’s a lot of things to get right, and we suspect that other groups on either side of the immigration debate are using technology in very interesting ways.  If you’ve got a story to tell about how you used mobile technology, the Internet, radio, etc. to influence the immigration debate, email us at ipdi@ipdi.org.

By the way, we’ve looked at the intersection between talk radio and online activism in the past. Check out Chuck DeFeo’s chpater, titled “Call in Now!” in our Person-to-Person-to-Person publication.

Ok Dallas, we know you’re not the only city on YouTube. Cody Ryan York points out that  six mayoral candidates in Nashville, Tennessee have been using web video.

David Briley’s campaign has his speaking appearances covered in a series of 33 YouTube videos, like this one on Green Leadership. On YouTube, BrileyForMayor had six subscribers and 146 channel views.

Bob Clement has an “idea factory” generating 30 ideas in 30 days to improve Nashville and documenting those ideas in web video. In idea 30, Clement asks the public to submit their ideas on his website. On YouTube, Clement for Mayor had eight subscribers and 526 channel views when we checked it out this morning.

Karl Dean was followed by a videographer while filing his petition to get on the ballot. The campaign’s seven YouTube videos range from issue-themed pieces to speaking appearances. We couldn’t find a YouTube channel just for Dean, but Hester2007’s collection of Dean videos had 4 subscribers and 54 channel views.

Buck Dozier’s online multimedia program includes a nine minute biographical piece about Dozier and four issue-themed pieces on public safety, small business, seniors, and learning. The DozierForMayor channel on YouTube had six subscribers and 79 views.

Howard Gentry’s multimedia kit includes a six minute look at education, as well as a series of events and speaking appearances. The HowardGentry YouTube channel had five subscribers and 112 views.

Kenneth Eaton’s website doesn’t have a multimedia section, but the Kennetheaton YouTube Channel included five videos, mostly of speaking appearances, like this one of an Antioch Forum. The channel had four subscribers and 20 channel views.

Got any tips on local races? Send them to ipdi@ipdi.org.

Check out the websites of Dallas mayoral candidates Tom Leppert and Ed Oakley and their two approaches to web video.

Tom Leppert – Video, video, and more video. Check out the issues section of the website for a series of video clips of Leppert discussing each issue with a living room set full of constituents. Leppert’s YouTube channel attracted 1 subscriber and 38 viewers when we checked it out a few minutes ago.

Ed Oakley – One video (Oakley’s TV spot) on YouTube with 974 views. Oakley’s YouTube channel had zero subscribers and 22 views when we checked it out, but the video itself had about 974 views.

The election is June 16^th.

Seen something on local races in your area? We like local. Email tips to ipdi@ipdi.org.

Update: We just saw this attack site, The Truth About Tom, paid for by the Ed Oakley for Mayor campaign.

Can state governments become incubators for innovation?

That’s the question Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley posed at the Center for American Progress this week.

The occasion: the release of a new report, Governing by the Numbers: The Promise of Data-Driven Policymaking in the Information Age by Daniel Esty and Reece Rushing.

The big idea is that local and state governments can build an information infrastructure that allows them to collect, analyze, and disseminate data – data that can be used to help government set quantitative, outcome-focused goals, measure performance, and compare results. Advances in information technology make all of this cheap and accessible.

Esty and Rushing pull together examples of how data-driven decision has work in places like Charlotte, North Carolina and Washington State, and in the corporate world. You can access a PDF of the publication here.

We spoke Rushing about implementation a data-driven decision making program and pulled it into a podcast.

Rushing lays out a three-point implementation plan:

1. Build information infrastructure to harness new technology.
2. Focus on results and compare among peers.
3. Develop systems to ensure data drives decision.

Want more details? Listen to the podcast. And check out the publication.

In addition to the panels on social networking and online adverstising, we are pleased to announce these breakout panel discussions:

• We Won! Now What? Voter Relationship Management on and off the Campaign Trail - If you think constituent communications is a hassle, then think again. Our experts will walk through the principles and applications that you’ll need from the day you announce your campaign through your term in office. Sponsored by the Adfero Group, this panel will feature Adefro’s managing director, Jeff Mascott, and will be moderated by IPDI’s Julie Germany.

• The Last Kingmakers: Local Blogs - With the power of national political bloggers now a given, local bloggers are set to drive races all the way from dog-catcher to presidential. We’ll take an in-depth look at the demographics and role of the local blogs and see what impact they will have in 2008. Henry Copeland from Blogads (the panel’s sponsor) will be part of the discussion.

• Online with a Shoestring Budget - ElectionMall Technologies will sponsor our breakout panel on the basics of a cheap and effective web campaign.

• Let’s Go Local! - Local media experts Centro will bring us a discussion on how to “go local” with your next marketing and outreach effort. Consider this your local outreach toolbox that will teach your everything from advertising to finding local online hang-outs. Centro’s founder and president Shawn Riegsecker will be part of the discussion, which will be moderated my iMedia’s Mark Naples.

Stay tuned for details about more panel discussions for POLC 2007. For more details and to reserve your seat now, visit the POLC website: http://polc.ipdi.org.

[And special thanks to EvolutionStrategies and Democracy in Action for their POLC shout-outs]