Elephants on the Web

The Hotline's On Call notes that a growing dominance of College Republicans on the popular (and potentially infamous) Facebook networking site is due in no small part to the Missouri College Republicans.

These posting pachyderms hold title to the largest college political group on the network with 2,966 members. Outgoing Mo College Republican head Justin Smith rounded up the herd by scouring the wilds of the Facebook world (for confirmation of the pitfalls of mixing digital cameras and online networks of college students merely Google "Facebook" and "Wonkette").

Beginning in the run-up to the 2004 election, groups like the self-proclaimed "Deaniacs" seemed to stand alone in harnessing the potential of the internet for political organizing. Former presidential candidate Howard Dean's tech guru Joe Trippi was deluged with interviews and hailed as "visionary".

Other groups such as MoveOn.org and blogs like DailyKos helped bolster the new communities. The new-wave organizing didn't carry Kerry, but it contributed to the Democrats turnout.

Closer to home, Fired Up! Missouri has done similar work for Missouri Democrats.

Much of the vaunted Republican machine has been focused on GOTV in the 30+ demographic using more traditional conduits, but the younger tech-oriented generation are showing they have the chops to organize themselves as well. Groups like RedState.org and Little Green Footballs are making some headway in establishing their own conservative online communities.

The overall efforts to challenge the Democrats presence, outreach and organizing on the web has been generally tepid. The rather rigid mold that has enforced the Republican majority in the past decade may not have adopted as quickly to the "new media", but they know a good product when they see one.

Yet by the time the next cycle begins to ramp up, the Democrats' online strategists may find themselves looking over their shoulder.