Netroots Rising: How a Citizen Army of Bloggers and Online Activists Is Changing American Politics
Authors Lowell Feld and Nate Wilcox will give first-hand accounts of the burgeoning power of the netroots to determine the outcome of political contests, with a focus on the role of citizen activists in Barack Obama's election, Jim Webb's 2006 Senate victory, and the fall of Tom DeLay.
Lowell Feld is founder and editor of Raising Kaine, the largest progressive blog in Virginia. In 2003, Feld was heavily involved in the Draft Wesley Clark movement, running two grassroots websites — Environmentalists for Clark and Hispanics for Clark. In early 2006, Feld co-founded the Draft James Webb movement, gathering 1,000 signatures and $40,000 in pledges for a Webb candidacy in just a few weeks. In July 2006, Feld joined the Webb for Senate campaign as its netroots coordinator, helping to raise more than $4 million online (out of about $8 million total). In 2008, Feld consulted for the South Dakota Democratic Party and the Judy Feder for Congress campaign. He is co-author of the book, “Netroots Rising: How a Citizen Army of Progressive Bloggers and Online Activists is Changing American Politics.” In addition, Feld has 17+ years of experience in world oil markets as an analyst and team leader with the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Nate Wilcox is an award-winning political consultant with over 10 years of experience at the nexus of traditional political communications and the internet. He has worked on more than 36 campaigns including serving as Online Communications Director for Mark Warner’s Forward Together PAC. In 2004 he ran Richard Morrison’s historic challenge to Tom DeLay which was the first congressional campaign to raise more than $500,000 online and was the first campaign endorsed by DailyKos.com and Democracy for America. Morrison’s unexpectedly stiff challenge to DeLay helped precipitate the downfall of the powerful majority leader in 2005/2006. In the 1990s, Wilcox was the first Director of Internet and New Media for Public Strategies, Inc. the powerhouse public affairs firm from Texas where he worked worked for former Texas Governor Ann Richards, future Bush advisors Matthew Dowd and Mark McKinnon, as well as Clinton Staffers Paul Begala and Jeff Eller. He is currently a Senior Advisor at Jerome Armstrong’s WebStrong Group where he advises clients such as Mark Warner and John Kerry.
