It's been making the rounds: Sean Tevis is a net geek, running to replace a Republican in Kansas State Legislature. What caught my eye was his xkcd-styled request for donations. After making the rounds on BoingBoing and Reddit, I think he's going to hit his goal and more. I was glad to kick him $10, partially because the amusement value is so high. But if I were running for State Legislature, I wish I could come up with a plea for donations half that cool.
The thing that really strikes me is - this guy is speaking my language. Everything from xkcd, to Rickrolls, to "downmodding" the politician, the liger, to the "THIS IS THE INTERNET!" is, if I can get past a bit of cynical skepticism, one of the first times I really felt like someone like me was running for office.
And it made me realize - even among progressives, there are really still very, very few politicians who grew up in a connected world. Even I didn't quite, although I was paying $3/hour to connect to compuserve when I was 8 years old, on my 100/300 baud modem. (I did data entry for my father to afford it, which is probably why I can type 120 wpm today without any training).
There's a strange feeling of hope I get from this. There's a realization that the world is changing, and the character of our nation is changing, and it can't come soon enough or fast enough for so many issues. And so we work hard to push it forward. But then I realize - it won't be long before we have a bunch of people who have a much better grasp of how technology is affecting the world in the digital age who are running for office. People who understand the dangers of IP law controlled by corporate flunkies; people who understand the need for an open Internet. We have a lot of reason to be hopeful: just look at how the political slant by age. Time is on our side. But it isn't the wedge issues that get me excited; it's things like intellectual property reform that get ignored in a partisan environment.
I hope Sean Tevis does well; it was certainly the most entertaining plea for a donation I've seen, and oddly enough, one of the most inspiring.