Chuck DeVore in Wall Street Journal; My Recommendations for Waging a Viral Campaign

Tweet, Tweet! CMC Alum Chuck DeVore Takes On Sacramento, Twittering All the While

This is really cool! Chuck DeVore in the Wall Street Journal! Here's the mention in full.

Few have internalized that message more than a little-known California assemblyman named Chuck DeVore.

The 46-year-old former aerospace-company executive has already begun contesting the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Barbara Boxer, who faces re-election in 2010, by putting much of his daily routine online.

A Multitasker

He regularly updates his Facebook status on his BlackBerry, which automatically appears on his Twitter account, as well as on the site devoted to getting Republicans on Twitter, called topconservativesontwitter.org. (His 924 followers rank him 389th on that site.)

Mr. DeVore says his campaign, with little funding and facing a well-known incumbent, depends on steadily building word of mouth. He says he has modeled his campaign on that of President Barack Obama, who is often referred to as the first "Internet president."

"Chuck is using his nuclear-powered lawn mower while his faithful dog supervises," he posted Sunday afternoon, referring to the electricity in his neighborhood coming from a nearby nuclear power station. Mr. DeVore supports the use of nuclear energy.

But the constant posting has led to more than idle chatter. His commentary on everything from greenhouse-gas emissions to laws banning cellphone use in cars have led to national television appearances on shows including "Dr. Phil" and "Nova."

He couldn't afford to pay for similar publicity through traditional radio or TV advertising, he says, particularly over such a long campaign.

Raising a Few Bucks

He believes he's the first politician to raise money on Twitter, estimating he received more than $1,600 in 24 hours in early December, with an average donation of close to $20. Much of that effort was led by his first hire, Justin Hart, a former blogger for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. [Charles's note: I followed Justin's work over at MyManMitt. I'm a fan.]

"We don't expect to raise big dollars from this, but we do get street cred and a base to build on," says Mr. Hart, 37, who joined Mr. DeVore after several other tech strategists turned him down.

Mr. DeVore has written an online movie review for a conservative Hollywood Web site to gain name recognition in that traditionally liberal town. He called Tom Cruise's "Valkyrie" a film with "soul and dignity." He first developed his online promotional skills earlier this decade in marketing a novel he co-wrote, called "China Attacks," about an invasion of Taiwan.

A campaign consultant of Mrs. Boxer says the three-term Democratic senator also uses a variety of online tools and has collected more than 300,000 email addresses of supporters. Some well-known Republicans could soon enter the race, including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard Co. boss. But Mr. DeVore thinks his online approach gives him a chance.

"There are still a fair number of Republicans that haven't thought about using these things yet," says Mr. DeVore. "I say to them, 'Look, it won't make a bad candidate good, but you need to start doing this.'"

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To the naysayers who dismiss Facebook, Tweeter, and others, I have but one thing to say to you: You stupid Luddites, get with it! Michael Palmer, who ran new media operations for the McCain campaign, shows me why I have recently been embarrassed to be a Republican. Does it not seem oxymoronic to have someone "run" new media operations? How top down!

Here's what Palmer says.

"If there's someone out there who votes for the candidate who Twitters more, then we need to take away his voter-registration card," says Michael Palmer, who headed the new media operations for the McCain-Palin campaign.

"Our soccer moms might pay their bills online, but they probably won't spend six hours a day on Facebook," says Mr. Palmer, 28.

No, but the next generation of soccer moms just might. And if Mr. Palmer were worth his salt, he would know that some of the fastest growth in Facebook has come from middle aged people. So how do you win my generation? First rule of politics: Never write off votes.

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The next part of my blog post will serve as an open letter to would be U.S. Senator DeVore. I haven't much money to give him, but I can promise that I'll spend my share of tears, blood, and sweat to see he gets elected. Part of that will be me giving him free advice. While I think he's done a good job managing Twitter and Facebook, he's got a ways to go before he takes down Barbara Boxer.

If you haven't friended DeVore yet, get to it!

• Google news alerts. Simply create a Google news alert for your opponent. These daily emails reminders will let you know all the things that are being said about your opponent. You can assign a staffer or campaign worker to identify what bloggers are talking about vis a vis your opponent and tailor your message accordingly. The old approach of letting your issues talk for you will only get you so far. At a certain point, you need to know the issues that Californians are blogging and talking about. You may learn something you didn't know about your opponent.
  

• A YouTube contest. DeVore should take part of his campaign chest to set up a contest or series of contests on California issues. By offering $5,000 or so for a video, he'll gin up the college students, video bloggers, et al. of America to make the perfect ad attacking Boxer building up Chuck DeVore. This is the part where you let the internet do its thing. Let the Ron Paul internet crowd into your campaign and you'll have both money and respect. If the videos are very good, it's likely that the Mainstream Media might pick up on it and give it more legs than it would have on the internet.
  

• Bloggingheads.tv. If DeVore wants to make it big, he'll have to practice speaking in front of a web camera. Rather than static Twitter messages asking for money, it's certainly harder to say no to a web cam plea. One of the more popular places for him to talk about his candidacy and his ideas would be on Bloggingheads.tv. I recommend a Diavlog with Will Wilkinson of Cato. Remember, these videos are then serialized on the New York Times's website.
  

• Gmail.com address. I've been lucky enough to get emails from Assemblyman DeVore who still has an email address with aol.com. My advice to DeVore is ditch aol.com and ditch it fast. Anyone under 30 uses gmail. You date yourself and don't seem as techy with aol.com.

• Any new website that is built for DeVore needs to include blog syndication. By having a part of the website that allows you to see what other bloggers are saying about Chuck, you can build a community of Chuck DeVore fans. The DeVore website would serve as a hub rather than a place with deadlinks. Few people read through blogrolls, but people do notice changing parts of websites. Downsides: You'll have to be careful of the "lol cats" taking over and may need to hire a staffer to make sure things don't get too out of hand.