The Battle Over CA-10

Online-Virality  vs. Political Reality

   This morning I was checking my RSS feeds on my blackberry. A story from Politico piqued my interest: "Announcing a Campaign on Twitter," a Scorecard post that brought to my attention the contest heating up in my very own District 10.

As an El Cerrito resident, I follow my Rep. Ellen Tauscher, who is said to resign if her nomination as an Undersecretary of Secretary of State is given the Senate stamp of approval. As excited as I am that my Representative has received this attention, I am frothing even more at the concept of a special election that is often messy though provides some benefits that the normal election cycles do not.

The Front runner is said to be State Senator who represents California Senate 7 District, Mark DeSaulnier . He has yet to even announced his candidacy and yet according to one source has received a tacit nod of approval from Tom Torkelson, who proceeded Senator DeSaulnier in the California district. This endorsement was pivotal, but in no way seems to be a clincher for a would-be Represenative DeSaulnier.

Another legislator, Joan Buchanan, who was recently elected to California Assembly District 15 has also been bumped around the blogsphere as a potential candidate. The Assemblywoman confirmed her intentions to run last week. 

And then there may be the unknowns, the Dark Horses that may throw their hat in. One of them, who indeed announced his candidacy through Twitter, is Adriel Hampton. Mr. Hampton works as an investigator in the San Francisco Attorney's office. While it is unclear that this fellow Cal Berkeley alumnus has the capacity for legislative experience, what is clear is his passion and his ability to act as a first mover and create a viral campaign effort. 

Mr. Hampton's campaign blog has already received several hits and it is clear that he is capable of raising 'virtual support' and knows his way in the 2.0 world. The real question is: will he and any other tech-savvy would-be politico's be able to navigate the door-to-door gruel, speak-stumping, power-lunch alliance brokering and groveling for contributions that wins campaigns? Twitter is great for getting your name out there, but it does not create the 'personality cult' that is needed to win over supporters. It only helps manifest it.

Reality dictates that a lot of political campaigning is still about being on the ground and creating a presence. Mr. Hampton seems optimistic saying "President Obama showed us what loose networks of concerned citizens can do, becoming the first “social media” candidate. I want to use these new tools to join him in Washington DC to transform a government that has become strangely disconnected from the everyday realities of people..." The real test will be one that cannot be done from the safety of a computer: it will be his ability to inspire an army of volunteers and galvanize endorsement.