About Political Gastronomica
Political Gastronomica is a discourse on technology and online activism - how the marketplace of governing and ideas is improving with the efficiencies of the Internet.
Author Sanford Dickert, former CTO of John Kerry for President Campaign, works with political campaigns, non-profits and private companies from the Fortune 500 to startups.
Dickert leverages online community engagement techniques and technical vision for brand and message management through effective application of social media and organizational processes.
Category Archives: Campaign 2004
Deja Vu: McCain 08 looks a lot like Kerry 04
I do not like predictions on campaigns, but the way I see this campaign going – especially with the infrastructure and organization the Obama Campaign has pushed forward, I see a poor showing for McCain – even with an October Surprise. Continue reading
Posted in Campaign 2004, Campaign 2008, Personal Thoughts
Tagged Kerry 2004, McCain08, Obama08
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Blast from the Past – Kerry’s 2004 Online Fundraising Performance
We were seriously worried about the software doing on contributions since it was relatively cheap and had not been tested under serious load conditions, but when New Hampshire went to JK, I was there all night long watching the server load, making sure we were okay. And, we made it quite nicely. It wasn’t until SuperTuesday that we discovered the fallacy of low-cost solutions in an enterprise world. Continue reading
And just what is the impact of TV on the web?
One of the questions I have been asked in the past two years was what it was like in the trenches when the campaign suddenly began to take off. As I have written in the archives, the change was astounding – but none so remarkable as what occurred on the night of the 19th. As all know, Kerry pulled off an incredible feat in winning the primary in Iowa – but what is not known is how difficult it had been to get Kerry to recognize the power of his own voice when helping the Internet side of the campaign. Continue reading
Posted in Campaign 2004
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Part 2: Greater Democracy – History of DemComm
Creating the DemComm group was a step in the right direction, but the challenges of the campaign priorities and operational efficiencies impacted the potential success of the team’s efforts. Continue reading
Posted in Campaign 2004
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Part 1: Greater Democracy – History of Demtech
In answering Jock’s post on Greater Democracy, a minor history lesson of the Kerry Campaign is included to describe the community tech efforts attempted during the 2004 Presidential Election. Continue reading
Posted in Campaign 2004
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Recognizing the First Team (continued)
Funniest thing about coming into the campaign that day – was noticing how small the space actually was – and how little space we had. Aside from the players already mentioned, I should introduce a couple of other folks who added color to the campaign in my first days. It should be clear that when I came into the campaign, I had absolutely no campaign experience whatsoever, let alone Presidential experience… Continue reading
Recognizing the First Team
You know – so many people will never be recognized for the efforts that were made by the founding members of the Kerry Internet Team – and how the Kerry Campaign built up it’s staff. First off, it was the … Continue reading
Posted in Campaign 2004
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Thinking about Nader
The Guardian profile: Ralph Nader Was reading this profile and remembered that one of the funniest stories I had when I first joined the campaign was what the organization was like back in September 2003. When I walked in, the … Continue reading
Posted in Campaign 2004
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Peter Lost, Frances Coming…
After four weeks of hard campaigning, sleepless nights, hand-shaking seniors in Sunrise Lakes, Century Village and Tamarac – it came down to the debate in Tampa – and the polls that followed. Continue reading
Posted in Campaign 2004
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