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Kansas Nerd Uses Net To Shake Up Political Fundraising
ghostlibrary sends a note about Sean Tevis, an information architect in Kansas, who is running for state representative with the help of an xkcd lookalike cartoon and grassroots Net-based fundraising. Tevis had garnered more than 6,000 contributions, most of them small, from around the country, far out-fundraising his opponent. Major news outlets have picked up the story as a harbinger of 21st-century Net-based political campaigning. Reader ghostlibrary adds, "As a bonus, Tevis cites xkcd intentionally (rather than just ripping it off without crediting it) and, well, it's actually funny."
How about some links to the guy?
Tevis' website and the comic in question should get most people started.
Well, look at his opponent's issues page and you'll find even less than that. According to vote smart, the incumbent has voted in line with the Kansas Association of School Boards only 10% of the time in 2006, despite his claims of supporting "Quality Education". It's hard to imagine Sean doing worse.
Here's the actual cartoon on his blog:
http://seantevis.com/kansas/3000/running-for-office-xkcd-style/
We've been on a few sites, but making it onto /. is something special.
Running for state rep means earning the trust of many voters in a few short months. Word of mouth goes a long way, but voters can't be reached effectively by email. The net's contributions make it possible for me to keep up a full time campaign at five nines while still keeping my day job.
I decided to run because my current state rep needed to retire. The 15th district needed someone better. I want to show the politicians in Topeka just how much difference a geek can make.
With your help I got their attention. Keep it up; we plan to show those people the power of technology. Keep checking the blog for updates and new comics.
-Sean
sean@seantevis.com