by Partisan Staff; this article was originally published in Partisan issue no. 26, printed September 2008.
Over the last few months, California's Peace and Freedom Party has made some major advances into the high tech world of the internet. Some may suggest that this foray came somewhat late, this already being well into the 21st century. But with the aid of active committee members and committed volunteers, our party hopes to make up some of the time so far lost.
Thanks to the mighty (some would suggest Herculean) efforts of John Crockford of Fresno our website at peaceandfreedom.org has blossomed. Just a few months ago it was fairly spartan. Since then, John has added all forms of bells and whistles including frequent news updates, videos, our own blog and a live feed from the Nader Campaign.
These changes encourage our supporters to visit the site often and are vital in keeping the party's leadership well informed about important events - both local and national. As the information age expands in ways that few could have predicted just a couple of decades ago, our website is becoming a sophisticated hub of information and opinions.
Peace and Freedom Party has also begun expanding into the world of on-line social networking sites. In just a few short weeks our presence on Myspace, found at www.myspace.com/peaceandfreedomparty, has exploded from a few dozen friends (or comrades, if you prefer), to almost 2,300. These friends include individuals and groups throughout California and across the country.
We are currently recruiting additional volunteers to help begin and maintain a presence on more social networking sites. The world wide web offers countless opportunities for networking, activism and organizing. It also helps to connect people who feel isolated from progressive struggles, either because of their location or work schedules. As one of our new supporters lauded, "Wow, just when I was becoming disillusioned with what's left of American democracy, you come along."
Others in our party are pushing for even more technological innovation. Already several videos supporting our party have been produced and uploaded onto youtube.com and many more are in the planning stages. Our party's youtube page can be viewed at www.youtube.com/user/peaceandfreedomparty .
We are a small political party in a very large state, expanding into an even larger country. We have finite financial resources and big dreams. Modern technology and inspired volunteers are assisting communications within our leadership and helping to make connections with our diverse supporters. One of these supporters recently wrote a short note of encouragement, "Finally, my political party has a place in cyber space thanks 4 finding me."