Colorado GOP Reacts To Election Of New RNC Chair Michael Steele

Ben DeGrow has an extensive post detailing the voting for RNC Chair that occurred yesterday, including insight from Colorado GOP Chair Dick Wadhams and Colorado RNC Committeeman Mark Hillman, and the reactions from Republican activists who hope that Michael Steele understands what social media and user generated content can offer, and also what Web 2.0 does, and more importantly doesn't do:

This isn’t just about Facebook or Twitter. This isn’t just about how many friends one has on a social network. This is about bottom up collaborative political action. And this collaborative action functions using the tools of social media and the internet as messaging and communication vessels.
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So, in essence, the RNC needs to view the web as a thriving community of activists who want to be involved. We want to be a part of something. We want to take part in projects that we feel ownership of. We want to collaborate and help build things that we believe will further the movement for free-markets and sound government.

In other words, less old-school hierarchy and top-down approaches to messaging, and more interactive and responsive political activism.

And not just on the national level, but in every state. A new playing field derived from an evolution in technology and the successful implementation of new strategies and tactics by Democrats necessitates a rethinking at all levels of the party--from fundraising and recruitment to messaging and campaigning. This isn't an old guard vs. "Young Turks" issue. But expecting different results from the same unsuccessful methods for the last 2 or 3 cycles would be textbook insanity and self-delusion.

Congratulations to Michael Steele. The long road to 2010, which officially began once Sen. John McCain conceded the election to now President Barack Obama, can begin in earnest with a new face for the party at a national level. Local party elections are also coming up soon. Now is the time to get involved--we can't wait until the summer of 2010 to show up.