The McCain campaign is now clumsily attempting to jumpstart/simulate a grassroots web presence according to the Washington Post:
On McCain’s Web site, visitors are invited to “Spread the Word” about the presumptive Republican nominee by sending campaign-supplied comments to blogs and Web sites under the visitor’s screen name. The site offers sample comments (“John McCain has a comprehensive economic plan . . .”) and a list of dozens of suggested destinations, conveniently broken down into “conservative,” “liberal,” “moderate” and “other” categories. Just cut and paste.
Activists and political operatives have used volunteers or paid staff to seed radio call-in shows or letters-to-the-editor pages for years, typically without disclosing the caller or letter writer’s connection to a candidate or cause. Like the fake grass for which the practice is named, such AstroTurf messages look as though they come from the grass roots but are ersatz.
McCain’s campaign has taken the same idea and given it an Internet-era twist. It also has taken the concept one step further.
People who sign up for McCain’s program receive reward points each time they place a favorable comment on one of the listed Web sites (subject to verification by McCain’s webmasters). The points can be traded for prizes, such as books autographed by McCain, preferred seating at campaign events, even a ride with the candidate on his bus, known as the Straight Talk Express, according to campaign spokesman Brian Rogers.
This could just be me – but I cannot recall if I have ever seen, posted in the comments here or on other websites, canned or barely rehashed Obama talking points. I’ve had Hillary talking points posted – and Ron Paul talking points – and I’ve seen anti-Obama talking points. And I’ve seen all of these in many other places as well.
It always seems to me to be a sign of a candidate’s weakness when irrelevant talking points start appearing. If a campaign has a true grass-roots presence, their message will be amplified and – more important – owned by many people. These people will respond authentically and incorporate the talking points without repeating them verbatim.