For Political Junkies only (en francais)

I discovered this site while surfing one night about a year ago. It's a virtual treasure trove of political information, specifically online.

Their reports are current and detailed, studying current trends and effects of the internet on politics. The studies here are must reads for any serious political junkie. There are also some great videos from their most recent conference, the 12th Politics Online Conference

Some recommended reading:

The Political Consultants' Online Fundraising Primer
June 2004: The success of the 2004 presidential candidates has spurred a revolution in Internet-based fundraising. By introducing an alternative model for raising money that is quick, cheap and easy, the Internet has increased the pool of small donors and holds the promise of lessening candidates' reliance on large contributors. This primer, designed for campaigns, nonprofits and issue advocacy groups, explains how they did it.

Political Influentials Online in the 2004 Presidential Campaign
February 2004: A new community of citizens defined the 2004 presidential campaign. These citizens are Internet-oriented, politically energized, and they support their candidates by visiting their websites, joining Internet discussion groups, reading political Web logs and making political contributions over the Internet. Even before the first primary, they played a pivotal role in the campaign, and they may be harbingers of permanent change in American politics.

Putting Online Influentials to Work for Your Campaign
July 2004: Putting Online Influentials to Work for Your Campaign describes the techniques that the Bush campaign and others have adopted to take advantage of the unique characteristics of online political Influentials--their persuasive ability, their political activism and their large social networks.

Under the Radar & Over the Top: Online Political Videos in the 2004 Election
Autumn 2004: A study of the independently-produced political videos that were circulated on the Internet during the final weeks of the 2004 Presidential campaign. These videos tended to be far more mean-spirited and partisan than the two most popular videos of the genre, JibJab’s “This Land is Your Land” and “Good to Be in DC,” which were shown on national television broadcasts and viewed by tens of millions of people. The study found that these amateur videos were spread by e-mail and posted on political blogs, giving them an underground currency that is larger than generally recognized. Because this activity occurs out of view of the political press, this new and growing phenomenon has largely escaped the media’s attention.

Bonus Question: see if you can spot a fellow Bloggingtories member on the site.

Another must read for local campaigns is Hillwatch.com. Their report Political Web Sites: Strategic Assets or Virtual Lawn Signs is a valuable resource for any local campaign.

A recent bulletin from one of the firms principals, Scott Proudfoot, is also a worthwhile read.
The Interweaving of the Internet and Politics

Lastly, Hillwatch's Quote section is a great asset in pinch, especially when you're suffering writers block and could use some inspiration from some of the world's notables.

Hours and hours of fun for the true political junkie.