The most important campaign of my lifetime

So far, I have successfully avoided subjecting my (very few) readers to a political endorsement this election season. Sorry, can't resist now.

Andrew Hoppin sums up the import of the moment quite well:

His work to rid Congress of special interest influence within 8 years would leverage a “Crowdsourced Congressional Staff” of 10,000s.

Of whom does he speak? Larry Lessig is considering a congressional run.

The part that really galvanizes me is the concept of a crowdsourced congressional staff. The concept that there could be a politician that runs "ground operations" well after the campaign has ended. Obama (my other favorite politician) fascinates me because he has created a ground operation that is tightly controlled and on message and, in the end, can be turned off once he gets into office. Very different from the whole Dean experience.

A Lessig campaign, I imagine, would be the first step in building the ground operation. A freshman congressperson is pretty irrelevant. A freshman congressman that can mobilize a national constituency around a narrow set of issues (money in congress) without any particular care about reelection.... mmmm that gets interesting.

Ultimately, I'm not sure he is savvy enough or thick skinned enough or tolerant (of old school politicians) enough to succeed in creating change. But I sure would like to watch him try.