CongressDaily published a piece today called “Congressional Campaigns Harness Web 2.0″ that highlighted our campaign’s use of our website, YouTube and other new technology.

When Super Tuesday rolled around this past February, and Minnesota Democrats faced the prospect of caucusing for their U.S. Senate pick, many supporters of Democratic aspirant Al Franken were prepared.

They had already watched the campaign’s instructional video online designed to explain the complicated process. What’s more, the organization of the one-time “Saturday Night Live” comic had relied on its Web site to manage and recruit volunteer precinct captains to turn out voters in more than half of the 4,000 precincts in Minnesota.

“It’s a really important part of what we do, and we use it to amplify our activities,” said Franken spokesman Andy Barr of the campaign’s use of the Web. He noted that, in the run-up to the caucuses, large numbers of volunteers were able to self-schedule their time and coordinate with staffers at the campaign headquarters by using a simple application on the Franken Web site.

Welcome to the 2008 congressional campaign, Web 2.0 style. It’s a realm where voters already have and will continue to play an unprecedented role in campaigning on behalf of candidates — whether it be phone-banking from the comfort of home, engaging in investigative blogging, or shooting their own Web videos to shape perceptions of favored or disliked candidates.

And yes, we also use the Internet for fundraising. If you’ve contributed online, then this part is about you –­ thanks!

And some Senate campaigns have adopted the “subscriber” model of soliciting online small amounts of money on a regular basis from supporters.

“We very much follow the same line of thinking as the Obama campaign, it’s just on a smaller scale,” said Franken’s technology guru, Jon-David Schlough. Schlough said the campaign’s online donations have averaged $50 to $60 dollars per individual.

Of the $12 million that the Franken campaign has raised since February 2007, $2 million to $3 million came through the Internet, campaign spokesman Barr said.

(Unfortunately, the full article is only available with a subscription.)

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