Internet creates opening for 3rd party

Surprise, surprise, Joe Trippi thinks the internet has fundamentally changed politics. Ronald Brownstein takes the storyline and runs to a possible John McCain-Bob Kerrey ticket. Can a MoveOn type group really propel a candidate? Kinky, are you listening?

Internet, Polarized Politics Create an Opening for a Third Party

Trippi believes an independent presidential candidate who struck a chord could organize support through the Internet just as inexpensively. "Somebody could come along and raise $200 million and have 600,000 people on the streets working for them without any party structure in the blink of an eye," he says....

In such an environment, imagine the options available to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) if he doesn't win the 2008 Republican nomination, and former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, now that he's dropped his flirtation with running for mayor of New York. If the two Vietnam veterans joined for an all-maverick independent ticket, they might inspire a gold rush of online support — and make the two national parties the latest example of the Internet's ability to threaten seemingly impregnable institutions.