Patrick Ruffini has a really interesting post, entitled “Campaigns Aren’t Conversations.”  Talking about the latest trend of “campaign = conversation” being employed by Hillary “Let the conversation begin” Clinton (among others), he states that winning campaigns don’t spark conversations, they spark drive, energy and leadership.

Although I disagree with the title of the post (caucuses, for instance, are giant conversations), I think it’s an excellent point.  No amount of conversation will work if it’s not going to inspire people, especially not the “conversations” that have been present as of yet.  They’ve largely been “submit your ideas!” invites that are about as much of a true conversation as the one you might have with, say, a brick wall.

As I’ve stated indirectly before (see my post about The Shins, for instance), the notion of “you” has to change.  It’s not about “you” or “them” or “me.”  It’s about “we” and “us.”  What can we do, together?  What can we accomplish?  How can the candidate truly inspire a person to take action?  And most importantly, how can the Internet drive this “we” to the next level?

This is what Internet consultants need to be thinking about — not HTML forms to solicit responses.

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