A group of San Diego Libertarians has launched a grassroots, internet-based campaign to convince pundit Peter Schiff to take on U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.
Dodd has come under fire for his stewardship of the 2008 bank bailout bill. Schiff has appeared on national TV shows criticizing the bailout and stimulus efforts.
Paul Bass at the New Haven Independent likens the group’s efforts to the 2006 attempt to unseat Sen. Joe Lieberman, in which a web-focused campaign pulled in money and volunteers for Lieberman’s ultimately unsuccessful challenger, Ned Lamont.
In the Dodd case, Bass writes:
The nascent nerve center is in San Diego, where six techies are putting together the websites, videos and moneybombing drive, in which supporters across the country are urged to donate money on the same (day).
The web-savvy team, including a “social networking strategist” and “web community developer,” is running the operation out of an independent PAC called the Political Exploration and Awareness Committee (PEAC).
As with the Lamont effort, they formed out of an existing movement, in this case Ron Paul’s quixotic 2008 presidential bid. As with the Lamont effort, they’re making contact with like-minded web activists across the country with the idea of spawning independent pro-Schiff efforts.