Republican Michael Fitzpatrick in PA-08, who this year is running against Fighting Dem
Patrick Murphy, knows first hand how netroots activism can be damaging to Republicans. On July 19, 2004, his eventual Democratic opponent in PA-08, Ginny Schrader, received forty thousand dollars in online donations in one day to help propel her candidacy from longshot status to legitimate contender. After being bailed out by $2.5M in ads from the NRCC--the most money the NRCC spent on any campaign in 2004 save PA-06--
Fitzpatrick now seeks to curb the influence of organizing and social networking online:
MySpace and other social-networking sites like LiveJournal.com and Facebook are the potential targets for a proposed federal law that would effectively require most schools and libraries to render those Web sites inaccessible to minors, an age group that includes some of the category's most ardent users.
"When children leave the home and go to school or the public library and have access to social-networking sites, we have reason to be concerned," Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, told CNET News.com in an interview.
Fitzpatrick and fellow Republicans, including House Speaker Dennis Hastert, on Wednesday endorsed new legislation (click here for PDF) that would cordon off access to commercial Web sites that let users create public "Web pages or profiles" and also offer a discussion board, chat room, or e-mail service.
That's a broad category that covers far more than social-networking sites such as Friendster and Google's Orkut.com. It would also sweep in a wide range of interactive Web sites and services, including Blogger.com, AOL and Yahoo's instant-messaging features, and Microsoft's Xbox 360, which permits in-game chat.
Fitzpatrick's bill, called the Deleting Online Predators Act, or DOPA, is part of a new, poll-driven effort by Republicans to address topics that they view as important to suburban voters. Republican pollster John McLaughlin polled 22 suburban districts and presented his research at a retreat earlier this year. Rep. Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican, is co-sponsoring the measure.
Poll driven indeed. Make no mistake about this bill. While it ostensibly is being done only to make Republicans look like they care about the children so much that suburban parents should vote for them, it accomplishes the dual task of limiting political organizing online. Outside of Jean Schimdt, it is doubtful that any Republican representative in the House is more aware of the potential dangers that online organizing holds for conservatives out of step with their districts, such as Michael Fitzpatrick. In the guise of trying to protect "the children," Fitzpatrick almost certainly will be happy to see the netroots capability of "the children" restricted as well.
Update: To clarify, this bill will not just limit access to such websites among minors. It will limits access to such websites in many public places, such as libraries. And I wonder who gets decide which websites will have limited or no access in those public places, and which websites they will choose for limited or no access...
