Columbus, KY beating mighty Los Angeles in Edwards competition
The power of grassroots organizing on the Internet is having a major influence over the John Edwards “Demand and Be Heard” competition. When we announced the competition, I assumed a large metropolitan area would win, and, to date, one has been in the lead. For the life of the nearly two week competition, Los Angeles has maintained a steady lead over upstarts such as Cocoa, FL and Eureka, CA. However, over the last 3 days, the tiny town of Columbus, Kentucky has moved from a handful of Demands past Los Angeles.
For those of you who have never heard of Columbus, KY (like myself before yesterday), it is a small town of 229 people on the banks of the Mississippi River. Columbus is known for almost becoming our nation’s capital. A fire in Washington, DC prompted Jefferson to nominate Columbus as a more central location for the hub of the federal government. Amazingly, it failed by only one vote in the Senate. 200 years later, the town is attempting to attract the attention of another potential President, John Edwards.
The creator of the Demand for John Edwards, and the driving force behind the movement, is 24 year old Shawn Dixon. According to Dixon in a front page article in the Paducah Sun, a regional newspaper with a circulation of around 25,000 people, “When candidates come to Kentucky, they always go to Lexington or Louisville to have a fundraiser and pick up checks,” he said. “The rural parts of the state are neglected. They need to come hear what is on our minds and talk to the people in rural America.”
Apparently others agree. While most Demands are coming from Columbus, Paducah and other rural towns of Western Kentucky, Dixon’s efforts to bring Edwards to the town on DailyKos diary posts and a Facebook group have resulted in supporters giving up their votes to bring them to their town and are advocating Edwards visit Columbus instead, according to comments.
With over two weeks left in the competition, Columbus still has a long way to go to maintain it’s lead over large metro areas. However, the grassroots movements created in small areas such as Columbus, KY, Eureka and Cocoa show that the Internet can be a powerful tool in making a voter’s voice heard and creating a dialogue between supporters and candidates.
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July 9th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
I think this is bull! How is a town of 200 people getting over 1000 demands? I believe that this means people are using multiple email addresses under the same name and voting more than once. I dont think this contest is a fair one!
July 9th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Unhappy voter:
We have a fraud system in place that runs continuously and detects multiple warning flags, including the use of suspicious multiple email addresses. We have discovered that Shawn Dixon has rallied people from towns all over Western Kentucky to join the Demand for Edwards in Columbus. Trust us, we were just as skeptical as you are until we looked at it’s validity. Shawn has exhibited the perfect example of how to spur grassroots action on the net and in his locale.
July 9th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Dear President John Edwards,
Please come to Euraka and Clearlake California.Clearlake is a rural area with a large senior citizen population,it a major resort area,and a very beautiful lake.Its the largest lake in california.The area is poor,bad city roads,drug and Alcohol abuse and neglected by the state of california.John you can give us hope to overcome alot negaitve news and turn around this area.You can make this area a model how you turned it around economically,spritually,and mentally.I look forward to seeing you and meeting you in clearlake California. LarryBaron
July 9th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Being a resident of Hickman county, I can vouch that despite us being a small community, our community has a strong support system in place where we all rally together whether it be to help someone in need, or as in this instance rally together to get John Edwards here.
I grew up in the Louisville area, and became a Hickman resident over 20 years ago… Trust me the support of the community is not one like you would find in an larger city like I grew up in.
We may not have the perks of the big city when it comes to conveniences and we may not be a rich community when it comes to financhial wealth, but we are the wealthiest of all when it comes to community support.
More times then not politicians often overlook the small communities like ours and the issues that we face like unemployment and the strains that go with running small governments.
This contest gives us an opportunity to get a president candidate to come and allow us to voice our concerns of living in a small community opposed to be being overlooked like we often are during the elections
July 9th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Being a gal from Clinton - the county seat for Hickman County which is where Columbus is located, I’d like to add my thoughts for those doubting the validity of this vote.
There aren’t many of us from the town, but the few of us that have spread our wings have developed friendships in other neighboring towns. You have to understand the tendancy of small rural communities develop friendships and loyalties to those friends even over spans of time and distance. I voted because a classmate of mine sent out a bulliten on MySpace. In turn, I posted a bullet to my friends. While some of the votes may be mindless “following directions feed to them,” I honestly believe that there is a number of people that truley would like to see small towns supported in such important things as political events like these.
This is a big stir in our area. Anything that makes the front page of the WEEKLY county paper is a big deal.
Maybe it’s just blind luck that our area was the one that jumped on the opportunity, but none the less, we jumped.
July 9th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
It sounds like Shawn Dixon is doing a pretty good job, I wish some of our elected officials had that much concern for their and our community. Every body needs to visit the Mighty little Columbus. I have been there several times and will go again. There is a lot of History There.
July 10th, 2007 at 5:46 am
I am from Livingston County, about 50 miles from Colombus. I voted to have John Edwards come to Colombus because I would like to see the politicians get more involved in the problems facing rural America. We are the working people - the backbone of this country. I hope that John Edwards makes a commitment to seeing to it that we are no longer overlooked in American politics.
July 10th, 2007 at 7:00 am
Unhappy Voter -Sorry you feel that way. There is no sham going on. I have sent emails out to everyone I know to help us. I have friends as far away as Australia pulling for us. A sham? or an exercise in democracy?
The big cities on the list will get presidential candidates en masse. The rural areas? Except for Iowa, where every vote REALLY counts, the rural areas will be ignored. We have the problems, but not the clout.
Jimmy is right. Columbus Belmont Park is a beautiful spot overlooking the Mississippi River. It has a museum and campgrounds.
We may be rural, but we are not rubes.
As for Shawn Dixon, I am looking forward to meeting him “in the flesh” when John Edwards comes and I hope the Senator will allow Shawn to introduce him. He deserves that honor.
July 11th, 2007 at 6:42 am
John Edwards is on his Povertry Tour now. He needs to come to central Florida and see and talk to people of lesser means. Not everyone in Florida lives in the fancy High Rise Condos.
July 16th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Unhappy voter-there is no sham or scam here. I think this is a perfect example of what word-of-mouth can do. Yes Columbus is a small town of only 200 or so people, and while we may be miles from the hustle and bustle of larger towns and cities, we are in turn closer as a community and to our surrounding communities. Everyone knows everyone and has been telling family and friends about voting for Columbus. It doesn’t matter if it’s a town of 200 or 200,000, if the people don’t take the time to vote! I think what Shawn has sparked for Columbus is great.
July 16th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
I WOULD LIKE TO COMMEND SHAWN ON HIS DESIRE AND HARD WORK TO PUSH A SMALL HOMETOWN INTO THE NATION’S EYES. I BELIEVE THAT ALL ACCOMPLISHMENTS START WITH ONE IDEA, HOPE OR DREAM. COLUMBUS MAY BE SMALL BUT TOGETHER WITH HER SISTER TOWNS SHE CAN AND WILL THRIVE. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR JOURNEY INTO POLITICS. I SUPPORT YOUR ENDEVORS.
July 19th, 2007 at 9:46 am
Friends,
Please allow me to be the first to say “Congratulations!” and offer my sincerest “Thank You!” for all your hard work and support in getting presidential candidate John Edwards to visit Columbus, Kentucky!!
As you may know, at 2 PM Central time today, Columbus was declared the winner in the Eventful.com online voting contest, beating out cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas.
Your hard work has not gone unnoticed. After garnering over 1800 votes, the people of Columbus, Hickman County and all of Kentucky received national media attention. (Links included at the bottom of this e-mail)
More importantly, we have started a new dialogue about rural America and the everyday problems facing our small towns and communities. It’s important that in the coming days we keep this conversation going and send a clear message to our elected leaders that we will no longer sit by while the needs of rural America are ignored.
This event is not about party politics, but rather about sharing ideas and proposing solutions to help restore rural America to the thriving vibrant communities we all love and know they can be. I am thrilled that former Senator John Edwards is now giving us the opportunity to host him and hear his plan for small towns like ours all across America.
Thanks again for your support. The best is yet to come!
I look forward to spending time together in Columbus in the very near future!!
Yours,
Shawn
Media Links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPOjugpbNkw
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/07/18/tiny-town-hopes-for-edwards-visit/