With sitting Republican National Committee chairman Mike Duncan signing on to the tech-fueled Rebuild the Party movement, South Carolina GOP head Katon Dawson stands as the sole announced candidate for GOP chair not yet jumping on board the grasstops effort...The Center for American Progress (CAP) Action Fund's acting CEO Jennifer Palmieri has jumped into CAP blogger Matt Yglesias's blog space to issue a "special note"...The Sunlight Foundation's Labs project is starting to take itself a bit more seriously. They're shifting into the next phase of conquering Washington via API and databases, seeing themselves as less an experiment in transparency than as an ongoing concern...and more.

The way we interact with Government is about to change, and the shape of that change is up to us. The Internet is not just a way to raise money or mobilize supporters. It's a way to shrink the distance between people and politicians. For the first time in history, it's possible for hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people to have a single conversation. I'm not talking about the elimination of traditional news media or the implementation of a direct democracy. Expertise is important, and there will always be a need for professional journalists and public servants devoting all their energies towards government. I'm talking about adding a complementary channel, a new seat at the table.