Cruising Howard Dean's wikipedia page earlier looking for confirmation that his candidacy raised $50M (it did!) and I found this nugget:

While presidential campaigns have traditionally obtained finance by tapping wealthy, established political donors, Dean's funds came largely in small donations over the Internet; the average overall donation size was just under $80. This method of fundraising offered several important advantages over traditional fundraising, in addition to the inherent media interest in what was then a novelty. First, raising money on the Internet was relatively inexpensive, compared to conventional methods such as events, telemarketing, and direct mail campaigns. Secondly, as donors on average contributed far less than the legal limit ($2,000 per individual), the campaign could continue to resolicit them throughout the election season.

Open for discussion is why you think the Republican Presidential candidates have yet to tap this same cadre of donors? Surely, we're out here.

This is our first open thread at TechRepublican. I'd like to use it to explore tech-related issues like net neutrality, broadband access, etc.

What are your thoughts on the legislation signed in to law on Sunday which increases the government's ability to eavesdrop on international phone calls and e-mail messages of American citizens sans warrants?

From today's New York Times:

Bush Signs Law to Widen Legal Reach for Wiretapping

President Bush signed into law on Sunday legislation that broadly expanded the government’s authority to eavesdrop on the international telephone calls and e-mail messages of American citizens without warrants.

Congressional aides and others familiar with the details of the law said that its impact went far beyond the small fixes that administration officials had said were needed to gather information about foreign terrorists. They said seemingly subtle changes in legislative language would sharply alter the legal limits on the government’s ability to monitor millions of phone calls and e-mail messages going in and out of the United States. (Read full story)

Ready. Set. Go.