Las Vegas — When liberal activists and progressive bloggers took their seats today for a panel on the 2010 elections, they found fliers with instructions about how to track Republican candidates and upload unflattering video for the Democratic National Committee to use during this fall’s races.
The DNC’s “Accountability Project,” which we first told you about last month, allows voters to be their own trackers in races across the nation. DNC executive director Jen O’Malley Dillon told party supporters in an email announcing the new effort they could help capture the next “macaca” moment, a reference to former Sen. George Allen. Allen (R-VA) was unseated in 2006 in part because a video went viral thanks to the then-newly strong netroots movement.
The instructions ask for high-quality video and say the DNC can use the uploads for a long-term database of Republican opposition research.
I caught up with O’Malley Dillon today to ask her about the project, which operatives think can be a sort of foil to conservative Andrew Breitbart.
“Elections can change on a dime,” O’Malley Dillon told TPM at the Rio casino at Netroots Nation. She used Illinois and Senate candidate Mark Kirk (R) as an example, since voters flagged instances where he had spoken on camera while exaggerating about his military service and previous experience.
Watch below:
