Blogging President Precedent

It’s always interesting to watch Something Big(tm) unfold in real time. Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean has been riding a remarkable wave of support, much of it pouring in via the Internet.

His success allowed the campaign to set an unprecedented $7 million fundraising goal, and as of this evening (with about four hours left ’til the end of the fiscal quarter), he’s right on the verge. In the last 24 hours, a record $500,000 has come in via the web. His official weblog is starting to overflow with hundred of comments, many of them from first-time campaign contributors. (In fact, they just turned the comments off… at number 666?)

Apparently, his supporters aren’t the only ones carefully watching the “Grand Slam” baseball bat fundraising graphic on his site (reading $6,852,981 as of 7 p.m.). Staffers from the other campaigns have been spotted among the spectators, and the media is starting to pick up the scent as well.