Ally Gary Wolf has written an insightful piece on the nature and meaning of MoveOn for Wired:
Barely six years old, MoveOn has become one of the most revered activist groups in America, supporting Democratic political candidates with tens of millions of dollars in advertising, as well as countless hours of telephone and door-to-door fieldwork. So different, unpracticed, and uncompelling are its founders that Republicans have been provoked into speculating that the group is merely a false front for other powers acting behind the scenes. This theory, while comforting to MoveOn's adversaries, is untrue. In fact, MoveOn owes its popularity neither to the aura of Wes Boyd and Joan Blades nor to any other familiar, conventional source. A new kind of enthusiasm fuels MoveOn, whose supporters recruit each other via email and local events, respond eagerly to telephone surveys and Web questionnaires, and participate in wide-ranging discussions of tactics and priorities.
I personally believe that MoveOn is a transitional organization, a product of our particular circumstances, not neccessarily a harbinger of what politics will look like when the Net finishes swollowing it. That said, this piece is about as good a popular introduction to the subject as I've seen, once you filter out the annoying Wired editorial voice.
