Jerome Armstrong (born 1964) is an American

political strategist Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely te ...

. In 2001, he founded

MyDD MyDD was the first large collaborative politically progressive American politics blog. It was established by Jerome Armstrong in 2001. Its name was originally short for "My Due Diligence." In 2005, MyDD was profiled in Campaigns and Elections m ...

, a blog which covered

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

, making him one of the first political

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

gers. Armstrong coined the term ''

netroots Netroots is a term coined in 2002 by Jerome Armstrong to describe political activism organized through blogs and other online media, including wikis and social network services. The word is a portmanteau of Internet and grassroots, reflecting t ...

'', and was referred to as "The Blogfather" for having mentored many other famous bloggers such as

Markos Moulitsas Markos Moulitsas Zúniga (; born September 11, 1971), often known by his username and former military nickname "Kos" ( ), is an American blogger who is the founder and publisher of Daily Kos, a blog focusing on liberal and Democratic Party po ...

in their early years. He is credited as one of the architects of

Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, lobbyist, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 200 ...

's 2004

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

presidential campaign, and bringing those tactics to campaigns globally. In 2005, Armstrong co-founded

Vox Media Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company based in Washington, D.C., and New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass '' SB Nation'' (a sports blog network founded in 2005 ...

with Markos Moulitsas and

Tyler Bleszinski ''SB Nation'' (an abbreviation for their full name ''SportsBlogs Nation'') is a sports blogging network owned by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Tyler Bleszinski, Markos Moulitsas, and Jerome Armstrong in 2005. The blog from which the networ ...

Background

Armstrong was an

environmental activist The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists adv ...

in the late 1980s, working with

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth ...

and

Earth First! Earth First! is a radical environmental advocacy group that originated in the Southwestern United States. It was founded in 1980 by Dave Foreman, Mike Roselle, Howie Wolke, Bart Koehler, and Ron Kezar. Today there are Earth First! groups around ...

to curtail the logging of old growth forests in Oregon and end

nuclear weapons testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected b ...

in Nevada. During the 1990s, he served with the US

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John ...

in Costa Rica and worked with

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid t ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

, spent a year and a half at a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monastery, served in

Americorps AmeriCorps (officially the Corporation for National and Community Service or CNCS) is an independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in service through a variety of stipended volunteer work pro ...

under the "I Have A Dream" program, and did community organizing in Portland, Oregon. Armstrong has

graduate degree Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and struc ...

s in

Conflict Resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information abou ...

and

Applied Linguistics Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field which identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to language-related real-life problems. Some of the academic fields related to applied linguistics are education, psychology, communication res ...

Online advocacy

In 2001, he founded

, a blog which covered American politics, in which Armstrong's work was described by ''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ...

'' as being "fiercely

partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * '' Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also kno ...

but not radically left-wing." In 2004, Armstrong and

founded BlogPAC, a political action committee focused on progressive bloggers and politics online. In late 2005, ''

Campaigns and Elections ''Campaigns & Elections'' is a trade magazine covering political campaigns, focused on tools, tactics, and techniques of the political consulting profession. The magazine was founded by Stanley Foster Reed in 1980. It is headquartered in Arling ...

'' credited MyDD with being "the first major liberal blog". In January 2006, the name was changed to "My Direct Democracy" as part of a site redesign, with a new tagline, "Direct Democracy for People-Powered Politics". MyDD has been largely dormant since 2010. Armstrong explained that he "had to get out to save from becoming hardened, cynical, and without peace", citing the negativity in American politics.

Political consultancy

In January 2003, Markos Moulitsas joined Armstrong in a political consulting partnership called Armstrong Zuniga, before being formally dissolved in December 2004.

hired them for a time as technical consultants in 2003. Armstrong introduced the campaign to Meetup.com and directing on online advertising and blogger outreach. He worked with US Senate candidate

Sherrod Brown Sherrod Campbell Brown (; born November 9, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Ohio, a seat which he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representative for Ohio's ...

's 2006 Senate campaign in

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. He also signed on with

Mark Warner Mark Robert Warner (born December 15, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Virginia, a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Warner served as the 69th govern ...

's Forward Together PAC to develop their internet strategy, before Warner decided to not run for president in 2008. In 2007, Armstrong was awarded the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Award for Political Organizing by 21st Century Democrats, "for his visionary leadership in working to create the online netroots community". In 2008, London mayoral candidate

Brian Paddick Brian Leonard Paddick, Baron Paddick (born 24 April 1958), is a British politician and retired police officer, currently sitting in the House of Lords as a life peer. He was the Liberal Democrat candidate for the London mayoral elections o ...

, a UK Liberal Democrat, brought aboard Armstrong "to help boost his campaign's online presence". By 2012, Armstrong had worked with over 40 campaigns through the political consultancy WebStrong Group for the US

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

and campaigns abroad. For the

2012 US presidential election The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, were re-ele ...

, Armstrong went to work with the

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties * Outline of libertarianism ...

presidential candidate

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...

, and as a senior advisor with the

Campaign for Primary Accountability The Campaign for Primary Accountability is a nonpartisan Super PAC created in 2011. Founded by Leo Linbeck III and Eric O'Keefe, the group's goal is to defeat longtime and unpopular incumbents of both the Republican Party and Democratic Party. ...

, a Super PAC which supports challengers against US Congressional incumbents in the Republican and Democratic parties.

Books

In 2006, Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas of

Daily Kos Daily Kos ( ) is a group blog and internet forum focused on the U.S. Democratic Party and liberal American politics. The site includes glossaries and other content. It is sometimes considered an example of " netroots" activism. Daily Kos w ...

co-authored the book '' Crashing the Gate: Grassroots, Netroots, and the Rise of People Powered Politics''. The book takes a critical look at the state of the US Democratic Party, detailing the rise of a new movement that is reforming and taking over the party. An Australian edition was released in July 2006.

Business

Armstrong, along with

and

, founded the Washington, DC-based

, a network of blogs and online verticals, with funding led by

Accel Partners Accel, formerly known as Accel Partners, is an American venture capital firm. Accel works with startups in seed, early and growth-stage investments. The company has offices in Palo Alto, California and San Francisco, California, with additional ...

References

External links

*
Vox Media

"Blog pioneer maps political strategy for 2008"
��MSNBC, March 2, 2006

��Huffington Post, June 7, 2006
"Replacing the Battleground Mentality with the Mapchanger Attitude in the Democratic Party"
��article by Jerome Armstrong in The Democratic Strategist, July 2006

��article by Jerome Armstrong in The Christian Science Monitor, November 2006

��interview in Mother Jones, June 2007 1964 births Living people American male bloggers American bloggers Portland State University alumni People from Los Angeles American political consultants George Mason University alumni {{Improve categories, date=July 2021