Global warming and Scientology have competition.
Young Democrats have a new outlet where they can build the movement and vent their political frustrations to leaders, bypassing the Democratic Party establishment.
Mark Pincus, the founder of Zynga, teamed up with Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, and other venture capitalists to launch a digital platform called “Win the Future,” also known as “WTF.” The site went live on Tuesday and brands itself as a digital hub where users can create and fund “pro-business, pro-planet” political messaging campaigns and register as volunteers.
The site is currently running a campaign in which users can tweet their ideas for messages on a series of billboards throughout the bustling DC metropolitan area. Messages that meet this pro-business, eco-friendly criteria and receive the most “upvotes” will make the cut, and small donations will fund each $5,000 billboard.
Pincus equates the WTF model to that of “collective bargaining,” and hopes that WTF will eventually become a “political e-commerce” platform for young people to get their ideas out and force liberal politicians to adopt their policies. Essentially, it’s both a lobbying organization and a political party, minus all the unnecessary overhead and political back scratching. Pincus even hopes WTF will allow him to recruit candidates that align with its ideas.
As the Democratic Party establishment stubbornly insists on continuing down its losing path, million-dollar donors like Pincus are acting on their sense of betrayal and frustration with how their political donations are being spent. He argues that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) asks for money, but refuses to listen to the American people.