Within fifteen minutes of meeting him, Chairman Michael Steele convinced me he was sincere about making new media a centerpiece of Republican politics. I had explained to the Chairman my point of view that, unless we are willing to embrace being open and social in social media, we would have no success. We discussed the inherent risk of a political party leaving itself open to the online pranks of our opponents and the instant amplification of that pettiness by the likes of former Sportscasters with niche, liberal cable programs aimed at a zip code 94720-2284.

“I guess we better stop having Town Hall meeting and listening to folks! Someone might be rude to us.” The Chairman said. Not familiar with his style—when he says he’s not your “Great Grandpa’s Chairman”, he’s being humble—I was stunned. He laughed, grabbed my hand and said, “Todd … Facebook and social media are the best chance we have to visit with the greatest number of supporters, to know more of them---to learn from them.”

It’s an odd thing to make a life-changing decision in 18-seconds.

The Republican Party is lucky to have a man so unafraid, so committed to a real connection with what some people call the “grassroots” of the party (I simply think of them as “us.”).  The RNC is lucky to have a man who recognizes the need to be in and of the culture that brought us to D.C. in the first place and, in ever increasing numbers, new media is part of our common cultural interaction.

We have the Beta release of our new platform that, as it grows, will help the Party achieve the Chairman’s goal. It’s far from perfect, but—again, due to the fearlessness of my Boss, and his decision to embrace openness—it has the greatest possible chance to become a great platform; unlike Speaker Pelosi, the elitist who imagines that you have no right to read a Bill that will take away your very right to choose your own health care—Chairman Steele firmly believe that, as the people who support our party, you deserve the ability to partner with us in its growth.

We are building this platform for you:

Go to OurGOP: The Republican Action Network: go start a Blog, join a group. My colleagues and I will be in there with you, as will Chairman Steele, just as often as time allows.

Here is something else you might enjoy, if you work in technology: go join Code for America and code a little for the Site---yes, it’s that open.

If you have feedback for me, join my OurGOP Group, Wired Republicans, I look forward to meeting you there.

-Todd Herman