Is it possible to build a successful web portal and community hub around issues and activism? So far, no one has succeeded in this quest, though there a lot of people trying and one could argue that sites as diverse as DailyKos.com, Townhall.com, and Idealist.org each play this kind of role for tens of thousands of reader/members, and projects like the Facebook Causes platform built by Project Agape, Razoo, Changing the Present, Donors Choose and Kiva.org each have somewhat similar aspirations.

One of the longer-distance runners in this search for the holy grail of social change organizing online is Ben Rattray of Change.org, who Josh Levy and I wrote up back in December 2007. Back then, Change.org was going through its first major re-design, shifting from focusing on individual users looking to connect with specific causes, to a platform for organizations looking for a ready-to-use social network toolset tuned to their members. The elevator pitch Rattray used with us was that Change was "Ning for non-profits," and he thought the new approach would not only meld well with the site's 50,000 members but would also, through subscription revenue, help float Change.org's boat.

Well, now Rattray is on to a new vision and strategy to expand Change.org's reach, and as close readers of this site already know, he lured Josh away with promises of untold riches and seventy virgins to help him build it out. (No, we are not bitter.) Earlier this week I had a chance to chat with both of them about this new approach, and here are my notes on the conversation.

Obama reaches 2 million donors, BarelyPolitical barely keeps my attention, McCain's tech policy review, techPresident is honored with a nomination, Obama and McCain's YouTube channels

Why is the McCain Campaign reaching out to Daily Kos?

It looks like the heightening divisions with the Democratic party over the Obama-Clinton contest are causing an open split in the online progressive city known as DailyKos.

Judging the efficacy of a Google bomb campaign against John McCain; three liberal blogs ask readers if they should endorse a candidate before the nominee emerges; another piece about why Twitter matters; illustrating the strength of viral video; congrats to Josh Marshall on his Polk Award and NYT profile; Hillary Clinton launches Delegate Hub, controls the tubes; John McCain continuing to generate little online enthusiasm.

As Congress considers again a new FISA update, bloggers urge Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to head back to Washington for the vote; a CREDO campaign to get voters to email Obama and Clinton about the vote allegedly causes Obama's email server to crash; new charts from Matthew Hurst show online buzz for the Republicans and Democrats; more Fred Thompson post-mortems, and a question about why he failed to use the web as promised; EveryBlock is a great new site that helps you find info about your city block; Clinton Internet Director Peter Daou tries out some spin on DailyKos, gets walloped; and two sites compare the candidates' stances on tech and science issues.

Mitt Romney wins Michigan, and the war metaphors get upped a notch; it's not quite clear if Markos had any effect on the primary, and a CNN poll suggests most Dem votes went to McCain; Richard Viguerie launches a pro-Ron Paul site, harvests email addresses; Sarah Lai Stirland on the teenage forces behind Hucksarmy.com; Slashdot is conducting a reader-generated interview with the candidates; and beware: General Zod is runing for president, and will make you kneeeeel at his feet.

We already know that most presidential candidate websites are notoriously bereft of in-depth information about the candidates, other than a few hand-picked issue memos and the usual biographical fluffery. But we didn't know until today just how poorly these sites do in attracting attention from the most active denizens of the political web.

The FEC recommends that John Edwards not receive matching funds for the $4.3 million he raised on ActBlue, and DailyKos protests; a single Republican activist has a list of 71 million Christian voters, prompting the left to grasp for their own; Craig Newmark co-hosts an Obama fundraiser; Glamour magazine launches a group blog about the race; Barack Obama ba-reaks the 200,000 MySpace barrier; Chris Dodd speaks at Google, asks them to write his tech policy; and Matt Lewis says negative blogging is just hitting its stride.

Markos Moulitsas covers the campaign for Newsweek -- who will be his counterpoint?; asking political reporters to move beyond the horserace; Meetup plans a super-top-secret project; TinyURL supporters Ron Paul, web addresses stay long; Republicans are behind a new anti-Hillary Facebook group; is Hillary dissing the youth?; and your friends at techPresident are featured on Rocketboom.