Republican-ster

So I've been thinking about how you could blend web based volunteer operations with social networking, and it occurred to me that the major parties should both set up their own friendster type sites. Beyond the usual friendster operations, the parties or campaigns (I can only imagine this on a presidential level) could set up various groups that can be awarded to people of different posts, precinct captain, block captain, etc..., as well as groups for people of various accomplishments, like a 50 volunteer group.

Within these groups people could discuss their methods and strategies, share information and collaborate with other locals in the group. By making it exclusive (you would want to disseminate some of the good advice shared on them though) it would be an accomplishment and an honor to be invited in, therefore it would act as an incentive.

I don't see this being very effective except on a large scale, such as presidential races or national parties (perhaps statewide as well, although this could be a sub-section of the national site). However, the technology is already out there so it should be able to be done fairly easily (I don't know about cheaply).