[citation needed] Bowers has overseen netroots surveys that he says demonstrate that progressive Internet activists are driven more by partisanship and pragmatism than far-left ideology, and that show bloggers are influential on rank and file Democrats.
[2][3] In February 2007, Bowers stated "I have a pretty vicious rant and an important action alert lined up, but I am waiting to hear from the Edwards camp ...".
[4] about the controversy over bloggers Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan, recently hired by John Edwards.
As a result of this campaign, several Democrats did donate additional money, including John Kerry and Barney Frank.
The idea was to elevate perceived negative stories in traditional media outlets about these candidates in Google searches.