I want to do take a longer look at something I briefly mentioned in today's Daily Digest but which deserves more consideration -- GOPPlatform2008.com. The Republican National Committee is calling it an "historic online platform." Simply put, it's an innovative attempt to collaborative craft the GOP's manifesto before its convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul this September.

In the past when our national political parties wanted to craft their platforms, the process was simple -- and, largely closed off from the political base. In 2004, for example, when the DNC set out to craft its "Strong at Home, Respected in the World" platform, anyone not one of the two hundred or so members of the DNC platform committee had two ways of participating. The first: get out a pen and piece of paper and send in recommendations to DNC HQ. The second: request permission to testify at the Platform Drafting Committee's public hearings. But as the DNC warned at the time, "the opportunity to present testimony in person is limited based on timing and logistical considerations."

Listening to America: The Democratic Platform for Change

In the 2008 cycle, the DNC is attempting to extend the process -- but only slightly, when you study it. The Obama campaign has launched Listening to America: The Democratic Platform for Change, which is a more or less a series of Meetup-style house parties. These "listening" events, suggests the campaign, should be are centered around a single issue. What the gathering agrees to on that one point will be submitted through the campaign website, and will then, says the campaign, "be reviewed by the team responsible for the Democratic Platform." It's still a largely closed, off-line process.

GOPPlatform2008.com

The RNC has gone a different route. With GOPPlatform2008.com, they've built a tool that solicits the ideas from the public on where they party should plant flags -- on everything from government spending to judicial nominations to the war in Iraq. Users can freely post text suggestions and upload YouTube videos, as well as hash over the issues in Google groups. A widget promotes the site's top 3 most discussed issues and a Facebook app displays the top 10.

There's no formal agreement on whether the fruits of the online platform will make their way into the official party platform. On this point, I spoke with the RNC's eCampaign Director Cyrus Krohn earlier today. The RNC, under the direction of RNC chairman Mike Duncan and the platform committee chairs Rep. Kevin McCarthy and Senator Richard Burr asked Krohn's Internet team to build the site -- indicating buy-in from the top.

On the site, Chairman Duncan offers a welcoming message via video, insisting to visitors that "we need your ideals and your insights." Platform chairman McCarthy, representing a district just north of LA, frames the project thusly: "Coming from California, I have seen how technology has changed our way of life." And for his part, platform co-hair Burr helpfully directs users how to log in and navigate the site. It represents a groundbreaking opportunity, he says. And "in that spirit, I hope you'll review the posting guidelines... May we all strive to keep the level of these discussions respectful in honor of the process." That last warning is interesting.

Mediated Crowdsourcing ---> Governing 2.0?

Interesting why? I'd suggest it's noteworthy because of the explicitness of the idea that GOPPlatform2008.com is a mediated and controlled effort. It's bottom-up, sure. But as Burr's warning makes plain, there's a good dose of top-down involved too. And as we see experiments progressing in opening up governing, we're running into the question of just what happens after we open up the doors and invite the crowds in. Democrats are set to battle over openness and what role the Democratic base will play in guiding the party, as we saw with the Get FISA Right experience on MyBarackObama.com.

On the GOP online platform site, there's no set-in-stone agreement over what happens with what gets created -- but maybe there doesn't need to be. We'll see how it develops. But there's a chance that Republicans are comfortable working within the bounds of collaborative civic engagement that still has gatekeepers involved -- which might put them in a position to make great leaps when it comes to harnessing the energy and wisdom of their base.