Mathew Gross “rewrote the rules of presidential politics” and “put blogging at the center of the Democrats’ nominating campaign” when he left his home in Moab, Utah to launch the first presidential campaign weblog for Howard Dean in March of 2003.
As Director of Internet Communications for the Dean campaign, Gross helped to develop and implement the online strategy that raised more than $25 million online (a record at that time) and built Blog for America into one of the top weblogs in the world, attracting more than 100,000 readers per day at the height of the primary season.
During the 2004 general election cycle, he served as the chief internet fundraising and communications strategist for the Erskine Bowles for US Senate campaign in North Carolina, growing the online membership of the campaign by 200% and increasing the total funds raised online by nearly 400%.
In 2006, he served as chief online strategist for John Tester’s successful primary and general election campaigns, unseating an incumbent Republican to win the U.S. Senate seat for Democrats in Montana.
During the 2007-2008 presidential primary cycle, he served as a Senior Advisor for Online Communications to the John Edwards for President campaign.
Also in 2007, he co-founded the premium user-generated advertising site GeniusRocket.
He holds a Master of Science degree from the University of Montana, Missoula, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
He lives in Moab, Utah, where he works as a consultant for progressive non-profits, political campaigns, and select private industry firms. He has played founding roles in establishing UNICEF‘s email outreach program and helping to launch StopGlobalWarming.org and iLoveMountains.org, among numerous other projects.
He is the author (with Mel Gilles) of The Last Myth: What the Rise of Apocalyptic Thinking Tells Us About America (2012) and the editor of The Glen Canyon Reader (2003). His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Salon, and Utne Reader, among other outlets.
Gross is a frequent speaker on the changing landscape of media, technology and advocacy, and was a panelist at the 2012 Bioneers Conference.
Click here to contact him.
Selected Press:
“America’s Fascination with the Apocalypse.” BBC, July, 2012.
“Fast Talk: John Edwards’ Web General.” Fast Company, June, 2007.
“Meet the OPOs.” Washington Post, 5/4/07.
“Grassroots Planted in CyberSpace.” Washington Post, 3/30/07.
“Web Politics 2.0.” 老王v2.2.8, 11/5/04.
“The Rise of Open Source Politics.” The Nation, 11/4/04.
“Meet Joe Blog.” Time Magazine, 6/21/04.
“Howard Dean’s Internet Guru Tells All.” The Gadflyer, 6/11/04.
“Exit Interview.” Garance Franke-Ruta, The American Prospect, 2/13/04.
“The Transformative Campaign Blogger.” Christopher Lydon, audio interview, 9/12/03.
“A Hired Gun Who Muses With His Fingertips.” Joanna Weiss, Boston Globe, 9/7/03.
“Dean’s Internet Campaign Holds Promise.” Jules Whitcover, Baltimore Sun, 7/31/03.