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Zack Attack!
John Kerry for President hires an Internet maverick

–James Burnett




	Zack Exley '94

OFFICIALLY, ZACK EXLEY '94 IS John Kerry for president’s director of online communication and organization, a title that may lead those unfamiliar with his résumé to assume he’s little more than a glorified IT guy. The Republican National Committee, however, knows better. Exley’s appointment this April so perturbed the organization that it fired off a press release headlined, “Zack Attack! Kerry Campaign Hires Negative Campaigner-in-Chief.” While that charge underplays his range—he can do advocacy, too—it’s not far off on his expertise: Over the past five years, the 34-year-old programmer has proven one of the most skilled online agitators of any ideological stripe.

Exley made a name for himself in 1999 by creating www.gwbush.com , a satirical Web site that combined graphics mirroring those found on Bush’s official homepage with scathing commentary about the candidate’s intellect and alleged drug use. Bush responded by calling Exley a “garbage man,” arguing “there ought to be limits to freedom,” and dispatching his lawyer to get the site taken down. Exley won the ensuing case. The flood of publicity he enjoyed soon faded. But as he drifted back into obscurity, he continued to experiment with the Internet’s uses as a political tool.

A month before the 2000 election, “on a lark,” as Exley wrote in Mother Jones, he “spent about an hour putting up a Web site proposing nationwide protests if Al Gore were to win the popular vote but lose the Electoral College.” Sure enough, thanks to his effort, there were rallies in cities nationwide on the Saturday after the ballots were cast. He passed Bush’s first years in the White House continuing to skewer the president on gwbush.com, then found his way to the left-leaning group www.MoveOn.org , where he helped run its attention-getting online Democratic primary and anti-Bush ad contest. (Exley also went on leave from the group for a few weeks last fall to consult for the Internet-fueled and ultimately ill-fated Howard Dean campaign.)

Exley’s ties with MoveOn.org have given the RNC additional fodder for crying foul about his latest gig, but he and the organization both insist they’ll avoid coordinating their efforts—a definite no-no under electoral law—by remaining incommunicado until the race is over. Exley, who declined to be interviewed for this piece, has kept a relatively low profile since his appointment, which has only added to his mystique and raised questions about the exact role he’ll play.

Whatever it may be, MoveOn.org co-founder Wes Boyd feels certain the Kerry team has gained an all-star. “We have a model where we see the Internet not as just another way to reach people, but as a way for people to reach each other,” Boyd says. “We were happy to let Zack go, because we want the Kerry campaign to be successful. And he’s one of a half dozen people in the world who’ve done this kind of organizing successfully.”
http://www.johnkerry.com/front/splash.html

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Zack Attack!

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