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To better get the message out about the performance of members of the New York State Legislature, a political policy institute purchased ads through Google AdWords to publicize the grades the institute feels those politicians merit.

The self-described non-partisan, non-political Drum Major Institute for Public Policy posted a statement that described its Google-enhanced effort to grade how Albany legislators "voted on bills of importance to strengthening and expanding our state's middle class from 2001 to 2005."

DMI further described in its blog how the AdWords campaign will work:

So in the name of accountability, today we are not only releasing our scorecard, but also a 30-day Google Ad word campaign highlighting the scores of every member of the legislature.

If you Google your state legislator, or discuss a New York legislator on a "GMail" email account, you will be instantly informed of his/her grade on DMI's scorecard and provided a link to follow for more information.
A search for Assemblyman Joseph Errigo returns an AdWords ad with his C- grade from DMI, while Senator Elizabeth Little's F grade won't make her handlers at all pleased.

Journalist Tom Watson, a member of DMI's board of directors, also blogged about DMI's attempt to broadly publicize what he sees as "a body of representatives that is positively Dickensian in its sloth and malodorous reputation":

Well, you could issue a "scorecard," send out a press release, and hold a news conference. The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy did all that today when it released its report Fighting for New York's Middle Class: 2001-2005 NY State Legislative Scorecard.

But DMI went one brilliant step further: it bought the entire State Legislature.

I've never seen this done, but it's clearly another step in the evolution of digital politics, and it's nice to see it taken by a non-partisan policy group (on the left, of course - and as many readers know by now, I'm on the board). So go ahead, Google Joe Bruno - or your own legislator if you live in New York. Watch out Congress, you're next.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.