It played a strong part in the presidential campaign of Democrat Howard Dean . Out of the four presidential candidates , only Ron Paul is big on Meetup . Meetup founder Scott Heiferman says the tea party was born on the Internet . But there 's a third reason why we 're not seeing Meetup and presidential politics line up the way they did eight years ago . It is enabling Americans to create quasi - third parties for new ideas and issues .
It played a strong part in the presidential campaign of Democrat Howard Dean . Out of the four presidential candidates , only Ron Paul is big on Meetup . Meetup founder Scott Heiferman says the tea party was born on the Internet . It is enabling Americans to create quasi - third parties for new ideas and issues .