Picture by Andrew Buckley/Reuters
Web sites foretell a YouTube presidency
Washington Times Christina Bellantoni Friday, November 7, 2008
CHICAGO The Web address won't change, but WhiteHouse.gov will never look the same. The Chicago-based team that made the Internet such a force in helping Barack Obama win the presidency is moving to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.[...]
Mr. Obama communicated with his supporters directly via e-mail and text messaging before claiming victory Tuesday night, an early indicator that the first YouTube candidate will become the YouTube president.[...]
"The most interesting thing to watch will be what do they and how do they reinvent the way a president speaks to the American people... [...]Mr. Obama will inherit a Web operation that has improved over the years but is sterile - a press release clearinghouse with no blog and which shares little in common with the vibrant graphics- and video-heavy BarackObama.com that attracted millions of supporters.[...]
The size of the president-elect's e-mail and text message list is a closely guarded secret in Chicago, but a source said it was large enough to mobilize people into taking action.[...]
The frequent communications helped his supporters remain engaged in the election and inspired more than 1 million people to volunteer and help the senator from Illinois win the White House on Tuesday. It also creates the potential to get Americans to participate in multiple ways. During the campaign, Mr. Obama encouraged people on his site to aid hurricane victims, a request that yielded an impressive response. [...]
The Internet has transformed dissent as well, and members of the netroots think they are one reason Mr. Obama did not select Sen. Evan Bayh, Indiana Democrat, as his running mate. They organized to tell the campaign that Mr. Bayh was sending the wrong message. [..]
Mr. Rosenberg noted the president-elect can communicate with the world through the Internet in a way the Bush administration has not, saying that he hoped and thought that Web videos coming out of the White House would be translated into Mandarin, Spanish, Farsi and Arabic. [...]
Through the course of the campaign, the Obama team communicated directly with supporters from specific demographic groups, from college students to Jewish voters using new media. [...]The Obama blogger thank-you note concluded: "You shattered every record and expectation, and you changed our politics."
Snop's Commentary:
Surfing the Internet Tsunami, Barack Obama is the first national political leader to tap into and successfully harness the power of Internet driven new wave media politics. He bypassed the traditional centers of Black Democratic Party power by anglin away from the negative pull of of civil rights veterans like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.
To his credit, he was also able to ride the barrel wave past the Clintons once and for all leaving Billary to crash on the rocks.
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