One need look no further than changedotgov to understand how Obama and future presidents will use the Internet to communicate in a completely unfiltered way with citizens and the world’s population. Obama uploaded his weekly radio address earlier today. Already a 155,000 people on YouTube have seen it on by Saturday at 5PM EST. Remeber all of this behavior is “ondemand.” People opting in to watch.
Meanwhile Obama is using his campaign infrastructure to continue to send his constituents his messages including today’s address.
In today’s speech, Obama says he’s going to pass progressive legislation to invest in alternative energy and national infrastructure. The Washington lobbying machine will gear up to drive those dollars to individual states and to ensure that traditional speical interests (Oil, Auto, Teachers Union) maintain their traditional hegemony.
Obama and his administration have a chance to seriously dampen special interest power by mobilizing his army of volunteers and millions of Americans to send emails, call congressmen and even to raise money to combat certain special interests. The question is will Americans cotinue to engage beyond the election? Will they stay motivated to fight for what they believe in, even when a presidential race is not on the line?
Filed under: Politics, economy | Tagged: Barack Obama, changedotgov, energy, energy crisis, Internet, national infrastructure, Obama, President-Elect, transition team, unemployment, weekly radio address
You are so right about Obama revolutionizing how we communicate with those who run our country. I think with the interactive componant the internet brings will empower the average citizen to believe they really can make a difference on an individual level. That being said, there will most definitly be a decline in interest to help, once Obama takes office. All we can hope is that once it levels off, we will still have more people involved than before Obama swept the nation.
Keep in mind, with all the euphoria, that 48% of the electorate did not vote for Obama. I hope he keeps that in mind…
So right. It’s an amazingly important point.
That’s what I feel is exciting about Obama. You may not agree with his way of doing things, but I believe he truly does want to ignite everybody in this country to do their part, not just the Democrats.
I’m a Washingtonian and you feel the excitement of Obama.
Aaron knows I love history. Here’s a gergen comment I wished I had thought of: Lincoln was the telegraph President; FDR the radio one; JFK did TV (I loved to watch is press conferences.) Obama is the internet President. i take it seriously and filled out the survey campaign volunteers received.