Where there’s victory, there’s also opportunity…
This Presidential election was profound in its results. Obama won both the Electoral College vote 364 to 163 and the popular vote 53% to 46% with roughly 120,000,000 votes cast. This election was the first in 50 years, in which there was no incumbent President or Vice President from either party competing for the Presidential nomination. Close to 65% of the American population voted in this election, its highest turnout since the election of 1908.
With Obama’s wins in key “swing states” including Ohio, Florida, Colorado, and Pennsylvania, this election was nothing short of a landslide victory that fundamentally redrew America’s political dynamics. A Democrat had not won Virginia and Indiana in a generation.
Credit: CNN
But let’s examine the election another way, one that may bring to life a different picture of how Obama earned his place in history. His campaign both redrew political lines and also forever changed the way candidates reach out to constituents.
Online tools such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter contributed to the netting of record-breaking campaign funding and the staggering galvanization of a younger generation of first-time voters who truly made an impact and a difference. The Obama campaign, for example, outspent McCain nearly three-to-one, which was a testament to the capabilities of technology and the corresponding impact of sociology let loose on the Web. The Obama campaign leveraged multiple technology platforms and social immersion strategies to engage constituents directly, raising an astounding $660 million in campaign contributions.
They went directly to the people.
The Obama team, for example befriended almost 130,000 friends on Twitter with an almost equal amount following him.
On Facebook, the Obama page boasted over three million fans compared to McCain’s 618,000.
YouTube also swayed towards Obama with a network of 358,000 to 191,000, with the Obama camp posting over 1,800 videos compared to McCain’s 330. These videos accounted for 110 million views.
If you compare the other social networks and communities from FriendFeed to MySpace to Flickr, the stats are asymmetrical in Obama’s partiality.
Many of these two-way tools however, were simply used as broadcast mechanisms to send updates, solicit contributions, provide updates, and to also rally and unite supporters, albeit successfully.
Reaching the other 46%
My question is: What if these same social media tools where deployed to not only communicate “to” constituents, but also to listen and interact with supporters as well as those who don’t currently endorse the President-elect?
Over 46% of America voted against Barrack Obama, with 22 states going to John McCain, regardless of weight in the Electoral College. Either way you look at it, that’s still a significant portion of America who didn’t believe #change or #hope were attributes of the Obama campaign. These voters believed their future lay with another candidate.
Whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, Independent or member of the Green Party, you cannot overlook the power of real world community relations combined with the reach and engagement of online social communities and networks to change politics as usual.
If Obama dedicates a team aside from the outbound crew that “pushes” content through social channels in order to strategically reach, listen to, and embrace the 46% who voted against him, he might be able to run a truly democratic term. It could also curtail the necessity to campaign as much while in office in order to focus on the issues we elected him to fix
All signs and words emanating from the Obama camp and Mr. Obama himself, point to a strategy of leveraging today’s powerful, two-way bridges of communication.
In a text message sent to supporters on the eve of the election, he reaffirmed that they will be part of the Presidency moving forward, “We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I’ll be in touch soon about what comes next.”
But perhaps the most revealing promise that showed Mr. Obama will run his office for all the people of the United States, not just those who voted for him, was shared through his words on November 4th:
I will listen to you, especially when we disagree…and to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your President, too.
His first step towards bringing the vision of running a cross-party campaign is the launch of Change.gov, a portal for transparency and interaction during, and hopefully past, the transition.
In a sense, Change.gov is a simple and engaging site, but also highly intricate in its goals to give voters a voice. It is a resource center for sharing information, updates, jobs, and also provides a channel for people who share their vision, concern, and ideas with the President and his advisors through text, images or video.
Mr. Obama offers this message to visitors:
I ask you to believe – not just in my ability to bring about change, but in yours. I know this change is possible…because in this campaign, I have had the privilege to witness what is best in America.
Change.gov is the first step in a long road of reshaping the dynamics of politics and communication with voters.
They’re on the right track however.
Obama’s history-making campaign that fused community relations with social sciences, after all, carried him to the Democratic nomination and also the Oval Office. Mr. Obama and his team have cultivated and collaborated with a database of millions of people that spans a sophisticated contact relationship management infrastructure that spans across the real world to all popular social networks.
With an elaborate and revolutionary channel that will only grow with his Presidency, Obama takes office with a powerful new medium that may eclipse the reach and drive of traditional broadcast media.
But, what about those who voted against him?
What’s the channel for Obama to ask, “Why didn’t I get your vote?” Is it Change.gov or is it through the combination of inbound and outbound engagement that will unearth the key concerns that offer genuine potential for not just listening, but also intelligent response and earned support?
It’s a two way street.
This isn’t just about broadcasting content through new channels or merely soliciting feedback, participating in popular networks or actively listening. It’s the ability to identify and internalize themes to precipitate change and earn support through action—not just words.
For the first time, the U.S. President can cultivate grassroots communities directly where people create, discover, and share information online. He is already thinking in this direction, as evidenced by his intention to record the weekly Presidential address on Youtube, in addition to broadcasting it over the radio. The videos will be hosted on Change.gov, with the first one already recorded.
Other opportunities to engage with citizens online include:
- Launch a social network at Change.gov and/or whitehouse.gov
- Create a citizen feedback and collaboration page at GetSatisfaction
-Solicit policy proposals that people can vote up or down on Change For Us.
- Open the blog to comments on Change.gov (with community moderation).
- Address the country on YouTube with updates, polls, and also address issues in between official State of the Union broadcasts.
- Capture behind-the-scenes footage of the inner workings of the White House and share across all video networks.
- Create a user-generated channel on Magnify.net that features content from constituents.
-Create an @obamacares or @whitehousecares account on Twitter and other micro-blogging communities to listen and respond directly within each network.
- Complement the Presidential radio show with a regular podcast or livecast on uStream.tv or BlogTalkRadio and also interact with the people online, in real time.
- Publish speeches and important policy documents on document networks such as Scribd and Docstoc to be shared and disseminated throughout blogs and personal social profile pages.
(What other ideas do you have? Add them to comments).
This is how a President, or any politician or business for that matter, can authentically connect with the people formerly known as the audience—in the real world.
Treat us like customers
Most, successful businesses around the world place customers at the center of everything. Before the Web, for instance, Nordstrom built its engendering foundation on world-class, and now world famous, customer care.
There’s an extraordinary opportunity here for the White House to leverage these new and influential channels of conversation to embrace and cultivate voters as if they were customers, winning market share, one person at a time.
This is an era in which information is democratized. The Web potentially offers a live and unfiltered looking glass into the office of the Presidency and also the thoughts, insights, support, satisfaction, and grievances of the American people.
The Web cuts through political tape to spotlight the issues that matter most to the electorate. It creates the foundation for people to participate in a truly democratic, crowd-sourced Government that can directly channel their discontent or new ideas.
It’s through this collaboration that any public official, particularly the President, could continually maintain a real-time pulse of the country to learn from the very human effects and responses to government actions to run a more in-tune and effective administration.
People shouldn’t only have a voice during an election time; listening and responding should be an ongoing practice and process of any office. This is a political ecology rooted in sociology and conversations. It’s the art and science of stripping down the politics to reveal the truth.
The President can’t satisfy everyone, that’s just the reality. It’s human nature to disagree. This President-elect is not purporting to be perfect, but it seems he’s honestly willing to learn. With a national chief technology officer in place, combined with an informed engagement team versed in social sciences and psychology, he can use technology and two-way channels to not only increase economic efficiencies and boost education and media literacy, but also to “listen” to those influential beacons in order to continue to redraw, or potentially erase, party lines.
In my techtopian dreams, I hope that these incredible networks remain a constant source of conversation to extend beyond campaigning, but also collaborative governance that unites people.
It’s not about being Republican or a Democrat, it’s about representing the majority of the people, their views, passions, ambitions and struggles, in order to be a representative of the people for the people. This is Obama’s opportunity to use the tools and channels of today’s emerging voter demographics to rewrite the future of politics, while serving the best interests of the American people in the process.
Sometimes the best advisors and cabinet members are the very people who elected that person into office, and maybe, just maybe, also those who voted against him in the first place.
If the Obama camp reads this, I’m more than happy to release @obamacares and @whitehouse cares on Twitter. I held them for you.
“roughly 120,000,000 votes cast.”
“Close to 65% of the American population voted in this election”
…last time I checked America had more than 185M people
…last time I checked America had more than 185M people
“The American population” was a bad choice of words, but there are about 185MM registered voters in the US.
Yes for real the first true internet president and the first tech savvy one too – lol see this http://www.loop...ackberry-phone/
Yes but not all citizens vote…
Anyway, nice article.. I just wanted to point out.. it seems obama is already beginning to use his online tools to listen to people too
He gets a lot of things right (http://www.spinwhip.com/obama shows it well!)… it’s refreshing to say that of a US president.. it’s been a while!
Excellent article, Obama is the true 1st Internet President. He has set a high bar for others to follow.
65% of people who can vote, probably.
Right, so as I pointed out, it’s incorrect – and it’s a glaring error to the tune of 10s of millions of people…
It’s a blog post. Get over yourself.
Whoa whoa there, biscuits. It’s also the internet!
No, as You point out. You need to educate yourself on this subject first before commenting. This is the way it always been calculated. Do you really want to count the kids that can’t vote. Their parents made what they believe the best decision for them. For the rest that did not register and did not vote. They don’t participate and therefore do not count.
Here’s an education for you, Emmanuel: When someone says “American population” they are referring to the AMERICAN POPULATION, not voters who are registered, not citizens eligible to vote, but the POPULATION – AKA 300M+ people. This blog post is being read by likely as many non-Americans as it is by Americans. Your average person today is not instantly aware of the population of other countries, and saying that 65% of our population voted is quite misleading (since the number is closer to 40%).
Techcrunch attempts to be a legit journalistic entity, hovering somewhere above other blogs (hi biscuits!) – making stupid mistakes like this is ok for a blog, not fixing them is… well, dumb for anyone – blog or legit journalist.
“The Obama campaign, for example, outspent McCain nearly three-to-one, which was a testament to the capabilities of technology and the corresponding impact of sociology let loose on the Web.”
Um – have you ever heard of campaign finance reform? This 3-1 advantage had nothing to do with technology, and everything to do with Obama not living up to his promise to adhere to public financing guidelines.
I agree that Obama’s use of technology absolutely helped him reach a segment of the electorate that has rarely been engaged in politics in the past, and I commend him for that. But, to say this is why he was able to out spend McCain 3 to 1 is a flat out lie.
@CJM
The assertion that technology was to credit for Obama being able to outspend McCain is valid, thus not a lie.
Obama was able to collect his donations through the Internet which is why he had enough to outspend McCain.
As for opting out of Public Finance … because he was able to collect so much donations he did not need to have PF. PF is not mandatory and just because he changed his mind because he benefited from opting out is merely a wise strategy. Had it backfired it would have been a different story, right?
David,
It might be valid to say the Internet was a contributing factor, but what CJM is pointing out is that public financing was the primary reason, not the Internet. McCain could not raise more money once he opted in and he could have very likely raised more, especially in response to what Obama was raising at the time.
Obama knew he could raise more from the public so to suggest it was a calculated risk is incorrect. The motivation for accepting public financing on McCain’s part was largely because he doesn’t believe in $660 million budgets to run for office.
While I appreciate what Brian is trying to do, it’s not the only error in the article. There are several.
Best,
Rich
Obama lied about public finance. Then, what about all of the fraud on his website. He even had a chunk of the credit card security turned off:
http://director...vote-fraud.html
http://obamashr...gged.com/?p=187
So, yes, the internet was a big deal, but the dark side of fraud is there too.
As most of us are in tech here, how will his punitive taxes affect innovation?
The irony is that we have a man with Marxist leanings who squeezed as much as possible from the tools built by Capitalists and his stated goals are to tax (slow down) the growth of these tools (and all other methods of success too.)
“this election was nothing short of a landslide victory”
So, if 3% of the votes went the other way, Obama loses and that is nothing short of a landslide??
Yeah nearly half of the country voted against Barack Obama for President. Doesn’t really seem like a mandate to me.
Back to more of the bulk of the article….
I think if Barack really wants to be the two-way President, throwing up an online form where users can put up their gripes isn’t going to cut it. I don’t want to send my thoughts into some kind of virtual black hole.
Barack should appoint a series of regional or state-wide community manager who’ll be there to interact with the constituents or as you said the customers of the government to bring feedback back into the system.
“Mandate” has changed meanings in the past decade, ever since Bush said that his hair’s-breadth victory over Gore constituted a mandate.
You mean something like Congress?
Bush didn’t say he had a mandate in 2000. He said he had a mandate in 2004. Obviously, he was wrong.
This is a solid win, not a landslide. It’s a mandate for change, but not necessarily in the direction Obama may want.
Obama had youth in his favor, so as to make him much more conscious of this outlet. Hilary and McCain were older and Paulin just was not a techie.
Interestingly, Gore was an early techie. If he was running now would he have been savvy enough to exploit the Internet.
Also, Bill Clinton won at the same age as Obama – but just as the Web was beginning. If HE was running now, would he have been savvy enough to exploit the Web 2.0 in the same way.
It also appeared the Ron Paul was as savvy as Obama in using social media.
If you check Digg you will see DOZENS of articles about him that made the homepage – which probably means he was using those Web 2.0 promotion services and had a group that monitored and voted any positive references – UP.
OMG! Just imagine the elections of 2112
I could care less about an election that is 104 years out!
I have been talking about this victory in speaches out here in South Africa. I have speculated that this is the opportunity.
I think that it will be taken.
I have been talking about this victory in speeches out here in South Africa. I have speculated that this is the opportunity.
I think that it will be taken.
Awesome post. Dugg!
What is your definition of “landslide?” Winning the popular vote 53% to 46% is a solid win but not a landslide.
“OMG! Just imagine the elections of 2112″
Obama’s tax and spend programs will see a 17% unemployment, soup lines much larger than they are today times 10, negative corporate earnings and 12% interest rates.
You kids got your CHANGE, you may regret the victory.
God help us!
There are soup lines today?
Yes. Even in Washington, D.C., a few blocks from Congress and the White House — It is a chronic problem as well as with the homeless, that politicians ignore. Even Obama: did he raise $600M for his campaign? Do you believe that he is going to “donate” any of the money leftover to help American people in need?
My answer would be no. He will send money to African countries, as he has promised… “your” money. You, guys, the techie Obama “supporters”
@Thomas Felder — In reference to homeless [families!] in Washington, D.C. about three years ago I volunteered with some of my friends to bring food donated by local restaurants to them on Thanksgiving night, a very chilly one.
We fed about 75 of them, until we run out of food, money and tears. All the homeless people we found, men, women and children, were sitting/sleeping on sidewalks about 3 -5 blocks from The White House and Congress… Do you think that the “Messiah” is going to do anything about this? I am not going to hold my breath…. Just getting ready to do exactly the same on this Thanksgiving. Hope you guys out there do something similar…
Modern Liberals DON’T care about the poor, homeless, etc. Obama and the other Modern Liberals are very content driving right through these areas and being satisfied. I’m from the South Side of Chicago and it’s the same as it was 40 years ago. We’re not talking about Bush or Republicans, we’re talking about FOUR DECADES of total control by Democrats and Modern Liberals.
I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true. The reason is Modern Liberals want everything “equal”, not better. So everyone in the poor areas is closer than other areas to having everyone being equally poor. This is good to Modern Liberals. When success rears it’s ugly head, they tear it down. Remember, we’re talking FOUR DECADES of this. The people in these areas don’t have a chance with the full force of Modern Liberalism forced into every aspect of their lives by the government.
We all want things more equal, but this is the basis of the Modern Liberals belief system and it’s wrong. Obama and the others think the economy tanked because they don’t see how capitalism could ever work.
You people who voted for him will be wondering why things don’t get better. Will capitalism be able to overcome the full force of the government pushing it down?
Will Obama raise taxes as much as FDR did? How will higher taxes, especially higher capital gains hurt us? One last thing, I read somewhere that taxing capital gains is like taxing trees; we should tax the fruit, not the trees. Tell it to Obama.
“One last thing, I read somewhere that taxing capital gains is like taxing trees; we should tax the fruit, not the trees. Tell it to Obama.”
That is a stupid simile. How does taxing either trees or fruit make any sense? Whichever idiot you got that from clearly doesn’t understand how similes/metaphors work, as are you for perpetuating the idiocy.
@what
The voter turnout for this election was broadly predicted to be very high. One widely publicized early estimate predicted turnout of 136.6 million people or 64% of the voting population—which would have been the highest rate in 100 years. However, the total number of votes stands at ~127 million, just 5 million more than in the 2004 election.
http://en.wikip..._election,_2008
I know what it means, because I’m American and know the size of our population, and a general breakdown of the electorate vs. population vs. citizens. As I responded above, chances are as many non-Americans are reading this as Americans, and likely don’t know those breakdowns.
I’ve been very impressed how the Obama campaign has used web and social media technologies so successfully. His team clearly understands that traditional media isn’t the way to really reach people and engage them in conversations.
I thought the flickr photos of him and his supporters watching the election results was yet another example of their awareness on how to utilize technology to his advantage. Even the harshest critic of Obama could appreciate the joy he must have felt that night. So even if you don’t agree with is policies, you might at least find him likable.
I’m sure his team would consider that a good first step in getting him another 4 years.
Brian- These are all great ideas. Will it happen? Impossible to say at present. If the campaign is used as precedent, then there are encouraging signs. Unfortunately, the people in and purpose of a campaign are completely different than governing a country. I wrote about how the Obama team might adopt social software during the transition period (http://is.gd/6dco); it is not clear they are doing this. It is understandable, however. I am not surprised. Washington DC is very far from Silicon Valley. -Mark
Cheers for the Obama stats. I’ve had quite a few people asking where they could find information about how he used the web and think that this is a great start.
Tell us if the content on on Change.gov as it appeared Nov. 6 and Nov. 7 (Archived version here >> http://www.mega...nda/agenda.html ) was really what the Obama team meant to say before they pulled it offline without warning. Details >> http://www.prop...from-changegov/
Some of it was pretty chilling stuff to many of us Freedom loving clingers out here in the wilderness..
Actually Obama won getting people who normally don’t care enough to vote, to go vote.
So basically he by passed the intelligent electorate for the easily manipulated and got them to go vote for this change thing.
As of today 31 of 41 Clinton advisers have been hired to Obamas transition.
What we are missing is a congress.
> Actually Obama won getting people who normally don’t care enough to vote, to go vote.
The total vote increase since 2004 basically mirrors the population increase since then.
So, if Obama won because he got new voters, McCain lost because he lost old voters.
You will have change when Obama is done. Quarter, nickles, dimes and pennies. GWB will leave with a $10.5 trillion national debt. That means each US citizen owes $35,000 (10.5 tillion / 301 million). My guess is Obama will end his first term at $13-15 trillion.
Enjoy.
Regardless, Democrats sure did bitch a lot, they have no room for error, they better bring only real solutions or the GOP will take the mid-terms and lame duck Obama
Let’s just hope… But, they will not. The Democrats, wherever they are, Congress or The White House, have shown over the years that they are specially equipped to screw thing up… Think about the sub prime mortgage debacle: the culprits are Christopher Dodd, Barney Frank, and other morons, STILL IN OFFICE! == Just check this out!
Just remember: Jimmy Carter dismal “leadership” gave the American people Ronald Reagan. Enough said….
The Democrats measure success different than most people do. Most people define success as when things get better. The Democrats/Modern Liberals define success as when things are more “equal”. As we have seen over many, many years, this Socialist idea leads to hopeless, despair and death.
Just watch how the Democrats talk and think if their ideas lead to things getting “better” or “equal”? Remember, Obama talks a lot about “sacrifice”. It’s really that we all should sacrifice success so we all can be made equal. Entrepreneurs are not welcome.
@Alz I agree. I lived abroad for several years and your reference to “sacrifice” by Obama brought back unpleasant memories. It is the same approach used by dictators, telling people to “sacrifice” while their off shore bank accounts grow and grow while they enjoy their luxury cars with gold-plated touches, etc. The government of Argentina passed a law recently confiscating the savings of millions of people, together with their investment accounts, etc. And, similar legislation has been proposed in the US Congress a few weeks ago… by whom? by a socialist liberal!!! (who else)
Intially Change.gov was collecting “ideas” for the Obama administration agenda.
The page is still live, but not linked anywhere on the site:
http://change.g...e/s/ofthepeople
Hope that doesn’t end up being an empty promise, like “I’ll build a bi-partisan cabinet” appears to be heading…
Matt
twitter: @brightidea
Brian,
I like the exploration of possibilities you describe, and I do think Obama should continue to use SM tools to engage various publics during his term.
But the bigger issue touches on ALL politicians: Why aren’t more politicians using SM? I want to propose that SM is still too transparent for most. The ugly truth is that most politicians don’t want their constituencies knowing that they’re meeting with lobbyists and PACs. Until Washington (or we the people) address the issue of campaign reform, I see a very slippery slope of using SM in a PR-spin kind of way.
Obama clearly understands the power of communicating with folks via SM and the Internet, and it will be interesting to see how his chosen CTO develops communications.
I think for Obama to really hear the 46 million+ voices who chose not to vote for him, he will need to do something fairly significant to back up that statement. To me, this would mean several (not one) high-level appointments of Republicans to his Cabinet. We’ll see, yes?
Thanks for the discussion!
@Linda Ld Jacobson, APR The same reason why the majority of Americans don’t have blogs, aren’t on Twitter, resisted getting on MySpace initially, etc. Being transparent allows yourself to be vulnerable. And for politicians, that’s the last thing they want to be. Politicians will have to get over these fears in order to reap any of the benefits of SM.
What is “SM”? “Social Metworks” Can’t you write in English?
Brian,
Thanks for including BlogTalkRadio in this post.
We agree that it would be a wonderful idea for the Obama team to utilize our platform to conduct virtual town hall meetings with the ability for President elect Obama to take questions and interact with citizens from not only the US, but from all over the world.
Alan Levy
Founder and CEO
http://www.blogtalkradio.com
Alan, it will never happen. In a way, politicians are like vampires: they will suck your blood and will never, ever, see daylight, meaning offer “transparency” or the truth, for that matter.
I will assume that you never saw Obama *AVOIDING* all types of questions during his campaign and never answering a question directly? What makes you believe that he will participate on a town meeting, virtual or otherwise?
This was a great post, and it’s so refreshing to see a President really taking advantage of the power of the American people.
I think Obama should open up the Google Moderator tool (http://moderator.appspot.com) that was used for the debates. It would help set an agenda and also bring to light issues that really matter to majority of the population.
When Bush won by electoral and 51% popular the headlines were.
Country divided…guess two more percent points means the country is united.
Excellent article. It’s great to see the way technology is changing our society’s relationship with government officials. I love the additional ideas presented in this article on how to give the American people a louder voice. I suspect (and hope) that these best practices will spread to members on Congress and other government officals.
Oops I meant “officials”
Ditto. Do you think that “technology” will serve the American people the same way when Obama starts screwing up and “forgetting” his campaign promises?
I am waiting.
Really good post. I’m in HC mode with it now. (High Circulation) YOUR loyal customer, SpaceyG.
Excellent post. Communication is such a powerful tool, yet it’s rarely used as well as it could be. Communication at its best involves a willingness to listen, to absorb, to respond in a respectful and thoughtful way, and to joyfully invite others to participate. When people realize that their involvement really does make a difference – that it is seen, recognized, valued, and is acted on – we’ll see a dramatic change in how we do business as well as government in America.
Thank you for inspiring some great dialogue!
Government will certainly change, but not in the way you suggest and hope: politicians will continue to be the slimy whores they are now — but, they will find new ways to screw us all…. this time, in a “high tech” way.
isn’t it possible that the rest of america who didn’t vote for obama wanted something more substantive than platitudes like “change”, “hope” and “yes we can”.
i know this is true in my case.
however, i think brian is right on the money with his assessment of government reaching out to constituents in a bold new way (welcome to the party .gov where the hell have u been?). i would’ve rather brian’s last section been titled “connecting with the new constituents” rather than “treat us like customers”. i don’t want our politicians treating me like a corporate customer. i’d rather them treat me like an investor if we’re gonna use business terms.
socialize that.
I keep reading these comments and I see that there is hope galore, all around. Of course, I am part of this crowd, however, can;t get rid of this gut feeling that we are all going to be betrayed — and screwed up once again.
..i would hazard that a significant, if not a majority, number of the 46% who did not vote for Obama never heard of, could give a rat’s ass nor have the inclination of joining Facebook, Myspace or Twtter.
These outlets certainly didnt hurt Obama, though i think they had minimal impact at best. You’re whole article seems to dismiss the sheer magnetism of the man and his ability to inspire people.
“the sheer magnetism of the man and his ability to inspire people” — attributes that *WE THE PEOPLE* bestowed on him. He is an empty suit, lying his way to the top, like another damn politician….
It’s too bad that marketing is what put this socialist-terrorist in office.
Yeap. Marketing from Madison Avenue and Hollywood, plus the help of the liberal media…
I don’t know if I like the idea of a two-way presidency. There is a chain of command in the government like there is in the military. If you have a problem, you aren’t supposed to go directly to the president. You’re supposed to go to your local representative, who will then talk with representatives from other regions. If the problem is widespread enough, they’ll propose legislation and THEN the president gets involved.
It works that way for a reason. The president, or even the president’s staff, cannot listen to and reply to the concerns of every day citizens. There are a LOT of them and a lot of people don’t have polished communication skills. Issues need to be filtered through government channels so that the people on top can be focused on the big picture issues. The chain of command has been a fixture of every major corporation and military unit for a long time, and I don’t know if twitter or facebook is going to change that.
True — However, there are exceptions, like what happened not long ago with the proposed Kennedy-McCain amnesty law for illegal aliens.
Us, the American people overwhelmed Congress and The White House with our loud voices [millions of telephone calls] until the legislation died…
McCain *STILL* believes that the amnesty he proposed was “fair” — As it was ignoring our wishes: 76% of Americans do not want any kind of amnesty for illegals, for very clear reasons that politicians do not get!
Right on!!! — After that amnesty law was defeated, the Dems [Teddy Kennedy front and center, with Harry Reid] proposed another sneaky one, in the middle of the night! –It was also defeated.
BTW, George W Bush was ready to sign *ANY* amnesty legislation coming his way, again, totally ignoring the wishes of the American citizens.
There is something odd about George W: for some reason, he loves anything Mexican. He even speaks Spanish better than he speaks English…. That says a lot!
I enjoy Brian’s writing, here and on other topics. It’s important to connect the dots from hope to reality. Disclosure: I’ve spent time in republican circles as senior communications advisor in the 1980s and early 90s. That however, does not today make me a partisan, I believe that labels are the first form of prejudice. In fact, your scenario may well have someone like me in mind. First a comment about a couple of your points related to Obama’s win. On spending, Obama owes his advantage in part to his reversal on accepting public campaign financing. http://culld.us/l3378368 – no doubt money he had earned because of his message. I don’t begrudge him his due.
On the Obama moment, this unique point in time where the stars are in alignment for his message, let’s give George W Bush some credit for creating it. Suffice it to say that several of his W’s decisions and their unintended consequences were the cause of Bush having the dubious distinction of being the most popular and most unpopular President. I was in harmony with republicans Brent Scowcroft and Senator Chuck Hagel opposing the Iraq war, so even members of the same party disagree.
The major challenges society faces is compromise, civility, and unity. Social media can help facilitate discussion on issues that require give and take, healthcare for example, trade, economic policy, even foreign policy.
Sometimes issues don’t lend themselves to compromise abortion for example, war may be another. Social media will serve to facilitate the discussion, but leadership is not about splitting the difference. Some in the country will look at a big picture of an Administration’s work, others may hold some issues to be so dear, that it dominates the image.
I don’t accept the premise that it’s not about being Republican or Democrat, that it’s about representing the majority of the people. If it were that simple, I’m all for Ross Perot’s idea, let’s just have voting night once a week where we all log on, view the issue and vote. No governing is about leading, representing, opposing, and reconciling along with many other complex relationships. Plenty of oppression and injustice is carried out by the majority, the majority is not always right.
I amend your premise, here’s my add, that being Republican or Democrat is not about being right or wrong, but about a perspective from which to govern. There are times when perspectives blend to form a different perspective.
I hope social media combat’s some of the mainstream media who seek conflict, because conflict sells. A media that has become more divisive and from those powerful entities, some of them are also communities that seek to undermine.
I hope social media is not about building a bigger, louder, community that is a digital mirror of the physical walls that have been built over the last 20 years. I believe that social media is a movement where the pen is stronger than the sword, where democracy can flourish as the oppressed find a voice and support, where ideas spread across partisan divides, where we as a society take pride in joint accomplishments, and respect why we differ.
@Albert: you mention Obama’s “message” several times, are you referring to the slogan “Change We Need?” or “McCain = Bush?” — They are both empty of any significant meaning… because they are only that, “slogans”
No one really knows what Obama stands for or what he is going to do. My guess is that he does not know either…. which I hope that you guys would agree with me: *SCARY*
funny that you ask which message which is “Change we need” or “McCain=Bush” which in general is the same message.
I believe that the destiny of this election was created at least 4 years ago, Kerry just wasn’t a dynamic enought candidate.
And I don’t agree because I believe he did prove to be a better leader of his campaign. I believe that the political climate is changing, our demographics are dramatically different than 100 or 50 years ago and we need to respond to it differently.
The same old rhetoric, philosophies, and talking points need to change.
Great Read, Brian!
Somehow I doubt Saint Obama clicked Follow for each and every one of those Twitter fans. I’m thinking a few interns were each tasked with blindly clicking all day long.
For years, we’ve been experiencing a turning point in communication technology. It’s very impressive to see an organization like Obama’s team leverage it with such success.
I myself have been inspired by it all and have launched 2 Obama-related web businesses. Today, I launched DiscussTheFireside.com, a place for people to talk about his weekly fireside chats.
“have launched 2 Obama-related web businesses. Today, I launched DiscussTheFireside.com”
How are you going to monetize the sites?
Advertising? If this is so, it is fairly risky because as Obama’s popularity declines (is already happening) your site will have less and less visitors, which means less and less advertising…
I will eventually put some advertising on the site to monetize it. I also have some other ideas. However, this is more of an experiment than a business venture. If it turns into something, great! I’m not counting on making a living from it.
Change.gov keeps commenting closed on YouTube and their own site for the videos. People are going to want to discuss it somewhere!
http://www.Disc...TheFireside.com
True, the Obama campaign demonstarted the enormous constructive use potential of online communication tools and networks. But thats just half the story. “Social Media Tools” are a double edged sword. As raising the ‘capital’ of hope is countered, via the same tools, with the ‘capital’ of hate.
“Comment porn” is to Web 2.0 what porn is to The Internet. Some of it is sexy, but too much is just plain nasty.
Conclusion: Social Media Tools have demonstrated…
1). never underestimate the willingness of cowards to spew insults.
2). never again underestimate their political potential!
3). never underestimate the profound stupidity and ignorance of the cowards mentioned on item 2).
4). knowing how to use a keyboard does not make you smart. A chimp can do it.
I don’t think Obama will continue or even take up a *real* two-way conversational style of debating/informing public policy. Predicify.com or Hubdub.com should have a bet vote on this.
Put your money where your mouth is and bet that he won’t use Twitter personally as it would just get swamped. Imagine if he posted a question like ‘What do you think of Net Neutrality?’ Since 99% of the Twitter user replies will be the same and thus over-represention of opinion I guess that’s a silly example. But point made.
Obama has used (and a majority of future politicians will use) Twitter for self-promotion and other one ways rather than replying/participating in questions.
Exactly.
Now this is what I call with sustainable usage of Internet as political campaign. Will Obama’s government reach the effective state as shown in the election phase using internet as media? Only time knows. But reviewing his successful effort I might sure that Obama is adequately ready for two way president.
I voted for McCain and my brother voted for Obama. I hope I don’t have to say, “I told you so.”
Why not?
Obama has already betrayed his supporters. “Change We Need” Yes, and a few days after being elected he is surrounded by the all-white Washington establishment… including (possibly at this time) Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. Now, *WHERE IS THE CHANGE?*
Maybe this time, Hillary drops slick Willie, for good!
Another idea for the list: online hearings: http://amyloo.c...ublic_hearings/
Not sure I agree with the concept of treating citizens as customers; it implied 1-way service. I think a lot of us want to be in on the serving too.
How about creating a website telling exactly where every penny of the bailout funds goes and what the recipient is doing with the money. Now we see Phoenix and Philly asking for bailout. California wants several billion. Will we see Sun Microsystems next?
The centralized, big-brother mentality now wants to destroy the 401(k) industry. Think thousands of financial advisors, mutual fund companies and Charles Schwab. http://www.lati...;track=ntothtml
Twittering complex social political issues is the ‘One Minute Manager’ of the 21st century. Instant gratification. Let me pass my days mindlessly with icanhascheezburger.com … shall I wear my trousers rolled…
Re: “telling exactly where every penny of the bailout funds goes…”
Yes, and why not take it a step further, and let users download the raw data, the same way the Census Bureau provides files for demographers.
But it doesn’t look like anything near that is happening yet. Check out today’s Democracy Now interview with Naomi Klein. http://www.demo...lout_profiteers — sounds like not a whole lot of transparency.
Great post. Great recommendations. But I’d add that the dems should maintain even now the grassroots calls and door knocking as part of this strategy. It’s certainly old school, but still very powerful when integrated with the latest communications tools.
This should be an overall strategy for Republicans as well, since the country would greatly benefit from having both parties (and probably 3rd parties too) constantly well informed, engaged, and accessible. Lord knows the gopbase is in a shambles and out of touch technically, which is not good whether one supports them or not. Healthy competition is a must.
Fantastic article! Certainly offers a unique perspective that I feel most mainstream media would completely miss. Bravo, TechCrunch!
As long as this doesn’t just become a method for ‘pooling our ignornace’, i.e. telling each other what we want…but not one person in the administration listening to us. I, for one, want the person doling out the ‘bailout money’ to limit the pay and bonuses these so-called smart CEO’s receive…after running their companies into the ground!!
What evidence suggests this was a “two-way” thing? Weren’t nearly all of the Twitter posts a broadcast message? Wasn’t the iPhone app a way to stay up on what Obama was doing and staying? And weren’t the Facebook apps a vehicle for linking together like-minded supporters?
AdamoGiovane is right. This was really just another one-way campaign run on new-age tools.
TC: +1 !
Awesome!
The economy is on the brink of collapse, looters from left and right are demanding first go at the carcass before the animal is even dead, and meanwhile the culture warriors are almost ready to start blowing things up again.
And you want the new President to spend his time playing on Facebook.
Yeah, cheap. But the fact is that Obama is just another President. He’ll be listening to advisers and to whom he owes political favours to or from whom he wants some more. The only voice of the people a politician ever hears is “Yaaaahhhh” at their rallies or “Waaaaahhh” at someone else’s. As others have said, the campaign was the usual one-way message using new media.
And the way the new administration will satisfy the electorate remains the same for every one throughout history. There are four basic tools:
1) Take someone else’s money and give it to them. (Left, economic)
2) Give them back some of the money you took during an earlier use of (1) in such a way that they forget it’s theirs. (Right, economic)
3) Make someone else suffer. (Right, social)
4) Ease up on an earlier use of (3) in such a way that they think they’re being given a treat. (Left, social)
Those are pretty powerful tools, capable of laying waste to entire countries if used wrongly (or, from another perspective, if used particularly well). Hiring an intern to call someone by name on Twitter isn’t going to join that list.
I fear you’re right. Frankly, I’m glad Obama didn’t spend his time Twittering back and forth with people. I don’t want my next president planning around online or with the latest greatest social media tool.
I also think this is exactly what his marketing advisors were hoping would happen: we’d see him as the first tech-savvy president. When in fact, he was still just sending mass messages out like any other previous candidate. Just using new tools to do it with…which made people feel like they were part of the team.
John McCain could donate his social graph to the Obama administration… civicsgraph.org
Awesome!
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WE NEED MORE THAN A TWO WAY PRES WHO THINKS OUTSIDE THE BOX(S)!
PRESIDENTIAL “TO-DO LIST”
OUR MOTTO >”YOU AND WASHINGTON WORK FOR WE, THE
PEOPLE: NOT WE, tHE CORPORATION!!
1. The poles’ ice is melting at ever increasing rates. The oceans are rising. A large
electro-magnetic shift in the charge of the poles has an large negative charge
off the coast of South America. Where the magnetic carge should be postive.
Scientists say that the magnetic + & – of the poles are about to swap!. The results
are that the ionoshere and the ozone layer above this anomoly are under attack
from the sun’s cosmic radiation. When the poles do switch, (around the end of
this century) the protective upper atmosphere will almost disapear. Extinction of
life will be almost TOTAL!
PLEASE FUND RESEARCH BY SCIENTISTS AND INVENTORS TO DISCOVER THE CAUSE AND
FIND A SOLUTION TO THE GLOGAL WARMING AND THE ELEECTRO-MAGNETIC POLE
POTENTIAL DISASTER(S)!
2. The oceans and landfills are full of plastic objects and scraps. These plastic
scraps are eaten by birds and feed to baby chicks.
PLEASE TELL CHEMICAL COMPANIES TO STOP MAKING THINGS OUT OF
NON-BIODEGRADEABLE PLASTICS. AND SYNTHETICS CURRENTLY SOME PLASTIC BAGS
ARE MADE FROM CORN AND BIO-DEGRADE IN ABOUT 3 MONTHS.. SYNTHETIC
PRODUCTS SHOULD BE BANNED AND/OR RECYCLING FUNDED.
3. The “industrial revolution” while a seeming boon to employment, has created a finanicial system teatering on over-blown credit. The parenting time currently allowed for young children has decayed to mostly meal times. I am one of the
first generations raised by television in a working class parents household. Now we have many many generations raised by many electronic devices from computers to video games
to I-Pods. America and most western cultures have serious “devaluing” of family
foundations. This is mostly due to a lack of parents’ to keep infants in close body
contact to their Mother from birth to the first 4 or 5 years of life. This absencse of
“mother-love” is the main reason for the degradation of family values, morals and ethics. In southern Asia Indians, and Vietnamese mothers have always practiced carrying babies on their or in backpacks as they work.
4. America needs to stop sending industry oversaes. America needs to stop hiding their
money overseas. Ameriac needs to stop allowing lobbyests from taking power away
from the middle class (which the Repulican party has wtittled down to the bone
through “globalization of corporate assets)! The USA should stand shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the
nations of the world and fund and enforce global corporate oversght for the planet
and its native populations!
5. We need to be building as many sea water desalinization plants, using the newly discovered cheaper process created at an American college and shown on the Science Channel this yeay 2008) as
possible especially along the coasts of desert and drought nations!
6. Profit will not guide this planet in any sustainable way! We need to be making as many
photovoltaic collectors using the new cheaper mylar film technology (as shown on the science or Green channel this year) as possible!
all around the world
7. Actor/ political activist, Chuck Norris appaered on the 700 Club on Dec. 11 2008. Mr. Norris said the following statement first in response to the economic shortfalls in the current resession. The biggest corporations in the world have approximately 14 trillion dollars in offshore bank accounts. The government should confiscate these funds and help the middle class.
8. Create “WPA” 1930’s projects: A; rebuild the Gulf Coast and Florida, B: rebuild the tornado struck towns, C: replant and rebuild the west coast and rockey mtn. residential and forest areas, D: create funding for improving infant,daycare concepts,elementary, high school levels, E: What can you think of? EX: Old Age and Universal Health Care for EVERY citizen of the United States of America regardless of income?
9. Create an over sight watch dog for the following political activities: Campaign funding, FEMA, Dept. of the Interior (Indian Affairs, park and forest resources, Dept of Environmental Resources, Food & Drug Administration, Lobbists and congress activities, overseas money laundering and tax evasion of larger corporations, create a citizen-owned credit system with total transparency as a new type of business template, What’s on your wish list? Free luch for all school kids?
10. stop making formaldahyde and melemine everywhere. It never goes away! Stupid! Ban anything that is like that!
11. United Nations Naval Protection of endangered whales.
12. STOP the release of toxic fuels and other compuonds into the atmosphere IMMEDIATELY!
13. Your “American North slope oil fields, support systems, roads, pipelines, etc. are on permafrost that is disappearing. SHUT IT DOWN!
14. declare Jeruselum the first world class regious city. Owned by ALL on ALL levels!
15. STOP promoting and selling arms and drugs business internationally either overtly or covertly! START creating businesses that can feed the thirst and hunger of all countries (EX 1: cheap photovoltaic solar cells applied in a film on UV resistant mylar film or other roofing materials. EX 2: cheap portable and villaged-sized water purification distillers that work on evapotransperation)
16. The World Bank, the FDIC and its subcontractors have been killing off South American liberals who want to give the land and its resources back to the people as well as many other convert gestopo tactics in the middle east and Africa. The World Bank and its conduct are at the ROOT of the current finanical “meltdown”. If we want an America that stands for what it says in the Bill Of Rights and The Constitution, the World Bank needs over sight and tranparency. I believe The World Bank is the hitman for all the biggest corporations, which are in charge of the world and the “lion share of the world’s money. Let’s play “catch up” with the American people and put the power back into the hands of American citizens again! Profit is the global ethic and dictatorship will be the result! Let’s change THE WORLD and help restore the damage done to the Bill Of rights, The Constitution and our standing as a Democarcy!
Date: 12/12/08: Morning airing of The 700 Club: Satilite live interview with actor and patroit, Chuck Norris and his wife: The first statement from Mr. Norris was a solution for our economic crisis. (paraphrase) “The USA needs to go into the the offshore banking accounts of corporations hiding their 14 trillion in reveunes and confiscate some of that money to rebuild the American middle class and the Gulf Coast. I agree with Norris that is true patriotism! Saving your money is the most patriotic move for American citizens to make! Living on credit only undermines the nation and the world!
17. Since Haliburton has been paid vast sums of American tax dollars to blow up Iraq and then, rebuild Iraq, Haliburton should give the American people a huge bonus. Haliburton should pay for all the resulting medical bills for Iraqi Coalition Veterans! They could maybe use some of the used 87 billion dollars in Iraqi oil profits to reimburse the American tax payers too!
18. Get our troops out of Afganistan NOW! The Gerrila tactics of Mose se Tung used by the Taliban broke the USSR in Afganistan and the USA in Vietnam and Korea. Restore the United Nations to its former power and fund them to deal with terrorism unilaterally, so we can rebuild our own infastructures domestically due to weather damage and out-sourcing of American jobs.