Reality Time at MyBarackObama.com
It's reality time at MyBarackObama.com. The latent tension between a conventional top-down presidential campaign and the bottom-up social-networking Internet operation it launched has burst into the open in the form of a grassroots insurrection against Senator Obama's decision to support legislation granting legal immunity to telecommunications companies that cooperated with the Bush administration's program of wiretapping without warrants.
The Obama campaign, by far the most Internet-savvy presidential campaign thus far, operates several web sites. BarackObama.com is a straight-forward campaign site, where visitors can see videos of speeches, read about issues, and or course donate money. MyBarackObama.com is a full-fledged social networking site built along the lines of Facebook. Once a visitor registers as a MyBarackObama member, he or she can post blogs, join discussion groups, send each other messages, organize events, and create networks of "friends," just as on Facebook or MySpace.
In fact, MyBarackObama.com is actually a Facebook knock-off, shepherded into reality over a year ago by Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. The Obama campaign's early recruitment of Hughes, which enabled the campaign to pull a virtually bug-free social networking site out of its hat early on in the campaign, was one of the most pivotal yet least noted turning points in the presidential race.
MyBarackObama.com has been critical to the spectacular fundraising success of the Obama campaign. But what Senator Obama might do with this novel asset beyond simply raising money was an open question. And what MyBarackObama.com might do with Senator Obama was a question few even asked.
Noam Cohen wrote in the New York Times last month, "The receptiveness of the Obama campaign to such bottom-up influences raises a question: might the candidate actually model his approach to politics on the informal communal spirit the Internet encourages?"
Political commentator Andrew Sullivan thought the question had already been answered. "It's a new form of politics. It is likely to last beyond the Obama campaign and to change the shape of all campaigns to come."
Not so fast, argued Markos Moulitsas Zúniga of the DailyKos. "The Obama campaign is still very much a top-bottom operation. They've made it very easy for people to hop on the bandwagon, but those in the back of that wagon still get no say in where the campaign is going."
Well, this week it started to get really noisy in the back of the wagon. A new "group" started on MyBarackObama.com called "Senator Obama -- Please, No Telecom Immunity and Get FISA Right." By last night there were 7,000 members. At noon today there were 11435, just short of making it the largest group on the MyBarackObama site. During the time I wrote this column, more than 800 more signed up. By the time you read this, it will almost certainly be the largest. There is even a contest being organized to see who can predict how many members the group will have by the time of the FISA vote next week.
Note to the Obama campaign: even a cursory glance at the history of social networking on the Internet ( MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter for starters) shows that when content creation is put into the hands of the users who also have the ability to communicate and share with one another, the result becomes highly dynamic and unpredictable.
So here we are, balanced at the precise point where the bottom-up dynamics of Web 2.0 meets the top-down dynamics of an American presidential campaign. Depending on your take on Obama, you might imagine the Senator as railing in private against the power his Internet advisors have unwittingly given his base, or alternatively, as being secretly delighted at the unruly democratic spirit his campaign and its Web tools have unleashed.
In my most recent post, I wrote about the tension between Obama's Internet fundraising operation -- the 1.5 million small donors -- and his conventional fundraising. I wondered who would have the most influence with Obama, the small group of big donors who have faces and phone numbers the candidate knows, or the 1.5 million small donors.
It seems that the social networking tools of MyBarackObama.com may give some of those small donors a collective face and point of contact. At this moment, the contact is the "Senator Obama -- Please, No Telecom Immunity and Get FISA Right" group.
There is of course no guarantee how much real influence the members of this group will have with Obama. But they certainly have his attention. In fact, the good folks at Obama HQ are without doubt counting every new member. 12,261 and counting.
**
Some comments from "Senator Obama - Please, No Telecom Immunity and Get FISA Right":
After going through the long and difficult primary I truly believed that Senator Obama was the man we needed. It did not take long for him to prove me so wrong. The Senator from Chicago became an inside the Beltway wonder in such a short period of time. What I want, and I say want, not please, is to see him stand up and as the leader of the Demos and stop this FISA bill. The FISA part of the bill is just as wrong as the telecom immunity. But how can you condone the telecoms disregard of the law? Please tell me how? If he does not I am finished and I will not vote for him or any Demo. This is very difficult to say with McShame running on the GOP ticket. But if Senator Obama can't stand up for me and my right to privacy (4th Amendent) who the hell will?
this is a group that REFUSES to support a candidate that supports a measure that is _unconstitutional_. Playing that "it will get McCain elected" game doesn't fly here. We're concerned about the CONSTITUTION, remember that thing?
I'm done capitulating. If the contributors to the Obama campaign truly own it, as Obama likes to say, then it's time we started acting like it.
I have just contacted the Obama campaign and asked for my money back that I have contributed. They have agreed to refund it. If Senator Obama changes his mind and opposes FISA I will send all of my money back to the campaign.
etc.
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I don't suppose anyone one of those 12,000 plus has even bothered to READ the new FISA Measures (HR 6304) have they???
I highly doubt it. If they had, they wouldn't be throwing the Dems best chance to regain the White House down the toilet....
Michale...
Many many of the now 13500 plus 0bama supporters have read HR 6304 and understand that it represents an assault on the 4th Amendment. And we resent being characterized as trolls, uninformed, misinformed, whiners, babies, chicken littles, ad nauseum by the 0bama can do no wrong cheerleading section of the campaign that you represent.
Spoken like a true Republican.
Yeah right! No they haven't! Many many of the now 13500 are just following the crowd. Getting swept up in the drama without knowing the facts.
You may see it as an assault on the 4th amendment, I personally don't see it that way. Oversight to make sure this doesn't happen again is in the bill. That's what I think is important. If the bill didn't include immunity then Bush would just veto to. And frankly even if immunity was off the table not one single telecom person is ever going to jail so I see no good reason wasting years trying. Good leaders don't start battles they have no chance of winning.
and you know this how maybe because you are more than one of them
This is exactly why Democrats lose campaigns again & again & again
Can we please just elect him first?
Where are all these disgruntled folks going to go?
To MyJohnMcCa
Oh, just going to ask for your money back & stay home are you?
I'm sure John McCain will prove to be the Progressive leader that you've longed for.
To MyJohnMcCa
Yes, they will go there.
Umm Ralph Nader is still running isn't he?
Yes, he is and they will vote for him.
Oh, just going to ask for your money back & stay home are you?
Yes, they will.
I'm sure John McCain will prove to be the Progressive leader that you've longed for.
And, apparently, BHO is not the Progressive leader that we've longed for.
NO WORRIES! Barack is the lesser of two evils, so he'll get my vote. But that's all!
Speak for youself Badcompany. Unless Obama changes position on exiting Iraq, Health care or strengthening the middle class he still has my vote and financial support.
Well said.
I get not approve Obama's stance of FISA but I dont' understand withdrawing support from him over it. The choice is between Obama and McCain and McCain's stance on FISA is just a bad. So since that issue is a draw, who do you want setting the foreign policy agenda, and the economic agenda, and the healthcare agenda? Despite Obama's stance on FISA he is still miles better than McCain. Don't jeapardize this election of a single issue.
IF YOU FORFEIT EVERYTHING TO WIN YOU LOSE
You may be a Dem, but you sure sound like Rep on this one. Just because people are organizing to have their grievances heard doesn't mean they won't vote for him. If we would have done this with Bush all this time we may not have gotten into this mess.
Excuse me, many of the examples show that they will not vote for him!
Spoken like a true Republican.
The creator of the social group on Obama’s site that sprung to life earlier this week also created a wiki.
The key here is that it’s built on a wiki, so people connect with people around content—and content lives forever on the Internet.
The URL is: http://get
Feel free to email me if you’re interested in it further.
This is a great site!
I like the position on FISA even more than I do the one on "Faith Based Initiatives" and the Fisa thing makes me more outraged and disappointed than I thought possible.
Also, I have yet to see The Candidate weigh in on Zimbabwe.
Does he plan to just metmorph into a leader at the end of the swearing in ceremony or is he going to grab us all by our collective neck and shake until he's got everyone listening real good? I'm ready for the later and seem to be looking at the later.
Here is a great http://www
And Here : http://www
And here is another: http://www
When the most visible politician in the world apparently chooses to not be visible on an issue, that speaks volumes also.
Don't just say it in an obscure place where folks have to look for it. SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS. After all, that's what leadership is!
This Democratic habit of chasing Republican voters and taking the voters of their own party for granted has always mystified me. It, quite obviously, is not a winning strategy. I believe the winning move is to motivate the millions of non-voters. I thought that was the BHO strategy. Lately, he seems more interested in alienating the base in order to appeal to Republicans that *will not* vote for him anyway.
I think it was in high evience during the primaries when the Obama supporters kept telling the Clintonistas - we don't need you.!
Its the first time I saw a campaign say they didn't need voters!
Obama supporters are the voters NOT the Obama campaign. Obama and his campaign have never said or acted as if they do not need votes! You are a Clinton supporter -does that mean you are part of her campaign. NO. It means you are V-O-T-E-R. NOT A SURROGATE, NOT AN ADVISER, NOT A STAFF MEMBER AND THUS NOT A PART OF THE CAMPAIGN!
Yeah, we all need a President that only looks after his own-Party-and ignores the needs of the rest of country. I've had enough of that crap for the past 8 years!
Although they were stupid and partisan enough to follow King George W off a cliff, he *very obviously* did not look after the his own party or they would not be on the ropes. Your comment is pure nonsense as I said nothing about looking after BHO's party. I said he should appeal to *the millions of non-voters*.
Badcompany - I think his 50 state campaign says he's chasing every vote. Perhaps had Hillary done that her results may have been different. Obama has said many time that he will be the President of all Americans. I'm pretty amazed tsome of his supporters are suddenly having difficulty with the realization that he is a centrist when fact is he made that clear from the beginning.
Giving the GOP their priorities does *not* make him a centrist!
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