Barack Obama took Howard Dean's pioneering concept of an Internet-powered campaign and raised it to unbelievable levels, resulting in the landslide election of America's first black President.
Today we learned Obama built an email list of 10 million progressive activists. So what's next for Obama's online machine, a.k.a. MyBO? David Carr is spot-on:
Special-interest groups and lobbyists will now contend with an environment of transparency and a president who owes them nothing. The news media will now contend with an administration that can take its case directly to its base without even booking time on the networks.
For the first time in the TV era, the two most powerful gatekeepers in Washington - Corporate lobbyists and the Corporate Media - will no longer control the gates to the Federal Government. And the potential consequences of this are as revolutionary as FDR's fireside radio chats, which allowed his New Deal to overcome strenuous Corporate opposition.
In 1993, Bill Clinton entered the White House with similar popular support and enthusiasm. But his Presidency effectively ended the day the health insurance industry launched its "Harry and Louise" ads to block his health care bill. Those ads killed Clinton's bill, leaving the Democratic base demoralized heading into the 1994 election. Many of Clinton's voters stayed home, allowing Newt Gingrich and the Republican Revolution to sweep into power and dictate Clinton's agenda for the next 6 years.
Barack Obama knows exactly what happened to Clinton, and he now has an incredible weapon - mass emails - to make sure it doesn't happen to him. First, Obama will be able to frame policy debates on his terms, rather than letting his opponents do the framing. Second, Obama will be able to turn his supporters into an unprecedented grassroots lobbying force to pressure reluctant Members of Congress. Third, Obama will be able to recruit and fund challengers to run against Members who dare to vote against his bills.
In fact, Obama's power even goes beyond raw politics. If a Corporate Media entity gets in his way, Obama could ask his supporters to boycott it and put it out of business. (Are you listening, FOX?) And if an industry group - like the health insurance industry - gets in his way, he could put its worst corporate member out of business the same way.
The potential power of Obama's Internet "base" is limitless. It will be fascinating to see how he uses it.
Update 1: I'd love to see Obama give his political machine a trial run in the Georgia Senate runoff on December 2 between Saxby Chambliss and Jim Martin. Chambliss led on Election Day by just under 50% to 47%, with the remaining 3% going to the Libertarian candidate. The conventional wisdom is that Republicans are more likely to turn out for a special election than Democrats, but it's also possible Georgia Republicans are demoralized by Obama's victory while Georgia Democrats are energized.
Obama has every reason to get involved. John McCain and Sarah Palin are campaigning for Chambliss, so it's already a test of Obama's political strength. Senate Democrats badly want a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority, and this is one of the very few GOP seats we can win. Democratic activists remember how Chambliss viciously attacked Vietnam veteran Max Cleland in 2002.
Obama could easily raise $10 million and enlist 1 million callers for a 3-week campaign. No doubt David Axelrod is polling Georgia carefully to get the answer. (Kos is doing his own weekly polls through Election Day.) annrose just reported Obama field operatives are on the ground. If Obama thinks this long-shot race is winnable and uses his brand new machine to win it, the Washington Establishment will go into shock, and the GOP will go into all-out depression.
Comments