Obama, the Internet and moving forward

Al’s
Loupe                                                                              Read Spanish Version

Obama,
the Internet and moving forward

By
Alvaro F. Fernandez

alfernandez@the-beach.net

Barack
Obama’s presidency is in fast forward. Less than 24 hours after his
victory last week, the Obama team already had the president-elect’s
newest political tool on-line and working.

A
great deal of credit for Obama’s success in garnering a presidency
nobody thought possible less than a year ago was his team’s
masterful use of the Internet. Now with http://change.gov/
and a Senate and House stacked with a majority of democrats, Obama
may actually have the tools to really effect change.

On
January 20, 2009, President Obama starts off with an email list which
is the envy of the political world. More than three million U.S.
citizens contributed to his successful campaign with contributions
via the Internet. Millions of others organized themselves on his
behalf in communities around the country using nifty Internet tools
never before employed as successfully as the new president did.

The
fact is that Obama will need the Congress, the Internet, his smarts
and a first-rate team of advisors, along with the grace of God, to
get the country out of the mess it’s in. He must deal with two
wars, an economy that continues to get worse, a health care dilemma
he promised to straighten out during his campaign, an educational
system which is not
the envy of the world, and relationships with other countries that
definitely need mending — at worst, he must gain back the respect of
so many people around the globe.

There
was no celebratory break for President Obama. The day after his
victory he had assembled a team to look at what can be done about the
economy. Immediately after his victory he named Rep. Rahm Emanuel as
his chief of staff. Emanuel, by the way, is often mentioned as a big
reason for turning around a republican congress — turning it blue in
2006.

President
Obama will need the full support of the Congress if he is serious
about bringing change to the country. That is where the Internet
comes into play. So is his knowledge and sense of organizing. These
skills will play a major role in how the new president uses his
position.

Let
me break it down in real terms. Imagine President Obama trying to
pass major legislation restructuring the country’s health care
system. Now consider the likelihood that a group of members of
congress may not be quite on the same page as the president. That
group, by the way, can be from either party. Or have we forgotten
that special interests do not discriminate.

That
is when the Obama team jumps on its fast forward mode and asks help
from the American people. He will use television, radio and the
press, but he will also ask millions of us directly to put the
pressure on our respective members of congress. If that
representative or senator is on the Obama side, the person will
receive an email or telephone call from us congratulating him or her.
If he or she is on the wrong side of the issue, that member of
congress will be bombarded with calls and emails from one of his/her
constituents, along with thousands of other affected Americans from
the 50 states, urging them to reconsider.

His
new website, I am convinced, rightfully called change.gov, will play
a key role in these types of efforts. It will offer a tool for the
new president to communicate directly with the American public.

Obama
demonstrated during his campaign that he is a master grassroots
politician. He mobilized the masses like very few can. Interestingly,
many expected this to be a year where record numbers of people went
out to vote. It wasn’t. Right here in Florida, our turnout was
lower than in 2004. What Obama did was turn out his
people — many who were first time voters.

I
have a feeling his presidency will look quite a lot like his
campaign, turning to the American people to help him get things done.
For that he has demonstrated there is nothing like the Internet.
Along the way, I suspect that this president will not only ask for
our help but he will also listen to the American public.