July 21, 2008 - 7:37am

For change, press 'click'

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has already revolutionized American political campaigns with a Web-based network that by latest news reports is 5 million members strong. But hefty fundraising, rapid response and the ability to generate crowds of thousands on short notice are just the forerunners of the change his network will bring about if Obama is elected president.

In the same way that television was credited with breaking the back of political organizations like New York City's infamous Tammany Hall, the Internet has powered a direct democracy that has been steadily moving into the halls of Congress and around the powerbrokers.  Now the Internet is poised to take a giant -- and transformative -- step forward in its impact. In the process, we could see the most legislatively successful president since Lyndon B. Johnson and a greatly reduced role for the special interest "bosses" that have been ruling the roost.

Right now, when a president wants to pass a major legislative initiative, they use the bully pulpit to generate press and crisscross the country building support for their proposals in the districts of "swing" senators and members of Congress. They also turn to allied special interests to fund advertising and mobilize their members. 

While the Bush administration has used the Internet to build additional support for his agenda and McCain would certainly expand on that, Obama's standard of scale is completely, totally, and in all other ways different and his use of the medium will change the way business gets done.

Start with the obvious fact that Obama's list is not some static roster of names. These are people who have signed up to attend a rally, walk door to door in the summer heat or take some other volunteer action. So far, more than 1.7 million of them have reached into their pockets to give money to the campaign. They are, as the saying goes, "fired up and ready to go."

At five million names, Obama already has an average of more than 11,000 activists for each congressional district in the country and 90,000 for a senator in a state the size of Arizona. To put those numbers in context, it takes hundreds of thousands of dollars in television advertising or the most controversial issues to gin up a week with just 500 phone calls, letters or emails from the constituents of the typical congressional office.

Obama's list will easily surpass the eight million mark as he consolidates base support and continues to build his campaign through November. But if the trajectory of this campaign is any indicator, you can expect Obama to push the envelope even further: Look for this to be the first-ever inaugural speech with an appeal for American citizens to sign up at the president's web site and join a crusade for change.  

 In 2006, the average turnout in an Arizona congressional district was 186,641. If Obama gets to 8 million, 10 percent of the votes cast will be volunteers jacked in to his operation and receiving "call your Congressman" alerts at the click of a mouse button. When that happens, buckle up for the first 100 days, it's going to be intense.

David Waid is a former chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, member of the Executive Committee of the Democratic National Committee and a veteran of top political campaigns from New York to California. He is a co-founder of Ziemba Waid Public Affairs in Phoenix, a firm specializing in lobbying, public relations, coalition building, grassroots and grasstops outreach, campaigns and ballot initiatives in the Western states.

Comments

democrat's


If I were a democrat I'd vote for Homer Simpson

09/25/08 6:22 pm

democrat's


If I were a democrat I'd vote for Homer Simpson

09/25/08 6:20 pm

democrat's


If I were a democrat I'd vote for Homer Simpson

09/25/08 6:20 pm

democrat's


If I were a democrat I'd vote for Homer Simpson

09/25/08 6:19 pm

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09/16/08 10:41 pm

You want to talk about substance?


And you plan on using the New York Times as your proof? The same New York Times who leans so heavily to the left that it is obvious they are carrying the bag for Obama! The only story they printed that took real guts is in my other post!

McCain HAS substance, the kind of substance that comes from warning us more than 3 years ago that we cannot be celebrating the boom in the housing market while it appears they are making low document or no document loans to those who aren't having to prove their debt to income ratio!

McCain HAS the substance of at least sticking up for what he believed was right even if it meant bucking your own party and making enemies in your own party in the process. I would say this substance comes from knowing how and what to fight and the experience that comes from fighting for your country!

Barrack Obama voted nothing but "present" 130 times in a 143 day political career! Man! Am I in the wrong job!!!! I want to get paid just to show up and claim I'm just here, I'm not planning on working!!! Hey, where's my pay raise???? I want my $170,000.00 dollars!

McCain HAS the substance to pick a VP who would be good for the country who fought her way to the top for a set of principles and ideals,that those who want to serve the public interest should seek public office for the right reasons, not to make themselves rich!
Sarah Palin is a true Conservative who believes in fiscall responsibility and realises that government spending is what is holding an otherwise salvageable economy from going forward!

Obama? He used his political influence to get Michelle a pay raise of what is now a salary of $380,000.00 Dollars! And what does his wife do? She sits on the board of directors for a major Chicago hospital that balances it's books by denying care to those who are uninsured! WOW! Yeah, LET'S HELP THOSE POOR PEOPLE! Right! Help them relocate out of my neighborhood! http://www.obamatruth.org

09/16/08 12:38 pm

Thank you "My Vote Counts"!


Thank you "My Vote Counts"! Yes, let's think before we click!
1. ACORN has already been caught red handed in Michigan with invalid vote totals they were going to use to throw the election.
2. Obama himself has only spent 143 days in office and during that time, he voted "present" 130 times! Why would he do that? Because you cannot be attached to a controversial vote that may come back to bite you! It's selling out your constituents for your own lofty goals!
3. Your gun ownership rights are never more in danger than they will be if this man get the oval office! http://www.gunbanobama.com/
He has lied to gun owners so many times now that we don't know who the real Obama is!
4. S.2433 also known as the global poverty initiative would put a new tax of .7% on every American household that would directly impact our Nations GDP! This will cost Americans another $8646.00 on top of a recession!
http://www.congress.org
5. 5 years ago George Bush recommended that our finacial sector, particularly the banking industry overseeing the housing finance market, undergo the most massive federal overhaul of regulations in history! His problem? "it would appear that money is changing hands sp0 fast and that banks are playing nothing but a shell game with bad paper giving loans to people who fcannot afford them! Unfortunately he was shouted down by Democrats in Congress with the lobbying help from the National Homebuilders Association! They tried to accuse him of cheating low income people ouit of the housing market, because he wanted income verification used in determining eligibility so we don't soak lower income people with SUB-PRIME loans!
Guess who complained the loudest in the Democratic party? That's right BARRACK OBAMA!!!! "Your not going to deny poor people the right to own their own home!"
Reported in the New York Times more than 5 years ago warning us where we were headed!

The New York Times who has an obvious slant to the left had the guts to say that like George Bush or hate him, he got this one right!

Now who would think that Barrack Obama would use his influence to get a sweetheart deal on a mortgage on a $1.3 MILLION dollar home purchased with the help of Convicted Chicago mobster Tony Rezko!

09/16/08 11:58 am

Response to "Let's Think Before We Click"


Dear "Let's Think Before We Click",

I don't believe you at all. You say you are more computer literate than most 20-30 somethings you know. Prove this. Makes me wonder where you live and how many 20-30 somethings you really do know. Quite the fetching claim.

You state ...

"If you want to talk numbers Mr. Waid, you must include the millions of us who feel as though we no longer have a voice in the "big tent" Party we once served so loyally. We know how to target battleground states. We can phone bank anywhere, just as Obama's people can. We have the discipline to knock on doors daily, have house parties and are some of the former jewel volunteers of every local district in the nation."

Understand this, though still don't believe you. If you are who you claim, a once elected democratic elected office holder then why the anonymity? Personally, I think you are hiding behind words.

If you know the computer so well, which I don't believe you do, then you'd realize there are groups that do rally to make phone calls, knock on doors, have house parties and so forth. What part of the internet have you been hanging out on?

I like John McCain, but he can't keep his facts straight on what he is for and not. I think you have overlooked the fact that McCain is only going to give us more of what the Bush Administration has doled out over the last 8 years. Lies and back room politics.

The political system is a mess, filled with lies and lobbyists, the clean up needed is massive. I would rather vote for Obama and take the leap of faith then sign up for John McCain and the worst VP Choice to date, Sarah Palin.

Now, Sarah Palin, who knows her at all? She makes Obama look like the King of experience, as you shared you wonder who Obama really is. Your post was dated 8/5 and it is now 9/14. Are you still rallying for McCain?

McCain, it has been stated has had issues with cancer (melanoma), is in his early 70's and seems to not be the healthiest gent. If something happens to him guess who takes over, Sarah. She will be a great puppet master for the current onset corruption, making us all wish Bush was back.
Can it get worse? Hell yes.

So whoever you claim to be, please stop and think about the realities of who and what you are promoting. There are greater risks than your vision seems able to see.

sincerely,

patricia lynn

09/14/08 6:37 pm

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09/11/08 5:39 am

Substance?


Substance? McCain has substance all right, and it's entirely the wrong kind. If someone wants endless war and a hair-trigger finger on the military, McCain is their man -that's clear enough to anyone who knows McCains long history on the issues of war and peace. Just today McCain, in response to Russia's military action in Georgia, issued a belligerent statement while Obama "offered a more measured response, which largely echoed the official comments of the European Union, NATO and President Bush" according to today's NYTimes.

Think about this a while, folks: McCain is more of a hawk than Bush is -this is only the latest evidence of that fact.

It took real "substance" to have been one of the few who had the backbone to oppose the war in Iraq in the first place, as Obama did and McCain didn't.

And does anyone believe that George Soros could be funneling money through churches to Obama's campaign? Hello?

08/10/08 8:13 pm

Let's think before we "click"


Can you fool all of the people all of the time? It seems possible, in that the Democratic Party - not the Democratic voters - have chosen a candidate without even going into a smoke filled back room. This is politics at its dirtiest and worst, and I - a former Democratic elected office holder who worked with and deeply respect David Waid - now feel like Alice in Wonderland, lost in a world turned upside down.

And yes, I'm also one of those senior citizens who is white and over 60. But that doesn't make me stupid. I'm also more computer literate than most 20 - 30 somethings I know. So I have a few things to point out to my former State Democratic "leader" and some questions too:

1. The problem with the formula developed for electing Obama lies within the person himself. Despite the impressive statistics Mr. Waid cites, current poll numbers don't reflect the huge groundswell of support they should. Why not? I'm going to suggest the reason is Obama is still not perceived as a candidate of "change you can believe in." There's still an uneasy sense of not knowing who this man is, and whether it's "safe" to entrust our domestic woes and delicate foreign affairs to his inexperienced leadership.

2. The internet "viral" numbers are not as "viral" as reported. There are hundreds of paid bloggers on the internet, there are offers on MySpace and other social sites promising things like restaurant gift cards for signing up with the campaign, etc. et al. I have voted in every election since I was of age. Are these generation "X"ers who require pay and financial incentives going to mail in votes or spend the time to go to the polls? Judging by "Obama Girl" who didn't vote in the primary despite her wide reputation for support, one can't assume so.

3. Many, perhaps even most, of Obama's contributions received on the internet have not been verified. In other words there are unconfirmed allegations they have been pouring in from overseas, and/or have been funneled by donors, such as George Soros, via churches to parishioners who then donate the received funds to Obama on the internet. My question to you Mr. Waid: would you be willing to demand a full and proper accounting of Obama's internet donations by an objective third party? Or will you, in the tradition of Obama politics, attack me for asking the question and then claim all is legal without providing any documentation?

4. My American history knowledge may be a bit limited, so perhaps Mr. Waid can correct me when I say there's never been a time in our history when this country's voters were willing to go as far to the left as Obama's lean record implies. When he speaks of his social programs and the monies they require he even scares off left of center voters such as myself.

There are currently an estimated 7 million voters, like myself, who were hard core Democrats who will never vote for Obama. And we are voters who do go to the polls. We are also in leadership positions within our communities and families. There are dozens of individuals who have always relied on our insight in determining their vote. Perhaps a few each will vote for Obama, but I personally will be responsible for 20 or more people voting for McCain who have never voted for a Republican. I am already responsible for several people in their 20s registering to vote in the primaries, none of whom would ever vote for Obama.

If you want to talk numbers Mr. Waid, you must include the millions of us who feel as though we no longer have a voice in the "big tent" Party we once served so loyally. We know how to target battleground states. We can phone bank anywhere, just as Obama's people can. We have the discipline to knock on doors daily, have house parties and are some of the former jewel volunteers of every local district in the nation.

To me this is an election where sizzle and style meets substance and experience. John McCain has never gotten my vote before, but your candidate leaves me no other choice. He simply scares me. The tactics used by his supporters sadden me. So on this we will agree, it's definitely going to be intense.

08/05/08 4:53 pm

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