How will President Obama deploy his Internet army?

McClatchy ^ | November 5, 2008 | Frank Greve

[2ndDivisionVet]

WASHINGTON — A powerful new lobbying force is coming to town: Barack Obama's triumphant army of 3.1 million Internet-linked donors and volunteers.

In a mass e-mail thanking them, written moments before his Grant Park victory speech, Obama put them on notice. "We have a lot to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next," he wrote.

Many are eager. "I'm going to be sitting at the phone, asking, 'What do you want me to do next? I'm ready,' " said volunteer Courtney Hood, 37, a mother of three from Owings, Md.

How Obama will use his ardent laptop-armed cadres is unclear. So is the extent to which they'll rally behind his priorities, press him for their own or both.

Joe Trippi, the Internet politics guru whose computer geeks made Howard Dean a contender in 2004 and who went on to design Obama's socially networked campaign machine, offers a provocative and educated guess.

Trippi predicted that Obama would use his forces, first and foremost, to intimidate congressional foes of his agenda, rally his allies and forge "one of the most powerful presidencies in American history."

Certainly, Obama reaches the White House with the biggest, best organized, fastest-acting grass-roots army in the history of presidential campaigning.

Moreover, because his Internet operation was miles ahead of Republican John McCain's, Obama's liberal-to-libertarian electronic activists are in a position to dominate the new political medium much as conservative Republicans dominate talk radio.

As for political utility, many thousands of volunteers such as Hood will be deployable within hours, with great precision and at almost no cost, thanks to the campaign's state-of-the-art information-management systems.

[hiredhand]

Ask anybody what's happened when they've tried to get a grip on the Internet. While the terms Cyberpunks and LoD might not mean anything to those who soar in lofty places such as AlGore (inventor of the net :-) and Obama, so far authorities have been very ineffective in controlling the net and especially its subculture. For all of its effort, China has probably been as effective as anybody who has tried so far, but they've still had very limited effectiveness in this area.

Without going into great detail, as long as IPV4 (IP Version 4) is in general use, the "net" will continue to be a double edged sword. It's easy to find people who fall under the proverbial microscope, but also just as easy to abuse and avoid detection with a small bit of expertise and knowledge.

[sonic109]

We don’t want a MIDDLE RIGHT anymore , thats why we lost . We need a conservative party

[stevie_d_64]

So you know the answer to the riddle of steel???

[Names Ash Housewares]

"So you know the answer to the riddle of steel???"

Ask this guy.

Arnold is not our Conan to bring down Barack Doom.

It will take a true conservative "barbarian".

[Names Ash Housewares]

Rush has like what? 25 Million listeners.

I pity the poor dumb bastards. They have no idea what is coming.

[sten]

depends on the answer you like...

Conan’s Father: For no one - no one in this world can you trust. Not men, not women, not beasts.
[Points to sword]
Conan’s Father: This you can trust.

or you can go for the more enlightened conan:
“all the power of both steel and flesh come from one’s beliefs”

i prefer :
“crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women”

it’s just more satisfying.. especially this week :)

[sten]

and for those that would like to read some inspirational words as reality sets in...

memorable quotes from conan

[Homer1]

Back in the 90s, with sites like this one, we were way ahead of the curve with this kind of activism. For the past 10 years we’ve stood still and/or regressed and have fallen way behind. We need to ramp up this machine again.

[rabscuttle385]

PALIN / SCHWARZENEGGER

Ahhhhnold is a RINO...no more RINOs!

[katiekins1]

don't be worried. All His Cosby kids will be using his Internet puppets as a source for questions as to where are their food stamps. In other words “Show me da Money”

[calcowgirl]

PALIN / SCHWARZENEGGER 2012
sarah can go for the right and arnold can take the middle-right.

So... you want the 100% global warming ticket? No thanks.

Palin might be brought back to reality if the right handlers get a hold of her. Schwarzenegger is an agent of the left--no hope.

[stevie_d_64]

Think I’m going to see if we have Conan (DVD) on the shelf this evening, and add it to the movie watching selection this weekend...

You know, James Earl Jones in in that flick (Duh!?!)...I bet he supported Obama...;-)

So it’ll make it appropriate entertainment...

Except when Arhhhhnold chops his head off...That’ll leave a mark!!!

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

PING!

[TAdams8591]

Agreed.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

This forum is pretty good at sniffing out and zotting trolls.

[Tennessee Nana]

DU is deployed to Basic Training right now..

The Brown Berets and Shirts of Stealth Keyboarding ...

[Cacique]

Be aware that these goons will be scouting the internet and securing information on the opposition. Expect the fairness doctrine and a slew of hate legislation to target the internet as well. They will learn a lot from China where sites like this are illegal and posters are routinely arrested. We have a lot to fear, these are doctrinaire socialists. They are not to be confused with the late limousine variety who are socialists because it’s fashionable. These guys would fit nicely into the Gestapo if Hitler was alive.

[LurkedLongEnough]

(9) a pint of Fleischmann’s gin

[tallyhoe]

They aren’t but I’ll bet ya some libertarians voted for him! Did you see Bob Barr election number. He would be hard pressed to get 150,000 votes!

[tallyhoe]

They will mobilize their people to put pressure on the Republicans to go along with the president. Little innuendos in the newspapers TV. You know hack their internet computers. Like they did to Sarah Palin. This was not a childish prank he was told to do this. Dig up dirt on a candidate or congressman to use against them!