Four Years of Campaigning Ahead
To those of us who hoped that the campaign for president would have ended, the conservative blog Hot Air brings some sad news: president-elect Barack Obama and Sen. Joe Biden, who will become America’s vice president in January 2009, have set up a website with a government address, change.gov, which seems to aim at continuing the campaign until the next election.
The website, which is described as the “office of the president-elect,” a non-existing office in the U.S. government, allows visitors to “share” their ideas, views, hopes and “story” with Barack Obama. Visitors can write a message for him if they fill in a form including their personal information such as e-mail address, home address, postal code, etc.
Change.gov is in line with the tremendous online presence of the Obama campaign during this year’s campaign. Obama and his team used the Internet to the fullest, reaching out to voters like never before. The new website seems to be a continuation of this effort, aimed at reaching as many voters as possible, provide them with information from a pro-Obama perspective, have them join the team in one way or another and, therefore, make reelection easier.
It looks a terrible lot like the campaign’s website, barackobama.com, including talking points and a section called “the agenda,” in which Obama’s plans for Iraq, health care, education, the economy, national security and the economy are presented. These ‘plans’ were all copied from the campaign website, so they do not offer anything new.
Although one could argue that Obama’s understanding of the power of the Internet in order to communicate with voters more easily is a net benefit, many fear that the website will be used as a new fundraising tool rather than a tool to inform the public about the president’s conduct. Furthermore, as conservative blogger Michelle Malkin points out at her blog, .gov domains are normally “restricted to eligible government organizations and programs.” Campaign websites are most definitely not eligible.
Considering the fact that, as Malkin points out, the “primary goal of the transition site seems to be to collect e-mail addresses and personal information — for future fund-raising and political organizing projects,” one has to wonder whether Team Obama is using the domain correctly.
Not only that, but the website is run by Blue State Digital, as Malin points out again, which is a “left-wing Internet fund-raising company” which also “presided over the credit card fraud-friendly Obama campaign site.”
Reaching out to voters and to the media is perfectly fine, it is even recommendable, but one wonders whether this site is an indication that Team Obama plans to do more than that, namely to use the power of the government to increase fundraising for 2012. If so, that is not a positive development.
I guess I should take solace in that Hot Air is desperate enough to make an issue out of this. Wake me when Obama has a campaign website hosted on tax-payer funded computers.
Not true. As can be plainly seen from the asterisk, all you actually need to provide is an email address a zip-code and your comment. For the first you can make one up or, if it requires verification, simply use a “junk mail” email that most active online people have for just such purposes. You can use any zip code you like and the rest of the information is optional, as is, by the way, the whole page.
As for fundraising, try as I might I can’t find anywhere to donate.
And acting as if maintaining a low level activity in the organization you have in the campaign is something radical is disingenuous. It is, in fact, fairly routine. In any event anyone who was on the online community Obama’s team created knows that he had already said he didn’t intend for the community to end with his election, but to have it as a launching point for other initiatives. He is, in his heart, a community organizer, and everything in his organization at the volunteer level shows that.
Looks like the Republicans are rolling up their sleves in this area as welll… As can be found at ..http://www.rebuildtheparty.com/ At this site, they are looking for the citizenry to provide input on how to rebuild the republican party. I suggest if you are so inclined, to endorse their efforts, I did.
Interesting. I wasn’t aware that the president-elect had the ability to get a .gov address.
I guess keep in mind that the current administration would of had to approve this domain and likely what content is on it.
You can’t just go and register it like any old domain.
Personally I like the idea. Gives a more homey type ambiance that just maybe – Government will actually work for the people.
he will need to be careful – I’m sure the GOP will readily use the Hatch Act like the Libs did.
And Claudia – did you know the election is over?
Of course for The President-Elect. He may want to consider a different domain name. 4 years on – it wont be change anymore – and I’m sure he wouldn’t want to be changed out.
Michael, per one of Michelle Malkin’s readers:
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/11/07/what-the-hell-is-the-office-of-the-president-elect/
Apparently the office does exist. The might explain how he got the domain, then.