If you liked the video of Barack Obama speaking to his headquarters staff, you might also like this one. It was recorded on 30 April 2008 in Indianapolis, IN, according to the notes on the YouTube page. I don't know who he's speaking with here, whether it's a group of volunteers or just a bunch of voters, but it's some kind of informal small group. His remarks have to do with his reflections on building an organization and how he wants to preserve the existing connections and outreach once he gets into the White House.
The article whence I swiped this video, Micah R. Sifry's "Obama's Organization, and the Future of American Politics," on techPresident.com, goes into more detail on these themes, and contains further links to related thoughts from Dave Winer and Doc Searls. It's well worth reading.
The overarching theme of Sifry's article wonders, now that Obama has built this organization that connects and empowers so many people, what will be done with it after the election? Will it fall apart the way previous grassroots organizations that were centered around one person have in the past? Or does this one have a better chance of surviving? The video shows Obama outlining how he wants to keep it in place, as part of an effort to open government back up, to work as a force against special interest groups and lobbyists, and as a way to pressure Congress and the Cabinet officials to do the right thing.
Yes, it's easy to be cynical about all this -- seems like everyone who goes to Washington talking this kind of talk, even if he or she starts out sincere, gets caught up in the Beltway insider system almost overnight. Mr. Smith is fiction, after all.
But maybe, just maybe, this really is a different kind of candidate. Or maybe, at least, the organization that came together around his campaign has become a self-sustaining critical mass of people, who believe his message and will have enough clout to (help him with/hold him to) his promises. Maybe this time, the bubble will be pierced. And to that end, this five minutes of video could be something to remember.
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Or maybe, at least, the organization that came together around his campaign has become a self-sustaining critical mass of people, who believe his message and will have enough clout to (help him with/hold him to) his promises.
We have to hope he's the real deal. I'm afraid if not that you lose the movement. I hate a movement just being around a personality (in fact, it's a little scary on several different levels). But he has to be sincere, build an "inside coalition" that is, finally, not just about him.
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