Obama Picking Up Where Dean Left Off...

"The Obama campaign, along with several of his rivals, is hoping to pick up where Mr. Dean's presidential bid left off – at least where political creativity is concerned – by seizing on the power of the Internet to raise money, stir excitement and mobilize supporters across the country.

They are mindful, Mr. Obama said, of the pitfalls and the possibilities. "One of the lessons, obviously for us, is making sure that the grassroots enthusiasm translates into votes," Mr. Obama said. "And that's something obviously that we're going to be paying a lot of attention to."

(...)

No one can forget, of course, that Mr. Dean ultimately failed to win any state except Vermont, his home, and the race for the White House moved along without him. Indeed, there are perhaps more distinctions than similarities in the style, message and overall candidacies of Mr. Obama and Mr. Dean. (A significant difference already obvious to voters is the presence of the senator's wife, Michelle Obama. Four years ago, Judy Dean only emerged in Iowa in the final days of the campaign as it began to struggle.)

"I was attracted to Obama by his charisma," he said. So does he follow the campaign's activity on the Web site? Almost never, he said, adding: "I'm not one of those diehards."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/22/us/politics/22web-zeleny.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

"One of the lessons, obviously for us, is making sure that the grassroots enthusiasm translates into votes," Mr. Obama said. "And that's something obviously that we're going to be paying a lot of attention to."

Here's an interesting passage -

"Howard Dean tapped powerfully into the surge of the anti-Iraq sentiment and, I think, did a brilliant job of that," Mr. Obama said. "Our message is a little broader than that and what's bringing people out is a little broader than that: The desire to solve not just Iraq, but also get moving on domestic policy.

"But I think that there is overlap in the emphasis on grassroots, the emphasis on getting people, particularly young people involved in the campaign," he said. "We learned a lot from their campaign, in both using the Internet and combining it with grassroots and on-the-ground organizing."

Unreturned phone calls to Obama's state headquarters continue plaguing his campaign...

not a very good sign if he's oblivious to communication with potential voters with questions needing answers..

What seems to be the problem? Obama raked in plenty of money his first quarter..anybody know?

And to me, at least, it's not a very good sign, if he's following Dean's campaign all the way to it's demise.

Which, in light of my above query, seems to be the norm rather than the exception.

This article and many others speak about the terrific enthusiasm and excitement among his supporters. This presents challenges for the campaign...to harness and focus this energy so that it can be most productive.

After all, Obama didn't come equipped with a built-in establishment "Machine" of "Washington insiders" as did Hillary. There's the difference in top-down and bottom-up campaigns.

If he could have put his ego aside, he would have done his homework and figured out charisma only does as far as the door.

so how dare he challenge "her majesty."

What. Ever. :eyes:

EDIT: Did you even read the article you posted? It's not all bad, you know...

Her Majesty treats her supporters with Respect. When they have a question; they get a timely answer!!

Contrasted with the way my friends are treated by the Obama Campaign:

Anyone speak with the National HQ lately? (rant)

I've called these guys three times now - we need to get on the same page. Not one call back.

Theoretically, we have a field rep in So Cal, but no one has contacted anyone. This is getting to the crisis point regarding the on-ground organization. LA County folks are really green , and I'm Ventura County, which is traditionally ignored by National Campaigns despite the inroads we've made VS the former R majority. ( we're only 5,000 votes shy of having equal registration numbers.)

My complaint is this: The Edwards people, the Clinton people, they are experienced pros. Things are running smooth there.

March 27 2007

We need to get some top-down participation in this process, because internet signups and blogs are great and all, but ITS
BOOTS-ON-GROUND ORGANIZATION IN THE REAL WORLD that wins primaries, and I see the advantage gained by buzz being frittered away by inability to proceed with a decent campaign structure at the ground level.

This was what contributed to Howard Dean's defeat. The inability to convert the enthusiasm to votes because of ineffective on-ground real world pull-through. We simply have so much at risk , the primary in Cali is 2/07/08, 44 weeks away. Right now we would get crushed by Hillary's organization. I know. I've worked with all those folks before, and they take no prisoners, people.

******************************************************************************

April 12 2007

I'm in LA and I volunteered by calling the HQ two months ago

Sorry to say, I never heard from them about my request to volunteer.

This is a flaw in a brilliant organization as far as I can tell.

I just haven't gotten around to contacting them again but I will do it asap.

******************************************************************************
June 22 2007

Still ranting, no call back

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=388x739

I didn't post it as a negative..Just a chilling, foreboding, observation.

Your own team members have made note of it. Why isn't the Obama camp responding and correcting the 'boots on the ground' problem is/was my original question.

because they're wearing Dr. Schols instead of boots?

Ah, yes!

:eyes:

to deal with the urgent emergency of one crank in California who can't figure out how to get involved without hand-holding from headquarters!

was coming in third in Iowa when the media had declared him the frontrunner. I suspect the same thing will happen to Hillary when she doesn't meet the high expectations she must live up to as frontrunner.

:rofl:

That was five Deans, btw.

and he has not galvanized the Netroots the way Dean did.

FYI, I'm not supporting any of the declared candidates at this time. None of them impress me or inspire me to donate my valuable spare time and dollars to them.

And I'm with you too re the declared candidates.

I like Obama, am not sure about him though, but if he can lead like Dean, he'll have me in his camp soon enough.

And a lot of his charm is a thin veneer of charisma without a lot of substance. But you'll likely find that out soon enough.

Doesn't have the stuff.

It's a fairly good piece. However, I don't think any of the candidates are going to get the type of net support Dean got. Dean got it because he was anti-war and the only one really on the internet. It is different this time. Obama has done the best job raising money on the internet, but he isn't the only one.

while Dean converted for the primary.

That campaign, which I am proud to have worked on, was grassroots driven and about the people using their power.

The activists on the Internets are more informed, and able to watch closely in REAL TIME. When the BEHAVIOR does NOT match the carefully tailored campaign IMAGE(focus grouped, triangulated, poll driven), those on the Internets will be quick to point that out. If the campaign is about Image, and NOT Substance, the Internet can be a dangerous place.

Example:
Problem:
Hillary/Obama were faced with a problem over the last appropriation bill for the Iraq War. They have both assured their Corporate contributors and AIPAC that they will continue the Iraq Occupation for years, and protect the privatization of the Iraqi Oil, but in public they are trying to paint themselves as "Anti-War".

Solution:
*Make no public statement before the vote that could actually influence the vote.

*Sneak into the Senate after the issue has been decided in favor of the War Profiteers and quietly cast a meaningless "NO" vote that can be used in the public campaign but NOT offend the War Profiteers support.

Thos who only read the campaign brochures or watch TV may be fooled by this triangulation, but those of us who actually watch The DC Matrix can't be fooled by this blatant contradiction.
Obama/Hillary will NEVER be able to use the Internets as a campaign tool unless they fianlly decide to STAND UP for an issue (besides their own election), and become OPEN, HONEST, PASSIONATE, and CONSISTENT in their FIGHT for that issue (like the good Doctor).

The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.