We the Lobby

I just received and email from Barack Obama. It is my fourth from the President Elect’s transition team since he won the election. He invited me to track his progress at www.change.gov. I think government needs a lot of change, a lot of renewal, and I like that I am being asked to be a part of it. Our next president is keeping me up to date and has even promised to talk to me on Youtube every week.

We are reinventing participatory democracy. I was one of 1.5 million people that voluntarily financed Barak’s campaign. When 1,500,000 people write checks, that is public financing – that is participatory democracy. I followed the campaign on the Internet at my.barackobama.com and www.johnmccain.com, and on youtube and cnn.com and twitter and countless other sites that have seamlessly become part of my daily routine.

Critics may say that this “social networking” is just pandering to young; it is treating Internet users like a special interest. This is just flat wrong. 74% or the US population is on the Internet. My mother is on the Internet. (I wont mention her age but a demographer would not call her young.) More people use the Internet than have ever voted in a US election. Access is free to the public at every taxpayer funded local library. Orders of magnitude more people get information from the Internet every day than have ever ordered a publication from the government printing office. This is the new participatory democracy.

But an interested, active, informed public is only half the equation. Our representatives need to do their part. We need leadership that will similarly change, redefine and renew representative government. We have seen in the last 8 years the result of isolated and out-of-touch leadership: one that loses the popular vote and boasts of a mandate; one that blatantly practices cronyism and divides and disenfranchises the populous by claiming that dissent is unpatriotic and un-American.

Leadership in the Internet age communicates on the Web and through email. It restricts the role and influence on corporate lobbyists while soliciting continual input from the people. I want a representative government: I don’t want to vote on legislation directly. Abdication of legislative authority, like that seen in the ballot initiative process in states like California, is a travesty of democracy. I want strong political leaders that will listen to the voices of the people and represent our interests. So I will post my comments, write my blog and respond when Barack or any of his team send me an email. We the lobby: for the people, of the people, by the people.

It Matters

It is hard to imagine what it will feel like if next Wednesday morning we wake to McCain/Palin as Pres/VP elect. Like most of you, I have seen savings and 401K disappear over the last year. Every aspect of work has gotten harder. Every aspect of life is more expensive. I am someone who bought a house in the last two years and have the queasy feeling of being upside-down. And, I still have a hard time defending our countries actions to my overseas friends.

These are challenging times. We are in a deep hole and we need to climb out. More than effort, that takes motivation. How we feel, how we work together, how much energy we put into it matters a lot. In all the character assassination, name calling, petty distractions and false controversy that dominate the end of this campaign, it is easy to lose sight of what is needed. It may be sappy, but it is time to return to what lit this campaign up in the beginning.



I hope you will vote for Obama. I hope to wake up Wednesday excited and energized. It matters.

Hope vs Fear; Change vs Reform

To me this election is a dramatic comparison of aspiration vs. fear. Never have I felt there was so much to gain and so much to lose. The Bush presidency has shown that leaders mater. I know in my gut that what we do in the coming months will in large part dictate my son’s standard of living and quality of life. We get to choose our motivation: aspiration or fear.

The language of this election reveals all. The Democratic convention was dominated by language including: Change, Economy, Energy, and Jobs. In contrast the Republicans spoke of: Reform, Character, God and Taxes. It’s like the Republicans want a first class seat on the Titanic. I would rather find a better way to cross the ocean.

Transformational times

Today in the Times, William Safire of all people brought clarity in my mind as to what this presidential election is about – Transformation. We need transformation right now. It needs to start at the White House and it needs to carry through every aspect of our social economic system – every level of government, every community. As we resist the changes that are taking place around us, we just make our lives and our society that much more difficult. This could not be clearer after 8 years of Bush: Iran, deficit spending, the falling dollar, declining education, diminished position in the world, weakened military, divided populous, increased dependence on foreign sourced petroleum, job losses, recession, etc, etc.

There are times for transformation and other times for steady management: this is a time for transformation. Like Roosevelt, Kennedy/Johnson, and Reagan, Obama is the right leader for our time and it is time for transformation.



It is Mar. 3 and perhaps I should have come out more forcefully earlier. I hope in a couple of days I will be able to join the legions of potential voters who can enthusiastically carry Obama to a victory against McCain.

I think Clinton and McCain are both good people. Either could make a good president. But either would be merely a caretaker while we bumble toward real transformation. Others have made the case better than I can for Obama. I just hope we can transcend issue and fear based politics that Clinton is predictably playing well. Just look at the summary of the last news cycle in the WSJ today –

Hillary Clinton told crowds in Ohio Sunday that her campaign is "about solutions," not feelings. Barack Obama said he is tired of questions about his religion and said he was a devout Christian.

Hillary sounds like an IBM salesman while her campaign has successfully forced Obama to respond to fear mongering.





I find it despicable and I wish Clinton and the Democratic party leadership would realize this is not about Hillary, it's about us, it's about the country, and it's about the world. I use to think that my vote, my voice, and a single person, even the president of the United States, mattered little in the scheme of things. But the election in 2000 and the thought of how things might be today if a few people in Florida or Ohio voted differently has changed my mind.

Leadership – The next President

I understand the significance of the top candidates for president being a woman and a black man. There might even have been a time that it was important to elect a president just to set such a precedent. This is not that time. There is too much at stake.

It seems likely that a democrat will win the White House. Obama and Clinton have nearly identical policy positions. However, the deciding factor should not be race or gender. Leadership is what maters.

We need to focus on the leadership ability of these candidates. Trust, judgment and intelligence have to be part of it. Especially after seven years of lies, missteps and blunders. However, based on how divided the country is and how much our position in the world needs to change, we need to focus on the ability to inspire change and action.

At this stage, the greater leader seems to be emerging clearly. The next few weeks will be very interesting to watch.