Obama Transition Team Staffs Up Internet Outreach Crew
Now this is a good sign: The Obama transition team has just signed up two leading Web types for the transition's Internet outreach team, a welcome indication that the Obama team is moving to transfer its astonishing online successes during the campaign over to the world of governing.
A transition source tells us that that Macon Phillips, a key Obama campaign Web official, has been tapped to head new media for the transition, and Jesse Lee, a leading Web operative who handled Rahm Emanuel's DCCC internet outreach operation during the 2006 take-back of Congress, has been hired to do online communications. Obama's transition team confirms the hires.
Phillips helped run Obama's general election new media shop, which raised huge sums of money and used social networking tools to organize in all sorts of innovative ways.
Lee, meanwhile, is highly regarded by liberal bloggers. He wrote the first-ever blog for the House Speaker, and in the closing days of the campaign he did online rapid response for the DNC, helping the Obama camp frame its message outreach to the blogosphere.
One key thing to watch will be how the Obama White House builds its online operation at a time of rapid expansion in the world of Web journalism and whether it can duplicate the campaign's innovations to organize and push the Obama administration's agenda.
Late Update: An Obama transition adviser sends over the list of the entire new outreach team: In addition to Phillips and Lee, it will also include Dan Siroker and Andrew Bleeker as as Deputy Directors of New Media, Cammie Croft on Online Communications, and Kate Albright-Hanna on Content Lead.
Late Late Update: John Aravosis gushes with praise for Jesse Lee as Obama's transition blog-outreach guy:
Can't say enough good things about Jesse. He knows the Netroots, knows politics, knows how to fight back.
Agreed, good move.
In a word, FANTASTIC. You know they can even with the web journalism expanding. This is a white house of the 21st century, no doubt about it.
November 12, 2008 5:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
that's what I'm sayin! I think it's interesting.
November 12, 2008 5:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
to say the least. I guess we knew something may be changing when Google's Eric Schmidt was put into Obama's transition advisory board. Maybe Whitehouse.gov may actually become a site worth visiting someday.
November 12, 2008 6:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is this all that tubes stuff they talk about on the Rah-dio? Help a confused old man.
November 12, 2008 6:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seems to me that the Obama Administration is going to try and compete with web journalism.
Interesting.
November 12, 2008 6:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
I guess you're talking about the
part?November 12, 2008 7:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
They've already got change.gov up and running, complete with blog, videos, agenda, etc. Perhaps more intriguingly, too, a yet to be fully developed "American Moments" and "America Serves" sections that will be devoted to inspiring stories of change and means of getting involved in making this a better country, respectively. All in all, a promising start, with more promise in the plan. Hurray! I don't have to be embarrassed by my government anymore. Well, not for the moment, anyway.
November 12, 2008 6:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hope their Web operations put FOX out of business. I can do without CNN as well. Not to mention the network "news".
November 12, 2008 7:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey Greg, I followed your link about Jessie Lee, and found this in the comments:
Could the felon Stevens actually not have been re-elected?
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/586989.html
November 12, 2008 7:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.elect.alaska.net/data/results.htm
Looks like they've still got about 25,000 left to count. Looking good.
November 12, 2008 7:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, it is. There's something about re-electing a 7x felon that just doesn't sit quite right to me. Call me old fashioned, but that guy should be on the way to jail.
November 12, 2008 7:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Looks like my math was off. There's closer to 50,000 ballots left.
November 12, 2008 7:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Looks like the main TPM site's picked this story up now.
November 12, 2008 7:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's just of the ones they are counting *today*. 26,302 votes have from the 52,000 estimated. We don't know how many got tossed, though there are likely some reasonable ones to toss or not count.
There are actually at least 90K overall to count:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/11/12/11522/592/209/659818
The remaining 38K will be counted on Friday. Per Makos's analysis, the ones to be counted on Friday were in strong Begich districts.
So...
If Begich takes the lead in the balance of the 52K to be counted today, it's very unlikely he'll loss given things appear to tilt his way on Friday. Even if the Stevens lead stays in the 900-1000 range with today's ballots, it's possible that the Friday will pull Begich into the lead.
The key thing *if* Begich takes the lead is to build it up so that it's outside the manditory Recount threshold. No doubt Stevens, the RNC, the Alaskan RC, and GOP Lawyers, Guns & Money are going to be screaming Fraud & Recount if that happens. And we may end up with a full recount. But make them scream while Stevens is behind and outside the recount threshold, and we can offer it up as a contrast to what's going on in Minnesota when Al is within the recount threshold.
It's all good.
John
November 12, 2008 7:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
How hard would the RNC fight for Stevens during a recount? Having Stevens in the Senate could give us another Republican corruption posterboy, but I'm sure that the RNC knows that. Seems to me that if they fight, it'll have to be with kid boxing gloves.
November 12, 2008 7:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was impressed, but not surprised, that his team had the change.gov site up so quickly. Also good news is that it is updated frequently.
November 12, 2008 7:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I discovered the change.gov site a few days ago. I'm sure they'll take the "Fight the Smears/Spread the Truth" project over to this site to fight Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, Kristol, Coulter etc.
November 12, 2008 7:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'd move to DC just to take a job on that team. And I've never wanted to live in DC!
November 12, 2008 7:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think they are doing the same thing they did during the campaign. There is a plan, and they're stickin' with it. So far, everything I have heard from the transition team and from Obama is consistent with his campaign. Even the Lieberman part. He is merely re-establishing the boundary between the executive and legislative branches.
I LIKE that I can go to change.gov and see exactly what has been happening in the transition, what's been announced, etc. Analysis I get elsewhere, but I am very happy that the President-Elect and his transition team is keeping us informed.
November 12, 2008 8:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama was a Constitutional Law Professor...and it is showing in how he is putting together his team and making government accessible to the people.
November 12, 2008 9:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't have any issue with Ron Klain as Biden's COS, or Emanuel as Obama's or all of the Clintonites all over the transition because Obama is the change - all of these Washington insiders/Clinton retreads are the folks who know how to get things done.
Regarding Obama, Gates and and the Brent Scowcroft foreign policy world - Obama has always seemed to be a fan of the George HW Bush foreign policy, so this shouldn't surprise anybody.
November 12, 2008 8:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps I'm just an ignorant Canadian...but aren't the Clinton retreads just a part of the transition team and not necessarily the administration?
November 12, 2008 8:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, Ed Rendell is out of any running for any Obama Administration spot. PA's Lt. Governor died tonight. That menas the GOP Senate president becomes Lt. Gov.
http://3bluedudes.com/pa-politics/pa-lt-gov-catherine-baker-knoll-dies-effects-rendell/
November 12, 2008 9:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
One of the advantages of being a professor is that you learn a lot from those on the cutting technology edge -- your students. Working at the University of Chicago law school must have exposed Obama to lots of possibilities.
November 13, 2008 10:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's interesting how badly change.gov is optimised for search engines. http://bacatu.blogspot.com/2008/11/dont-optimise-your-site-for-search.html
November 23, 2008 2:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
As a former adviser to Tony Blair, I've got some experience of the pitfalls of transition. Take a look here: http://matthewtaylorsblog.com/politics/a-new-dawn/
November 23, 2008 2:38 AM | Reply | Permalink