If there was any doubt that the 2008 election season would be the tech-heaviest ever, Illinois senator Barack Obama's campaign kickoff speech this morning put that to rest.
He decried the lack of "computers in schools" in the first couple of minutes of the speech, proposed "using technology to cut the bureaucracy" in the nation's health care system, and he called for fatter pipes: "Let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America."
Obama is among several candidates to announce their campaigns by way of internet videos — Clinton and Richardson did, too. While those three are dems, new uses of online social media and tech-centric speechifying won't be limited to that party, of course. For instance, you can now "poke" Mitt Romney on Facebook.
And the internet fundraising race is on early. Romney's site is reported to have netted nearly $1.5 million in campaign donations in just the first month of this year.
I wonder if there's a plan in mind behind Obama's "lay down broadband" idea. Would this be a federally-funded project? No details yet, and I wouldn't hold my breath.
This is the season for promises, not specifics.
Link to speech coverage, here's the full text of the speech.
Your comments after the jump.
I noticed your post on the new techno-centric campaigns run by Presidential candidates and thought you'd be interested to see exactly how far it is going. To really maximize his grassroots campaign, Obama has started up his very own social networking site, my.barackobama.com. I was on it earlier today and its like a Facebook for campaigners and other activists, anyone can get a profile complete with picture, favorite quotes, groups and options to help raise money for the campaign. It seems the sudden surge of traffic has shut it down temporarily, but I thought it was interesting nevertheless.
Pretty much everything I see posted in the mainstream blog-o-sphere is pro, or at least neutral to, Obama.
In 2003, Obama voted in support of SB1195, which, if passed, would have banned most of the privately held hunting shotguns, target rifles, and black powder rifles in the state of Illinois. If the ban was enacted, law enforcement officials would have been authorized to forcibly enter private homes to confiscate newly banned firearms.
If this simple truth was publicly announced, in a highly trafficked venue such as Boing Boing, do you think the majority of the reaction would be positive?I WANT to be able to vote democrat this election; at some point between now and the election, this is going to be an issue that will rob Obama of a extremely large number of votes.
Better now than later, wouldn't you think? so a slightly less unsuitable candidate has a better chance at the DNC?
An example of a pro-gun group opposing SB 1995 that doesn't mention anything about "forcibly enter private homes to confiscate newly banned firearms". A more presumably neutral site, policechiefs.org, says the bill would have "banned semi-automatic weapons in the state." (Link) Two minutes of googling didn't find any contemporaneous descriptions of the bill mentioning forcible entry. Furthermore, the bill didn't even pass! (Link) has the Illinois Senate path of the bill and it was never voted on the floor. I can't tell if Obama voted on the Judiciary Committee for or against the bill but one pro-gun page said he didn't. In any case, the idea that cops can enter your house to look for guns without a warrant would have obvious 4th Amendment problems.
Gnoodles says,
In your Barak Obama piece, Rich Travis says that Obama voted to to take away everybody's favorite toys, and allowed the police to "forcibly enter private homes to confiscate newly banned firearms". Ummm…. No. The law is quite specific about the types of guns banned, and unless you hunt with an Uzi or a "Street Sweeper" shotgun, your hunting gun is almost certainly safe. In addition, the law says absolutely nothing about siezing the newly banned guns, so presumably things like the fourth ammendment would still apply. Why is it so hard for people to actually READ these bills before they start screaming that the sky is falling?
Oh, and as Anonymous pointed out, Barak Obama was on neither the Judiciary nor the Rules committees— the only two groups who actually -voted- on the issue. But at least Rich Travis was correct about one thing: Barack Obama was a member of the Illinois Senate in 2003. He should really be ashamed of himself.
Seattle Expatriate Will Meredith points out: Iowa Govenor Tom Vilsack and former Senator to North Carolina John Edwards have announced their campaigns for the 2008 Presidential election. Both of them are doing something I haven’t seen from other (potential) Presidential contenders like McCain, Hillary, Obama and Kucinich: Vilsack and Edwards are active on Flickr.
I'm thrilled to see the Obama campaign really embracing Web 2.0, instead of just paying it lip service. At My.BarackObama.com, supporters can network with friends, plan events, blog, and more. And that wonderful little Creative Commons logo can be found at the bottom of the page. Awesome.
Cibby says,
I'm a Obama supporter, in general, but I could help but notice (and be chilled) by his resemblance to one of the nemeses of Batman, The Riddler.
