Web-Saavy Obama Needs No Party

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama is determined to turn the legions of Facebook friends and Twitter subscribers that got him elected into an effective force for his administration, the New York Times reports. He’s already begun issuing his weekly addresses via YouTube video, rather than radio, and crafted a new group called Organizing for America to coordinate his online efforts. More»

President-elect intends to use grassroots to his advantage

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama hadn’t even given his victory speech when the message went out to supporters: “We have a lot to do,” the email read. “I’ll be in touch.” Obama won’t disband his digitally organized army of volunteers, McClatchy reports. Joe Trippi, who designed Obama’s social-networking machine, thinks Obama will use his net-roots might to overcome congressional resistance to change, forging “one of the most powerful presidencies in American history.” More»

Senior adviser plans to turn Obama's campaign machine into Obama's governing machine

(NEWSER) - The shy middleman who spearheaded Barack Obama's campaign now plans to morph it into a powerful netroots organization, Lisa Taddeo writes in Esquire. Drawing on his unprecedented 13-million-name contact list, David Plouffe says he will soon unveil Organizing for America, a group aimed at drumming up support for policy initiatives. Other Democratic groups fear being left out in the cold. More»

That's more than double the proportion from 2007: analysis

(NEWSER) - President Obama continues to be successful raising money through small donations—and this time around, he's outpacing his campaign from four years ago. Last year, almost half of the money raised by the president's re-election campaign came from donors who gave $200 or less in total, a new report from the Campaign Finance Institute shows. In 2007, by comparison, just 22% of the $96.7 million he raised came from donations of $200 or less. In total, Obama raised $56.7 million from small donors last year, compared to the $38.1 million small donors contributed to all of his Republican opponents combined. More»

Google search leads to prez call for reform

(NEWSER) - The White House has launched a stealth attack on Wall Street in a controversial but deft Internet ad. A link to "Help Change Wall Street" pops up when users search "Goldman Sachs SEC" on Google. The link takes users to mybarackobama.com and features a photo of Obama and his call for Wall Street reform, noting "too little accountability on Wall Street and too little protection for Main Street." The ad was purchased by the White House political wing, Organizing for America, reports ABC News . More»