The New Age

Associated Press writer Beth Fouhy has an excellent, thought-provoking news piece in the San Francisco Chronicle: "Obama to pioneer Web outreach as president."

The opening lines begin like this:

"Transition officials call it Obama 2.0 — an ambitious effort to transform the president-elect's vast Web operation and database of supporters into a modern new tool to accomplish his goals in the White House. If it works, the new president could have an unprecedented ability to appeal for help from millions of Americans who already favor his ideas, bypassing the news media to pressure Congress."

Despite its seeming cheesiness, I like the "Obama 2.0" catch-phrase for all it signifies: the soon-to-be-leader of the free world recognizes the age in which we live, the ways in which we are connected, the media within which we exist. It's about time.

Here are a couple more quotations, perhaps offering teachable moments for us rhetoric profs:

• Obama's team is determining how best to convert his army of online activists into a viral lobbying and communications machine. Staffers are reluctant to discuss specifics, but Obama clearly is poised to become the first truly "wired" president of the digital age.

• The transition operation has a new Web site, www.change.gov, designed for anyone who wants to post a message of congratulations, offer suggestions for the new administration or apply for a government job. People are invited to submit their names and e-mail addresses, with the goal of creating a new list for the president-elect to tap when he wants to communicate directly about a program he's promoting or seek help urging members of Congress to support legislation he's proposed.

• [D]irect online contact with voters could . . . present a challenge for reporters covering Obama, since the new president will in many ways be able to bypass traditional media while also taking advantage of it to reinforce his online messaging.

  "He can do a half-hour YouTube address every Saturday, addressing millions," [Joe] Trippi said. "The networks would never give the president that much television time each week, but the press is still going to have to cover what he says on YouTube."

  Aides say the Obama team will staff a robust "new media" operation out of the White House and plans a complete overhaul of the White House Web site to make it more interactive and user-friendly. On the campaign trail, Obama promised to use the Internet to make his administration more open, such as offering a detailed look at what's going on in the White House on a given day or asking people to post comments on his legislative proposals.

How about a writing assignment that asks students to analyze the changes to the White House website? Or to post a comment and track the responses it generates? Students could write to the *President* of the United States as a writing assignment! It's amazing.