
Obama’s Technology Innovation - sethbannon
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/victory_lab/2012/04/obama_s_technology_innovation_how_the_president_can_use_the_intellectual_property_his_campaign_is_creating_.single.html
======
philwelch
I highly suspect that whatever software Obama has, it's nothing that can't be
reproduced--better--within four years' time. Certainly it won't turn him into
a major power broker for years to come--given the state of technology, I'd be
surprised if half of it is relevant and functional in 2016.

~~~
pchristensen
Obama was the most tech savvy campaign 4 years ago and remains so today. Think
of all the Senators, Representatives, mayors, governors, etc that have nowhere
near the sophistication of any presidential candidate, let alone Obama. It's
not a question of whether or not _technologists_ can make better software in
the next 4 years, it's about what _politician_ can do so, or which
technologists would a politician trust to run their campaign.

------
mvanveen
I found the "Obama for America Tech Volunteer Sign-Up" google form available
here:
[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHR0WXl...](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHR0WXlNVjFZQkFsbVZMTGpwTjFTdHc6MQ#gid=0)

The form was found here, with context:
[http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2012/03/26/obama-technology-
fi...](http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2012/03/26/obama-technology-field-
office/)

------
snowwrestler
Obama came out of the 2008 campaign with a huge, well-segmented and highly
targeted email list, and big numbers on social media. Many folks thought he
was going to dramatically change Washington by coming into office with
basically his own grassroots army. Yet, a year later he was struggling to get
health care moving and the lists weren't helping.

It turns out that no matter how good your DB is, people just don't get as
excited for legislation and regulation as they do for a candidate. Ultimately
politics is not about technology, it's about message. If the message is good,
tech can help maximize the impact. If the message isn't good, tech can't save
you.

~~~
Empact
> people just don't get as excited for legislation and regulation as they do
> for a candidate

Or, perhaps the legislation never matched up to the candidate. The examples of
Obama's hypocrisy are well-documented, from war to spending to pot, and so on.
Obama is becoming a flop because he's been a hypocrite on some of the most
important issues of the day.

------
btipling
They should open source it.

~~~
philwelch
What would _that_ accomplish? If they think there's power in keeping this
technology to themselves, they will.

