Obama online organizing produces grassroots support

One recent example of the excellent use of online resources by the Obama campaign is the creation of thousands of individual house parties where Obama can speak to and with supporters across the country via live link up.

The pitch for the March 31st event reads:

This Saturday, literally thousands of Obama supporters will open up their homes to bring this campaign into communities like yours. Barack will be there too -- via live online video and a simultaneous conference call.

There's just one thing you need to do: show up.

Many hosts have never done something like this before. But they're opening up their homes to provide an opportunity for you to meet face-to-face with local folks who share your same hope for the future.

You'll see and hear Barack live from an event in Iowa, watch a special DVD created for the occasion, and connect with local supporters to plan what you can do to grow the campaign in your community.

The email announcement contains a link that takes the reader to a page where they can enter their town or zip code and get a list of "Obama party's" in their area.

This sort of thing has been done in the past, most notably by the Howard Dean campaign, but the response to this is amazing. It would be lucky if there were one or perhaps two people sponsoring such house parties in the Quad Cities for other candidates in the past. Sometimes the nearest place would be in Iowa City.

By contrast, eight people have already agreed to host events in their homes in the Quad City area so far: Moline,(2), East Moline, Silvis, Rock Island,(2), Davenport, (2), and LeClaire.

Perhaps the biggest will be at the Scott County Obama headquarters where local politicians and Dick Durbin are expected to be in attendance as well. Click here for details, maps, and info on that particular event.

Online communications has revolutionized modern political campaigns and will continue to do so in the future.