The Political Universe  

Today, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama unveiled his technology plan in San Jose, CA. What makes Obama’s plan unique is his desire to appoint a technology czar that the campaign calls a Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Unlike the Bush cyber security czar whose stated goal is to guard against cyber terrorist attacks, Obama’s czar would be charged with using technology to open up the executive branch’s actions to the public.

His CTO’s main duty would be to make sure that government holds open meeting, and records live webcasts of those meetings. Obama also wants to use blogging software, and open comments, so that policy can be communicated with the American people. He also wants the public to be able to comment on the White House website for five days before any legislation is signed. Obama also wants to increase federal support for extending broadband to rural areas. He would do this by only making subsidies available to carriers who offer both phone service and broadband to rural areas.

There are other more standard pieces to Obama’s plan, but my interest is in the idea that technology can be used to open up the executive branch’s actions to greater accountability. After eight years of the most secretive, and deceptive administration in modern memory, the idea that the president serves the people and the people deserve to see what their president is doing, is a breath of fresh air. Something tells me that this is an idea that secretive, and in its own way manipulative, Clinton campaign won’t be embracing any time soon.

Imagine, a president that actually wants to know what the American people are thinking. What is this world coming to? If we aren’t careful, we may someday have a president who is interesting in serving all the American people, not just those who voted for him or her. I am not only tired of living under the rule of an administration that treats truth as optional, and we the people as group that is a unavoidable inconvenience, but I am tired of contentious and bitter election campaigns, and a nation that is split 50/50.

One of the reasons why, I can’t support Hillary Clinton is that she is the most polarizing figure in American politics. Clinton represents a continuation of the divided America. Swapping Clinton for Bush is akin to two Fortune 500 companies swapping CEOs. Certainly there will be some differences, but they are both members of the same elite club, who seem to share a common view of the concept of how a president interacts with the nation. I am not an Obama supporter, but I believe that any of the other Democrats will bring more change than Clinton. Like most Americans, I think that I am looking for a fresh voice with new ideas, and I find the idea of a president that is interested in the American people very refreshing.

Be sure to check out our interview with Obama Iowa Communications director Josh Earnest at www.blogtalkradio.com/thepoliticaluniverse