alexey Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1871767,00.html See full article at the link... Here is a quote that I think is a sign of things to come: ... Though few talk in public about it, a 13 million-man army, with foot soldiers ready to act in key congressional districts, could come in handy if the White House has trouble lining up votes for various bills and proposals that reach Capitol Hill. ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 I think there was a thread on this yesterday I'll say I feel very uncomfortable with 13 million "foot soliders" droning around telling me why I must support President Obama's agenda My question is, what if I don't? Will they get in my face and be angry about it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88Comrade2000 Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 http://www.extremeskins.com/showthread.php?t=278644 I said I felt a little creepy when I posted this. He's already thinking reelection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 I still don't see how it was "grass roots" per se. When you have the majority of your party and the media publicly behind you, it's not really grass roots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnLockesGhost Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 I think there was a thread on this yesterdayI'll say I feel very uncomfortable with 13 million "foot soliders" droning around telling me why I must support President Obama's agenda My question is, what if I don't? Will they get in my face and be angry about it? The militaristic verbiage is a bit disconcerting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexey Posted January 19, 2009 Author Share Posted January 19, 2009 I think there was a thread on this yesterdayI'll say I feel very uncomfortable with 13 million "foot soliders" droning around telling me why I must support President Obama's agenda My question is, what if I don't? Will they get in my face and be angry about it? Probably not. I've read a really good book about social communication recently, highly recommended: http://www.amazon.com/Honest-Signals-Shape-World-Bradford/dp/0262162563 One of the concepts there was something called "networked intelligence." Here is a quote (typed by hand, there may be typos): The idea that the patterns of unconscious social circuitry within groups can form a sort of decision-making machine is perhaps the first step towards explaining the adaptive utility of our unconscious social behaviors. In our experiments, it appears that our social signaling machine draws out proposals from individuals and processes them until one is selected as the group's decision. Rather than decision making based on syllogism, logic, and argument, this sort of group decision making is based on market principles, and uses social signaling to select actions that the group believes will minimize risks and maximize reward. And was we saw in chapter 5, this type of network intelligence can me more accurate than even the best individual intelligences. The "herd mentality" aspect of this becomes much less troublesome when you take into account that our intelligence has social roots. Of course there are problems with this... Two main ones, as identified by the author, are idiots and gossip. Here is a link with some more excerpts: http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/2009/01/04/idiots-and-gossip-plus-other-tales-from-the-sociometer/ Perhaps we are moving towards a government where decisions are actually made by the people (in a good way). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubbs Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 The militaristic verbiage is a bit disconcerting. It's pretty typical. "I was a foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution" came out of McCain's mouth roughly 5479438490 times during the campaign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubbs Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 I still don't see how it was "grass roots" per se.When you have the majority of your party and the media publicly behind you, it's not really grass roots. How exactly do you think he got that to happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 How exactly do you think he got that to happen?Good advertising and a better adversary.If offered Clinton vs Obama, I would take Obama all day long. 8 years of Bush didn't hurt the cause much either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Reagan used the same strategy, touring the country to drum up support for his policies and putting intense pressure on The Congress to pass them. earning the title 'the great communicator' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubbs Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Good advertising and a better adversary.If offered Clinton vs Obama, I would take Obama all day long. 8 years of Bush didn't hurt the cause much either. Yeah, but the guy was polling at 5% when primary season started. It's hard to argue that Obama's rise is the result of being backed by the majority of either his party or the media. They jumped on the bandwagon, but someone had to get the bandwagon started in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Yeah, but the guy was polling at 5% when primary season started. It's hard to argue that Obama's rise is the result of being backed by the majority of either his party or the media. They jumped on the bandwagon, but someone had to get the bandwagon started in the first place.He was being mentioned as a potential candidate, since the last election conventions. I would think grass roots would be more like a Nader or Perot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosperity Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 I think there was a thread on this yesterdayI'll say I feel very uncomfortable with 13 million "foot soliders" droning around telling me why I must support President Obama's agenda My question is, what if I don't? Will they get in my face and be angry about it? You will be sent to a re-education camp, so you can understand the Truth of our one true God-Emperor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubbs Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 He was being mentioned as a potential candidate, since the last election conventions. I would think grass roots would be more like a Nader or Perot. So was John Edwards, who had significantly more media attention and insider supporters when this all kicked off. And Hillary had about 90% of all of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 So was John Edwards, who had significantly more media attention and insider supporters when this all kicked off.And Hillary had about 90% of all of it. I'm not dismissing the work people put in to getting him elected, be it face to face buttons and sticker handouts or the campaign managers and advertising. Grass roots= comes out of nowhere. He didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cskin Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 I think the article makes some assumptions that simply cannot be considered as of now. Four years are a long way off... and quite a bit can happen between now and then. One of the most daunting challenges for the Obama re-election campaign will be duplicating the excitement and historic importance of electing an African American POTUS... which motivated many to turn out to prove some racial point. Additionally, when Obama fails to deliver on all of his promises.... and he's already beginning to backpedal better than Darrell Green... there are going to be a whole lot of people rather disillusioned and frustrated when the seas do not recede, the air clear, and jobs and free houses fail to fall from the sky. Finally, with the whiffs of corruption and incompetence already waffling through the air (Fed Reserve Chair fails to pay taxes, Clinton Library Donation questions) ... people who thought Obama walked on water are going to realize he's simply a politician and the fleecing of Americans continues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thiebear Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Watching Chris Mathews on Hardball: He's not hiding it.. hes all aboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexey Posted January 20, 2009 Author Share Posted January 20, 2009 Grass roots= comes out of nowhere. He didn't. "come out of nowhere" - is that just a feeling, or is there some kind of criteria you are using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Perhaps we are moving towards a government where decisions are actually made by the people (in a good way). :rotflmao: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubbs Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Grass roots= comes out of nowhere. He didn't. Wait, so, because he wasn't a total surprise when he announced his intention to run, he doesn't owe his rise to grassroots support? A multi-billionaire who can buy half an hour of primetime air with his own cash somehow qualifies as a "grassroots" guy, but a man who was considered "the black guy who's in the debates with Hillary" for about a year is somehow a party insider? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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