A Web of Democracy

Expectations for President-elect Obama are framed, to a large degree, by the perceived performance of President Bush. The current president's low approval ratings hardly measure the level of opprobrium many voters feel toward George W. Bush. In recent months, acquaintances my age, many of whom rarely spoke about politics, were saying that they hadn't contributed to a candidate before, but … , or they never volunteered for a campaign before, but … . One qualifier was a version of the same perception; the country is headed in the wrong direction, or worse – because of Bush, America is headed into decline. The other qualifier was unanimous; Barack Obama offers hope, competence, and a renewed pride in our democracy. In other words, an antidote.

Young voters favored Obama by a lopsided margin. According to Future Majority, counting only those age 18-29, the President-elect tallied 455 electoral college votes to Sen. McCain's 57 (additionally, there was no data for 20 votes and 6 were tied). Those numbers continue an age group preference for Democratic presidential candidates that began in 1992. Their political memories contrast the presidency of George W. Bush to that of Bill Clinton. They typically reject the hot-button social issues that motivate many Republican voters. Obama was the natural choice for this race-blind, ethnically diverse generation.

The challenges facing the new president present huge opportunities. Leaders are measured by how they deal with big problems. Those problems also present great risk. The conflict in Afghanistan is likely to escalate. Pakistan, their nuclear-armed neighbor, is in crisis. The financial market mess is on everyone's front page. Barack Obama will need a long grace period, and we will need some good news.

The key to extending the electorate's patience is transparency and participation. As he did in his campaign, President-elect Obama is expected to use the web to inform and involve citizens. The first step in that transition is the new site, Change.gov.

Obama's campaign email database is estimated to exceed 10 million addresses. Over 125 million people voted in the presidential election. Participation creates accountability. Will citizens become the biggest special interest group in America?

The possibility is more than a maverick could imagine: everyone wired, everyone welcome.