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Obama is definitely running an extremely successful grassroots, "bottom-up" campaign. hmm sounds a lot like democracy...

StorBrod you make statements with NO FACTS. I'm assuming you're a troll. But just in case, here are some facts about your war hero John McCain. In an interview back in the 80s in defense of him voting against MLK day he said: "They never gave us any meaningful news," McCain said. "They told us the day that Martin Luther King was shot, they told us the day that Bobby Kennedy was shot, but they never bothered to tell us about the moon shot. So it was certainly selected news." I guess by this we are to infer that the assassination of MLK, JFK and BK are not "meaningful". 2. He was part of the Keating 5 involved in the S&L scandals of the 90s that brought Colorado to its economic knees. 3. McCain is now buddy buddy with swift-boater Karl Rove, who called McCains adopted daughter his "illegitimate black child". He has sold HIS soul and his daughter. He has buddied up to people he used to think were immoral. He has backtracked on tax cuts for the rich which he opposed before; all to get elected. I'm not going to even mention his wife. However, I could go on and on and on. But you need to do your own homework.

It is out of question for Ellen McGirt that Obama is an indecent individual.

In my humble opinion, he is calculating manipulator, and not comparable favorably to an honorable guy like McCain.

Unfortunately, Hillary is also a damaged character, and represent no contrast to Obama.

So all blind Obama supporters can do themselves and us one favor, end your dreams, and wake up.

Obama is a very negative asset to the American politics.

I have had hopes that Howard Dean and John Edwards could make it, but the Kerrys and Obamas ended their chances.

Excellent, article!
A truly insightful explanation of branding 2.0 and the power of social networking and "on message" communication to bring about change as well as to politically mobilize the masses.

He must be doing something right because he has incited the "hammer and sickle" references and "red scare" tactics that are usually employed by imperialist to stop the development of embryonic democracies in 3rd world countries. Is this what America has degenerated to under the current regime?

Hang on if you are still living with a MacCarthy Era mindset the world has changed...we hope.

Win or loose--this movement is an example of democratizing ability of the web.

Keep up the good work--I'm going to subscribe!

I had a recent opportunity to hear Senator Obama speak here in Indianapolis. I'd been an early supporter of Senator Clinton and had felt some ambivalence about her candidacy, so I relished the opportunity to see what his candidacy was all about --from about 30 feet away.

Amidst his discussion of his platform (which was much more clear than I'd thought it would be given the assertions that he was an empty suit with a nice speaking voice), he said something that left me walking out with a bit of a headache...and a new appreciation of his leadership. He told those of us gathered that we had a part to play other than simply voting--that the days of waiting for the government to "do us" are over and that if we saw something missing, it was up to us to put it in (and to ask for assistance when we ran into trouble).

OK.

So, on the way out of the gathering, I talked with two of Senator Obama's campaign staff. I'd been asked to pass along a request from a gentleman who wanted to start a Republicans for Obama group in Indiana and another request from the Indiana political bloggers who needed to know if Senator Obama might be interested in an online meeting.

In both cases, those staffers mirrored Senator Obama's sentiment: "If you think it needs to be done, go ahead and do it and lets us know how we can support you."

Both endeavors are now underway.

His candidacy is breaking new ground in terms of leadership in another way than just those the article mentioned: He's infused leadership with community activism. It left me wondering what it would look like in organizations if leaders supported their staff to be in action, providing them with coaching, resources, championing and support rather than the usual topdownocracy we're become so very accustomed to.

I've been a proponent of open book management in my consultancy for years. Now, I can see the shift in culture that needs to be generated that needs to be generated from the top for it to really flourish.