The Amazing Obama Money Machine: A Fusion of Message, Technology and Activism

How did Silicon Valley help take down the Microsoft of the Democratic Party? We all know about the prowess of the Obama fund-raising machine, but the actual story is even more fascinating.   Follow me after the jump for Joshua Green's detailed look at the Silicon Valley startup that has transformed Democratic Politics.

The story of this political startup that slayed the old money dragon is an American success story, that even Lou Dobbs (not that we care) could be proud of.  
The Amazing Money Machine

In a colossal error of judgment, the Clinton campaign never made a serious approach, assuming that Obama would fade and that lack of money and cutting-edge technology couldn’t possibly factor into what was expected to be an easy race. Some of her staff tried to arrange "prospect meetings" in Silicon Valley, but they were overruled. "There was massive frustration about not being able to go out there and recruit people," a Clinton consultant told me last year. As a result, the wealthiest region of the wealthiest state in the nation was left to Barack Obama.

This really sums up the entire campaign for me, from fund-raising to overall leadership philosophy.  

"What’s amazing," says Peter Leyden of the New Politics Institute, "is that Hillary built the best campaign that has ever been done in Democratic politics on the old model—she raised more money than anyone before her, she locked down all the party stalwarts, she assembled an all-star team of consultants, and she really mastered this top-down, command-and-control type of outfit. And yet, she’s getting beaten by this political start-up that is essentially a totally different model of the new politics."

How ironic is it that it will be McCain-Feingold that does John McCain in. Maybe that is John McCain's legacy.  He helped create an environment where a democratization of the political fund-raising system could occur.  Good on ya Johnny.

Added:
I got to give big props to all those people out there in the tech world that helped (and continue to help) harness Obama's powerful message and transform his potential into an online juggernaut.  Kudos for a great job.

Undoubtedly this diary will got lost in the late night dump.  Rec it up there if you wish.  

•  Tips for changing the system from the bottom up.

  Great job citizens and great job Team Obama.

  by ZenMaster Coltrane on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:19:57 PM PDT

•  Who really built Obama's machine?

  The people who wrote the software he uses. That's a key part of why people can so easily donate.

  And who do we have to thank for that software?

  Apparently Howard Dean. Obama, Clinton, and the DNC all use virtually the same software. Obama's campaign just has the most attractive 'skin' (as in design, layout, trappings). But the functionality is the same on all three.

  by BetterTogether on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:20:47 PM PDT

  •  Indeed. You still need the candidate though. n/t

    by ZenMaster Coltrane on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:22:46 PM PDT

  •  That's true, however

    The company that designed it actually did so in consultation with the Obama campaign. The DNC very quickly adopted it. Clinton did not use the full suite of the company's software initially as it did not intend to do as much fundraising online. It was only afterward that they integrated the full suite.

    by MKSinSA on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:33:28 PM PDT

  •  Obama's software runs on HOPE.

    Maybe if they used a few servers the site wouldn't crap out during peak phonebanking times.  

    by Katie71 on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:43:24 PM PDT

•  well

  How ironic is it that it will be McCain-Feingold that does John McCain in.  Maybe that is John McCain's legacy.  He helped create an environment where a democratization of the political fund-raising system could occur.  Good on ya Johnny.

  as we've seen, he has no reluctance to cheat, even on laws that he helped write.

  Funny McCain Pics archive updated regularly

  by InsultComicDog on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:23:38 PM PDT

•  McCain-Feingold was supposed to

  be the death of the Democratic Party.  They said that the Democrats needed the soft money, because the Repubs were a lot more adept at raising the maximum checks in hard money.

  It was indeed the death of the Terry McAullife "Democratic" Party and gave rise to the Dean wing of the Democratic Party.  

  Hillary Clinton was the greatest favorite for a nomination who was not a sitting President or Vice President.  She had all the assets, name recognition, a husband who was a beloved former President in the party, more money that you could dream, and the support of the DC Establishment.  Compared to Clinton, W's advantages in 2000 were miniscule.  
  But Dean had opened the door for for an insurgent, and Obama, who perfected the model and has just about toppled the heavily favored Clinton.

  by IhateBush on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:28:19 PM PDT

  •  Terry McAullife will soon be banished to the

    mountains of Mordor.

    by ZenMaster Coltrane on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:31:05 PM PDT

    •  Can't wait to see it happen

      by IhateBush on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:32:21 PM PDT

    •  not banished

      He'll be job-hunting.

      by alizard on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:42:41 PM PDT

      •  Sure...but banished from my TV set which for

        Terry would be like Mordor.

        by ZenMaster Coltrane on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:44:29 PM PDT

•  The "inevitable one" hit a brick wall! NT

  by humphrey on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:32:02 PM PDT

•  Obama's respect for technological innovation

  is good for job growth in the United States.

  Which Presidential candidate, John McCain or Barack Obama, would respect science and let the technology breakthroughs happen HERE, in America??

  John McCain, held back by the old guard in the Republican Party, hasn't a clue as to how to revive America's technological engine.  To the social conservatives in the GOP, technology and science are not to be supported, nor trusted.

  In contrast, Barack Obama, and those who champion his causes and his prescient vision for America's future, are the ones who can ramp up Technology and Good Jobs HERE in America!

  by sunbro on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:33:39 PM PDT

  •  McCain is getting technological advice from

    Senator Ted Stevens.

    by humphrey on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:36:03 PM PDT

    •  With advice from Ted Stevens,

      McCain's campaign will go down the tubes.

      by sunbro on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:47:34 PM PDT

•  Dag Nabbit, the Clintons Just Aren't That Good

  They've had two national elections to observe the electorate becoming more energized, and to watch technology making them more empowered.

  But we should be careful.

  There feel to my gut to be about half a dozen stories including this one which indicate that just one of these various different issues, better handled by Clinton, would have given them the win.

  And 8 years to further entrench topdown governance.

  That wing's not going away, they'll be fighting hard to stay in the game even if they lose the nod.

  by Gooserock on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:49:49 PM PDT

  •  Better handled...but that's just not who they

    are.  If the campaign hadn't been run by Mark Penn with the support of McCauliffe and other old lackeys...HRC wouldn't have been the candidate.  I don't believe that if HRC had just done  X,Y,Z she would have won.  Her demise can't be solely to a string of procedural and planning screw ups.  It's like saying if everyone could putt under pressure like Tiger Woods and have the same mental strength, they'd be competing with him every week.  

    by ZenMaster Coltrane on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:56:17 PM PDT

  •  however, while I can imagine a DLC-Clinton

    machine adopting the technology, as they more or less have, they can't make optimal use of it ($250M to what?) from the 'bottom up' without becoming themselves what they most despise. And neither can the GOP. Worse, neither group is capable of getting a critical mass of people together capable of functioning in that kind of environment.

    If you empower people, they think for themselves. The people who are the hard core for both the Hillary campaign and McCain expect leaders to do the hard work of thinking for them.

    A bottom-up driven campaign can't work with a mindset that believes that empowerment is exclusively for the wealthy and that the power of government exclusively exists to enable an aristocracy to raid the piggybanks of the poor. And that mindset is common to both the GOP and DLC.

    While I have many differences with the Silicon Valley VC class, I share with them with a common belief that building an bigger economy is about building a bigger pie, not figuring out how a small group can get a bigger chunk of an existing pie.

    by alizard on Thu May 15, 2008 at 01:21:20 AM PDT

•  OK, as an ex-Microsoft engineer...

  .. is there a place for me in your Democratic Party?

  j/k, but it stings a little bit to have the company that did so much for me be the metaphor for HRC. Can't she be IBM?

  But kudos to Obama's tech team and what they've accomplished.

  by NumberTenOx on Wed May 14, 2008 at 10:52:28 PM PDT

  •  no, and here's why

    I don't think IBM has ever had anyone like that at C level since the company was formed in 1924.

    However, the resemblances between Steve Ballmer in that video and a certain female Democratic candidate for President are sort of obvious.

    The other point behind the video is that it's my standard multimedia test if I'm bringing up a new Linux installation and I recommend it for that purpose.

    And of course there's room for ex-Microserfs in the Democratic Party. Welcome.

    by alizard on Thu May 15, 2008 at 01:04:52 AM PDT

•  That was an amazing article

  and it makes me trust his vision and insight even more than I already did. Thanks for the tip and the link!

  by Seattlite on Wed May 14, 2008 at 11:08:07 PM PDT

•  I too an amazed

  I live in Silicon Valley and have been through many start-ups, some very successful, some not.  I know the excitement that can happen in a fast growing start-up.  I'm envious to think that I could have gotten involved, but I'm a hardware guy, not software.  I'm going to look into more of this.  I had no idea what was behind the Obama miracle.

  by dangoch on Thu May 15, 2008 at 12:07:21 AM PDT

•  Like others have already said, simply amazing. nt

  by PointGuard on Thu May 15, 2008 at 01:04:22 AM PDT

•  It's so much more than just software

  (my apologies to the IT people)

  There was a point where I looked at both Obama's and Hillary's websites on a semi-regular basis.  Every time, Hillary's was full of "Hillary" and "I"--Obama's either had "we" or "you" quite prominently.  The Obama logo-maker, allowing for the individual expression of visual support is another example.

  These are symbols of the participation which is WELCOME in the Obama campaign.

  Oh, and I have to mention that one of his best policies is that of transparency in govt. and the INVITATION to keep his (and others') toes to the fire.  I'm looking forward to that!

  by flor de jasmim on Thu May 15, 2008 at 04:07:06 AM PDT