Whitehouse.gov

Dan Froomkin has written a provocative piece on how the Obama administration should use the internet.  Unfortunately, he's got a bit more internet triumphalism than clarity about how the important cultural dynamics of the internet are relevant to, and practical for, a political office.  An "absence of dissent and lack of accountability" were not aspects of the Bush administration"; they are inherent characteristics of any political office.  The emergence of the internet just threw them into sharp relief.

Froomkin's suggestions are interesting, and many are good; but others (those I've bolded below) are almost delightfully naive...

Imagine a White House Web site where the home page isn't just a static collection of transcripts and press releases, but a window into the roiling intellectual foment of the West Wing. Imagine a White House Web site where staffers maintain blogs in which they write about who they are and what they are working on; where some meetings are streamed in live video; where the president's daily calendar is posted online; where major policy proposals have public collaborative workspaces, or wikis; where progress towards campaign promises is tracked on a daily basis; and where anyone can sign up for customized updates by e-mail, text message, RSS feed, Twitter, or the social network of their choice.

And that's just for starters. Because the Internet doesn't look kindly on information that just flows one way. To live up to their promises, the president and his staff are going to have to do more than just talk -- they're going to have to listen, and respond. So imagine a Web site where the president regularly answers questions sent in by citizens; where ordinary people can vote up or down items they want brought to the president's attention; and where Americans from across the political spectrum engage in honest debate.

Froomkin gets the important cultural dynamics of the internet, but he doesn't seem to get the incentives of politicians.  Accountability is a useful campaign promise, but actual, elected politicians only support it for their opponents.  It would be a wonderful thing to measure and evaluate politicians, programs and policies, but the barrier to that consists of the entire political and bureaucratic class of the US government.

The Obama administration can do a number of innovative new things with Whitehouse.gov and the internet in general - indeed, I am convinced they will do so; they have an incredible team - but don't confuse an administration with a campaign.

Obama's victory did not empower "The People".   It empowered Obama.