I met Barack Obama in Boston in July 2004. Working at the time as a technology journalist in Washington, I was covering the Democratic National Convention and had decided to go to a "Blogger's Breakfast" hosted by anti-war presidential candidate Howard Dean.
It was a motley crew of ragtag sort-of reporters — "bloggers," even — who were beginning to turn conventional political coverage upside down during that presidential campaign. The DNC designated a special section of bleachers for them on the campaign floor.
Obama, then a candidate for the U.S. Senate from Illinois, had not yet given his famous convention speech about "red states" and "blue states." Still, he was a rising political star. I asked him why he showed up.
He responded, shyly and almost defensively, that blogging was the future of the media: He wanted to be there to encourage them on.
More than 10 years later, Obama is now into the "fourth quarter" of his presidency. Looking back, one of the clearest skills President Obama has brought to politics and government is the adept use of information technology for dissemination, for feedback and for action.
He’s used the “We the People” online petitions to gauge voter interest in measures, which led to his signing a bill permitting consumers to unlock their cellular phones. This year, he tossed out the script for the State of the Union address, pre-announcing major initiatives like free community college classes.
Obama personally is the closest our nation has ever had to having a geek in the White House. Last month he proved it by becoming the first president to write software code (it was part of an educational effort to encourage young girls and boys in technology education). He is also the first president to tweet, to take a selfie in public and to have himself three-dimensionally printed. These efforts promote American innovation and keep him in touch with the next-generation of voters.
Obama’s technophile ways are generally seen as a lighthearted afterthought. I believe that Obama's perceptive use of technological tools is among our president's greatest strengths.
Most of the time, he has a willingness to tinker. He will try new things out, persistently try to figure out ways to drag the tech industry's entrepreneurial ways into government.
Perhaps the best ways to think of this presidency is "government in age of Google." These strengths include transparency, governmental competition and cutting-edge strategic investments:
Open government
Once elected senator in November 2004, Obama wasted little time skillfully positioning himself as the outsider anti-war candidate. Perhaps the singular accomplishment of his otherwise light legislative record in Congress was his co-sponsorship, with Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006. It's purpose: To launch a website with full disclosure of all entities receiving federal funds.
In the past few years, Obama and his Justice Department have rightly been criticized for their aggressive overreach in prosecuting journalists and their denial of Freedom of Information Act requests. But in making the basic workings of government more available to everyday citizens, whether through the Open Data Initiative or through the actions of the newly created position of federal chief information officer, Obama has exceeded his predecessors.
Competition in government services
Politicians routinely talk about the importance of competition. Obama has begun to apply that principle to government services, at least in education. In his first year in office, the administration implemented a $4.35 billion program, dubbed "Race to the Top," that provided funds to states based upon meeting performance-based standards. Such competitive grants to states "push them to radically change the way they think about educational improvement," said the Center for American Progress. To get there, Obama's Education Department has been more willing to buck traditional Democratic labor union constituencies than has his predecessors.
Strategic investment
Federal budgets ultimately reflect policy priorities and policy difference. The annual State of the Union sets the stage for the battle between the administration and Congress regarding funding levels. Yet to my ears, Obama's speech on Tuesday presented proposals going beyond tired liberal priorities.
For example, Obama highlighted the need for: "Modern ports, stronger bridges, faster trains and the fastest Internet;" for advanced manufacturing; for a Precision Medicine Initiative that would help cure diseases with more personalized medical information; for an open Internet; for greater wind and solar power; and for cybersecurity legislation. While I wouldn't endorse all of these initiatives, I give the Obama administration credit for thinking creatively about the basic investments that our government should undertake to help facilitate economic development.
Looking beyond the fiscal fights of the day, Obama’s willingness to use Silicon Valley innovation to improve government has much to recommend itself to both Democrats and Republicans.
Drew Clark can be reached via email: drew@drewclark.com, or on Twitter @drewclark, or at www.utahbreakfast.com.