AL GORE MAY HAVE INVENTED IT, BUT W PERFECTED IT:

Exodus.gov (Dan Froomkin, December 3, 2004, Washington Post)

Amidst all these high-level moves, there's a lower-level one that is worth noting here.

Jimmy Orr, the enthusiastic young White House Internet director who brought fun (Barney Cam) and interactivity (Ask the White House) to the staid White House Web site, has left his job after a nearly four-year run.

Under Orr's direction, the White House Web site developed personality, dramatically increased in popularity and actually became a valued part of the message machine. [...]

[O]rr also persuaded White House officials to use the Internet to reach out directly to ordinary citizens.

"We brought government close to the people," Orr said. "I'm very pleased with that, and it is the future of the Internet. If you want to be successful, you've got to interact with the people, and you have to listen to them -- you absolutely have to listen to them, and you have to show that you're listening to them."

Orr's job had its challenges. He was charged with driving more traffic to the Web site, but he couldn't exactly go overboard. "Trust me, when you work for the White House, there are some serious restraints," he said. "You've got to be really creative."

For all the talk of how the Howard Dean candidacy was the revolutionary moment in Internet Politics, it's the conservative White House and the Bush presidential campaign that made websites a vital part of their operations.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 3, 2004 7:32 PM