By John Amick

As President Obama prepares to address various legislative initiatives on his own terms today at an afternoon press conference, his political strategy arm, Organizing for America, announced today a "health care story bank" on barackobama.com. Greg Sargent, of The Plum Line blog, first reported on the page where people can contribute their own health-care stories.

Sargent writes:

"The new 'health care story bank' — as it’s dubbed by Organizing for America, Obama’s reconfigured political and campaign operation run out of the DNC — is perhaps the most ambitious test case yet determining whether the technological apparatus that fueled Obama’s campaign can succeed in driving Obama’s governing agenda.

"The new initiative... comes at a moment when many Democrats are asking what Obama plans to do to campaign for health care reform. OFA officials view it as a major technological and communications component of their push to make reform happen."

Interestingly, the form provided for testimonials allows an optional selection field where story-tellers can select one of three categories for their story. The categories appear designed to elicit a certain type of response:

• How health care costs are too high

• How you or someone you know has insufficient choice of health care providers

• How you or someone you know lacks quality, affordable care

Sargent also notes that the database allows visitors of the site to read stories grouped by congressional district, further enhancing the local angle in order to put pressure on specific officials.

By washingtonpost.com editors  |  June 23, 2009; 10:42 AM ET
Categories:  Daily Dose , Health Reform Share This:  E-Mail | Technorati | Del.icio.us | Digg | Stumble Previous: Critics Express Concerns about Massachusetts Model
Next: Obama Uses Podium to Push Health-Care Reform

The comments to this entry are closed.