Y! India News

Obama, the net-savvy Prez

Thu, Nov 5 03:10 PM

U.S. President Barack Obama was voted in as America's 44th President one year ago, on a balmy evening on Nov 4th, a decision that was hailed by world leaders, global citizens and a country that was reeling under the after effects of the Bush administration. Though this decision met with disapproval by a fair percentage of detractors, mostly those who had praised John McCain's candidacy as the answer to America's myriad problems, Obama won the hearts of millions of Americans and billions of people the world over, who watched his acceptance speech peppered with liberal (pun unintended) doses of "Yes, we can" with moist eyes and hands on their hearts.

Obama's foray into the public eye was his interview on Oprah, where she was quick to proclaim him as the answer to all the ills and malaises that plagued the country, much before he announced his candidacy to the office of the most powerful man in the world. Seen as an articulate, well-read man who could hold the audience's attention with just one line, Obama's popularity during the Presidential elections was on display not only on traditional media like TV and newspapers, but also extensively felt across the net. There was the Obama fan girl phenomenon on Youtube, the Vote for Obama campaign on Facebook and his own Twitter account, which sees thousands of new followers everyday.

One year after that historic election, Republicans took back two states run by Democrats. Obama followers would say that this is not a reflection of President Obama's policies or the decline of the honeymoon period with American voters. Does President Obama continue to resonate with the American public? The optimism of Obama's aides may not be stretched as evidenced by the huge fan following he commands on the net.

Some of the decisions he's taken while in office like giving aid to Pakistan and the ongoing health reform debate have been widely criticized and questioned, but his popularity doesn't seem to be waning at all. On the contrary, it seems to be on the upswing. His secret mantra is his ability to reach out to people, say experts. He connects with men and women, young and old, domestic and foreign, rich and poor - be it any divide, he's managed to bridge every one, because he listens, even to his detractors. He took to Twitter on his first anniversary to tweet about the messages pouring in, be it congratulatory or criticism. He seems to have understood that there are various platforms on which to connect with people and doesn’t restrict himself to the four walls of the White Office and its dais. And he uses every single one of them to reach out.

He still has a good 3 years left in which he hopes to bring in a lot of reform and bring back the country to its old glory, but that aside, Barack Obama is all poised to go down in history as the net savvy leader of our times.

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