Viva La Liberation!

The newspaper, that is.

Quoting (bold mine):

«The Big Tent», installée au cœur de Denver, a été mise sur pied par plusieurs associations locales et est a priori apolitique, mais il suffit d’y passer quelque temps pour comprendre combien Barack Obama a fait du monde de la Toile l’un de ses meilleurs alliés. «Obama a tout de suite compris comment le Net pouvait être un formidable outil de recrutement et de mobilisation, explique Lamar White, du blog The Daily Kingfish, consacré à la politique en Louisiane. Mais il n’a pas fait que cela. Il a mené une véritable campagne participative, dans laquelle les gens ont un rôle actif.»

Temps réel. Très tôt, le sénateur de l’Illinois a fait de son site officiel (barackobama.com) son outil principal pour développer un réseau de jeunes militants à travers les Etats-Unis. Il y récolte aussi les donations financières individuelles qui lui ont permis d’amasser un trésor de guerre largement supérieur à celui d’Hillary Clinton durant les primaires. Plus encore, Obama s’est inscrit à la fois sur les réseaux sociaux MySpace et Facebook, et les utilise pour transmettre des informations en temps réels à tous ses partisans. «Avant même qu’il n’ait annoncé sa candidature, plus de 100 000 personnes s’étaient inscrites sur sa page Facebook, assure Lamar White. C’est vraiment impressionnant». Du coup, White, à peine 25 ans, reconnaît que son blog a pris un ton largement plus militant. «Je soutiens Obama sans réserve. La Louisiane est pour l’instant républicaine mais j’essaie de faire en sorte de faire entendre ma petite voix pour que l’Etat bascule.»

Fabrice got the basic gist right… except I am 26 years old and The Daily Kingfish has definitely not taken on a militant tone (though what great fodder this can make for the anonymous Cenla Republican bloggers who think I am a socialist! My gift to them; they can now quote the French as authorities).

Daniel was interviewed by the Beijing Review, but it’s pretty much impossible for me to conduct a Google search in Mandarin to locate this interview.

Update: Drew was generous enough to provide me with a legitimate translation. Apparently, the word “militant” doesn’t have the same context in French politics as it does here in America.

“The Big Tent”, erected in the middle of downtown Denver, was set up by several local organizations and is a center of politics in action. Spend a little time there and it’s easy to understand just how much Barack Obama made the world of the internet one of his campaign’s best allies. “Obama immediately included/understood how the Net could be a formidable tool of recruitment and mobilization,” explains Lamar White, of the blog The Daily Kingfish — devoted to the policy in Louisiana.

But that’s not all Obama has done.  He has conducted a true participative campaign, in which people have an active role.” Real-time. Very early on the senator from Illinois made of his official site (barackobama.com) his principal tool in developing a network of young activists through the United States. He also uses the site to collect individual financial donations which had enabled him to amass a warchest much larger than that of Hillary Clinton during the primaries. Further, Obama maintains a presence at the same time on the social networks MySpace and Facebook, and uses them to disperse information in real-time to his supporters.

“Before he had even announced his candidacy, more than 100.000 people had registered on his Facebook page,” ensures Lamar White, “it is really impressive.”  White, hardly 25 years, recognizes that its blog has taken a tone largely more partian. “I support Obama without reservations. Louisiana is for the moment republican, but I try to make my small voice heard so that we can rock the state.”