Obama Grasstank launched!!! Your ideas received via the grassroots site

DraftObama.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 8, 2007
Contact: Kris Schultz, media@draftobama.org (202) 427-6165
         Andy Rosenberg, andy@draftobama.org (703) 371-3075

DraftObama.org Launches The Obama Grasstank
http://grasstank.draftobama.org/

(Rockville, MD)  DraftObama.org, the nation's leading grassroots
movement to encourage Illinois Senator Barack Obama to run for
President in 2008, today announced the launch of The Obama
Grasstank a first-of-its-kind, grassroots-powered think tank for
Obama supporters who want to participate in the generation of
campaign-related ideas, tactics and proposals.  This new website
will provide a netroots community where anyone can post and then
rate the merit of proposed tactics and campaign ideas, with the
idea being that the Obama campaign leadership and perhaps Senator
Obama himself could take note of and incorporate the most highly
rated proposals into his campaign strategy.

The Obama Grasstank, which is itself the outgrowth of an idea
submitted by a Virginia DraftObama.org volunteer, Robert Mahini,
introduces a new web-based tool by which to harness the creativity
and drive of Obama's netroots supporters.  The concept was brought
to life by Rob Dolin, Washington State DraftObama.org, a computer
programmer, highlighting the national character and coordination
abilities of the DraftObama.org movement. 

"I am convinced that The Obama Grasstank represents the next
generation of grassroots campaign participation," stated
DraftObama.org founder Ben Stanfield.  "I expect that Senator
Obama and his campaign team will take great interest in the
tremendous creativity and sophistication that resides in his
supporters across the country, and they will be impressed with the
practicality and merit of the suggestions that this endeavor will
generate from the grassroots."

Stanfield continued, "Those of us who participate actively in the
blogosphere are increasingly skeptical of the gimmicks some
campaigns have begun to utilize to make it seem as though our
opinions matter to them.  The Grasstank is our way of creating a
true two-way street, where participants will provide and rate
ideas, and campaign-linked moderators will provide the feedback."

"Traditional think tanks are organizations that come up with ideas
to move America forward," said DraftObama.org volunteer and
GrassTank innovator Robert Mahini, "With the Grasstank, however,
individual supporters from across America will be able to put
their brains to work to move Senator Obama's campaign forward."

How it works: Grassroots supporters who register with The Obama
Grasstank at http://grasstank.draftobama.orgwill be able to post proposals for the world to read.  These users can also rate and comment on other proposals – allowing ideas to evolve and mature with community input and the best ideas to rise to the top.  The moderators of the Grasstank will also promote the best ideas to the front page of the site, allowing these proposals the mass exposure they deserve.  For now, this feature will run on the DraftObama.org website by DraftObama.org moderators, but if
successful, the Grasstank could easily integrate directly into the
Obama campaign.

DraftObama.org is an all-volunteer grassroots organization
supporting a presidential run by Senator Barack Obama.
Spearheaded by a growing collection of volunteers from around the
country, the movement was founded by Ben Stanfield, a computer
technician in Rockville, MD and has grown to a national movement
with thousands of volunteers in every state, and over half a
million unique visitors to the DraftObama.org site. The movement
gained national attention by airing the first television
advertisement of the 2008 Presidential election cycle in Iowa,
New Hampshire, and Washington, DC. The 60-second ad also reached
many YouTube milestones for a political ad.