Obama's change begins with transition Web site
- Story | Palin effect: Republicans she opposed in Alaska won
- Story | Palin aides sorting through luggage to inventory clothes
- Story | Dems now have 57 Senate seats as Oregon's Smith falls
- Story | 4 Ky. Appalachian counties proud they went for Obama
- Story | Missouri, the bellwether, backed the loser. What happened?
- Story | Obama spent $250 million on TV ads in election
- Story | How will President Obama deploy his Internet army?
- On the Web | Complete McClatchy politics coverage
By Frank Greve | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — President-elect Obama's got a new Web site, www.change.gov, that gives people a chance to say what they think his priorities should be, track the transition to his new administration, tell their personal stories and even apply for federal jobs.
The site — a down payment on Obama's pledge to create a more "transparent and connected government" — still has lots of white spaces and promises of future features.
But it gives viewers lots more details about the government's workings and more opportunities for input than the Bush administration's site, dominated by first dog Barney.
"It's a site in its infancy, but it's a nice start," said Alan Rosenblatt, an online advocacy specialist at the Center for American Progress Action Fund in Washington.
A video of Obama's victory speech is the home page's dominant feature. Inside are a promised new blog and lots of Obama issue positions.
"He plainly wants to reach out to people directly, and this technology allows him to bypass the press and reach them," said Darrell West, director of Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, a center-left Washington think tank.
ON THE WEB
MORE FROM MCCLATCHY
How will President Obama deploy his Internet army?
Obama faces an unsettled world on taking office
