I had one of those coming out of the shower aha’s today. I think I see how Obama might be able to get the changes that we have all dreamed of – both for right and left.

So first I ask why is it impossible to get any real change – real change being defined as something that has to overcome the establishment in any field?

To have a real change – there has to be a President who will risk political capital and a majority vote in the house. By design right now this is impossible. Why?

Because until now the President has needed  a lot of money to get elected and to have a chance of a second term. Because until now Congressmen and Senators need a lot of money to get and stay elected.

Because until now, the electorate were largely ill informed, passive and often even helpless. Their only involvement was to vote every few years and, even then, many chose not to do even that. Why should they? They knew that the decisions were being made by another process.

Washington has been bought by lobbyists. The lobbyists represent the establishment. The phone rings in a senator’s office. It is you the voter. A second phone rings, it is a major lobbyist. Which call gets priority?

No wonder we are all cynical.

How could health care or agriculture be reformed when all the money is behind the status quo and money is what is needed?

That is until now!

By building a vast grass roots organization by using 2.0 principles, Obama was able to raise more money than by using the traditional lobby pools. He not only got more money but he is less attached than any president in generations to the special interest himself.

Is this organization going to go away now? No – there are signs that Obama intends to grow this organization. Here is the link to his new site, Change Gov,  just released yesterday.  It is clear that he plans to go around the Hill.

He is preparing for the war of the future – A People’s War – where the President has a direct ongoing relationship with the people of America.

Roosevelt started this. His use of radio in the 1930’s was a masterstroke of using the then new media – to talk in a conversational way with the people. Now the President can listen to our conversation and converse with us.

I expect that we will start to see a new electorate – an engaged electorate – that will grow out of the grass roots campaign network.

I hear rumours of a new “Peace Corps” not to be deployed in foreign lands but at home. I see that community development and engagement will become paramount in the years to come.

So where does leave the old power brokers on the Hill? Isolated!

The smart Congressmen and Senators had better follow suit and fast – they will have to catch up with the people and the President. The real money that they do need will come from their engagement in the betterment of those that they represent.

The voters will awaken. They will start to be active. They will seek to take back their power so that what affects them most – so that decisions that affect them the most having access to good work, to energy, to food to a good environment and to better healthcare to a better education will be made by them and not a by a few who care only for themselves.

So politicians will have to awaken too. It will be more than their voting record that will be watched. It will be their larger actions to help their people. The greater transparency of our time will shine on them all. Those who serve the people will be rewarded and those that serve the elect will be punished.

Where does this leave the lobbyists? The best lobbyist will themselves have more than a check book. They will have to represent groups of active engaged voters or leave town.

A real change in health care demands that the insurance companies, the drug companies and the doctors have to be taken out of the position of political control.

A real change in energy policy means that the oil and coal companies have to be taken out of their control position.

A real change in how we spend money and on what in defense has to taken out of the hands of the main suppliers and the senior officers who serve them.

A rel change in how our financial system is governed means that control needs to be vested fram the leaders on Wall Street.

A real change in food systems means that BIG Ag has to lose control.

Without going around the Hill. Without directly engaging the People both in the policy and in the action – real change is systemically impossible.

This is Martin Luther all over again. The system cannot be reformed from within. A new direct model is the only way.

This is possible. For the first time, real democracy is possible.