Awesome! The new GOP.com

It's new, it's red, it's trendsetting--it's GOP.com!

No, I'm not joking. Yesterday I participated in a conference call with Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who kicked off the call with this declaration: "Welcome to the new RNC platform."

Steele promises something that goes beyond the standard political web site. "Users can not only blog, but they create and find events, they can start and join groups, share videos, invite friends to join, and a whole lot more."

GOP.com, Steele says, "is so out of the mainstream for the GOP, it is certainly outside of the mainstream of politics."

It's a beta site, which means beta will get better. Yesterday I was having problems accessing GOP.com, but the problems seem to have been ironed out this morning.

The possibilities go beyond the site. Users can create games, widgets, and code for Facebook; in fact, they can log into GOP.com using their Facebook or OpenID identities.

What about Twitter? There's a spot on the site where you can check on the latest RNC tweets.

As with Facebook, you can request friends, or they can request you. Sadly, I have no friends on GOP.com. Perhaps I shouldn't have uploaded my picture.

I was fortunate to ask the chairman a question--I queried him about reaching about beyond the people--like myself--who eat, drink, and breathe politics. After all, activists effect the debate, but everyone else decides who wins and loses elections.

Steele responded, "You must have read my brief to Todd (the site's webmaster)." He continued, "Because that's going to be one of the goals of this site--to bring in new players, new faces. That's why the Facebook component of this is going to be so important."

The chairman continued, "This goes beyond a political site. This is not just a political platform. This is a communications tool in which we tell a story, in which we brand a party. I think in many respects lift up its ideals and principles for all the world to see--in our own words and in the context of our own experiences. And that is not just from the world of political junkies like you and me."

Old, young and in between, there is a "vast network out there I think we can have a conversation with," Steele added.

Great call, great site.

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