Q and A with Creators of 'What the @#$% Has Obama Done So Far' Website

Nov. 5, 2010— -- Shavanna Miller, Will Carlough, and Richard Boenigk are co-creators of the site Whatthef***hasobamadonesofar.com.

You're obviously Obama supporters and it appears that two of you are involved in social media. Are you independent operators in this venture or did the Democratic Party or any other organized group have a hand in your site?

Will: We're independent operators. I think most politicalorganizations try to shy away from using the f-bomb in their domainnames.

How do you know each other?

Will: We met working together at a website in New York. Unrelated, Iwant to add that I was a Watergate burglar for the office Halloweenparty.

More Republicans are "liked" on Facebook for example, than Democrats by a wide margin. Why is that, do you think?

Will: I think it's easier to get people passionate about socialistsand fascists taking over the country than whatever boring thingsDemocrats talk about. Also, and I can't prove this, but I'm positiveFarmville has some sinister hand in all of it.

Richard: A "like" on Facebook is about more than just showing supportfor something. It's about wanting to declare that thing publicly aspart of your identity. It's like a tiny bumper sticker on your onlinepersona. There may be more people who support Harry Reid's policiesthan Rand Paul's, but Rand Paul has eight times as many people whofeel, emotionally, that he is representing part of who they are.

Why is a site like yours necessary? Did Democrats and the WH not do a good job of selling their accomplishments while they controlled all of Washington? Why wouldn't progressives buy into the health bill, for instance, until it was too late to save the House?

Shavanna: They haven't done a great job at distilling theiraccomplishments in a way that people can cite them easily. What makes Obama's administration so great is its nuance, resistance tosoundbites or oversimplifying complex issues, blah blah.Unfortunately, that's a disadvantage when it comes to just getting themessage out to the majority of folks who aren't necessarily hardcoreinto politics.

Will: I'm one of those non-hardcore politics people. My main sourceof news used to be reading the Post over people's shoulders on thesubway, but no one reads newspapers anymore, so I'm a little out ofthe loop. So at the very least, making the site educated me, if notother people.

Richard: By nature, progressives are focused on things that shouldchange and areas where more needs to be done. We're not very good atbeing happy with the status quo. I think this site let Democrats havea rare pep rally of sorts and say "Sure, there's more to do, but justlook at WTF has been done so far!"

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You're going viral online... will Dems losses this week lead to a reawakening of the young voters who didn't show up Tuesday?

Will: Possibly. Although by next year, I'm sure we'll have beeneclipsed by whatthef***hasjohnboehnerdonesofar.com

There are some oversimplifications in some of your points.

You have that he extended benefits to same sex partners, for instance. But they still can't be on federal health insurance. Is that part of Obama's problem - that he's only been able to go halfway on these things that are important to progressives?

Shavanna: Hopefully people will take this as a starting point in theirown research into what he's done, not the be all end all authority onit. In terms of going halfway – it seems sort of like telling someonethey have four hours to finish an exam, then getting mad at them aftertwo hours when they haven't handed in A+ work yet.

Richard: There are lots of places online to get a detailed analysis ofwhat's been accomplished and what hasn't. The idea with this site wasto take a minute to realize that the glass is much more full forprogressives than it was two years ago.