There's a dust-up over network neutrality that we'll do our darnedest to encapsulate in one bullet point. Ready? Let's go. Google, reported the Wall Street Journal's Vishesh Kumar and Christopher Rhoads, has been quietly pushing a plan to create "a fast lane for its own content"...Republican rank-and-file are urging their leaders to embrace technology or face "suicide"...As the cloak of secrecy that surrounded the Obama campaign gets pulled back the slightest bit, we're finally learning the truly important stuff: which Obama logo mock-ups didn't make the cut...and still more.

If you're on the Obama campaign email list, by now you've probably received a message alerting you to a special message from President-elect Barack Obama announcing the formation of "Organizing for America," the continuation of the organization that was built during his 2008 campaign.

No president has ever entered office with an organized social movement at his side, with the ability to reach millions of his supporters instantaneously and in as targeted a way as he wants. Nor have we ever been as networked to each other, with the ability to connect laterally by our own interests, as we are today.

It's interesting, then, how Obama's announcement papers over this tension. On the one hand, he says he needs his supporters' "help," that they will "drive" the organization and "must lead the way." Sounds great. On the other hand, he gives no details other than "you'll be receiving more information in the next few days about this organization" and that it will be "partnering" with the DNC. The rest is TBD. More below...

We will soon know just how big the sleeping giant of American politics, now known as Organizing for America (OFA, for short) actually is.

That's because earlier today, David Plouffe, the group's de-facto boss, sent out an email asking Obama supporters to watch a video of the President defending his economic stimulus plan and urging them to share the video with others. At the same time, OFA has put out a call to its most active volunteers to organize "Economic Recovery House Meetings" for this weekend, and you can search for specifics on nearby meetings on the OFA website.

More details on OFA after the jump...

It looks like President Obama's email list still has a lot of punch to it. Yesterday, he sent out a mass email asking people to watch a four-and-a-half minute video addressing the Organizing for America house parties, and so far that video has garnered more than 460,000 views, nearly as many as his first video announcing OFA's launch. Beyond these metrics, it's pretty interesting to listen to how Obama's talks to his base. He doesn't use the word "crowdsourcing," but tell me if you don't hear it in how he describes how he plans to use the web to make sure his recovery plan works.

It's been interesting tracking the coverage of Organizing for America's weekend "Economic Recovery" house parties. On the right, bloggers have been passing around Mary Katherine Ham's report from two lightly attended parties in the DC area, where she found Obama supporters who expressed "disappointment" with both the process and the content of the recovery package. On the left, my old friend and colleague David Corn, Mother Jones's Washington editor, has been blogging repeatedly about Obama's seemingly unwillingness to "use his army," criticizing the organizing effort for only asking supporters to talk to their friends and neighbors about the legislation, rather than call members of Congress urging its passage.

The political world is abuzz, wondering whether the first big ask from Organizing for America to its multi-million email list is going to produce a shift in the battle over President Obama's budget proposal. It will take awhile to tell, of course, and the real measure will be in how Members of Congress respond to phone calls from their constituents, and indeed whether OFA can generate a big wave of grassroots pressure.

Organizing for America brings out the big gun: the President, who is featured in this morning's email blast to his campaign list and via YouTube video. "Passing this budget won't be easy," he says, as the video closes with a big ask. "That's where you come in. That's why I'm asking you to head outside this Saturday to knock on some doors. Talk to some neighbors and let people know how important this budget is to our future. And that's why I'm asking you to stay involved in the days ahead. By writing letters and making phone calls and summoning the spirit that first gave us this chance for change. Now is our moment to seize that chance."

Organizing for America rolled out its "Pledge Project Canvass" this past weekend, and reports about 1200 groups went door-knocking across the country seeking signatures in support of President Obama's budget priorities. Considering that OFA boasted somewhere between three and four thousand house parties back in December, when the Obama campaign was gathering information from grass-roots activists about what they wanted to do next, this is a significant drop-off. The Washington Post reported that

"the organization remains skeletal, and the Pledge Project does not nearly cover the 435 congressional districts. The organization aims to develop a structure -- including at least one paid staffer in each state -- in time for larger fights over health-care, climate change and education legislation. "'This is all being driven by volunteers. It's an extremely exhilarating process, but also nerve-racking,' an Obama veteran said. 'We have a very, very scaled-down staff as of right now.'

While a few of us pointed out last November/December that the Obama campaign was missing a huge opportunity to keep its momentum going, it's also clear that community organizing has an ebb and flow, and clearly now OFA is in a (re)building period. It is also operating in uncharted territory with what, at best, is a really tough challenge (organizing support for a broad legislative agenda) and, at worst, is "an entirely unengaging project, where all the decisions are made for you in advance," in the words of Dean campaign veteran Zephyr Teachout.

Several folks, the Plum Line's Greg Sargent among them, noted several days back that Howard Dean was set to a launch a targeted new health care reform campaign. The former DNC chair's focus, stories said, would be backing what's known as the "public option." That option would offer Medicare-style coverage to all Americans who want it, competing alongside private insurer options. Opponents to the public option tend to argue that the federal government is an unfair competitor, putting private insurers at a disadvantage with its size and power. Proponents make the case that giving Americans the choice of government-run insurance creates useful competition in the health care market that will drive up the quality of health care while driving down the cost.

Generally speaking, though, as the Christian Science Monitor's Alexandra Marks noted, there's not a very strong public understanding of what the public option means. As the health care debate (re)heats up in Washington, the race is on to define it. Marks notes that public opinion on the public option has varied widely from the days of Harry Truman through today. Whether a majority or minority likes the idea of a public insurance option coexisting alongside private ones depends in large part on who last defined the term.

Which brings us to StandWithDrDean.com. With the web campaign, Dean is attempting to define the public option as a nonnegotiable part of any progressive approach to health care reform. He draws a line in the sand, saying "If Barack Obama's healthcare plan gets changed to exclude a public option like Medicare, then it is not healthcare reform." (Question from a strategic perspective: Dean's three minute video is awkwardly edited. He flubs a few lines. The cuts back and forth between segments are rough. He pronounces idea "idear." Okay, that last one's just a personal quirk. But do you find the production endearingly homespun? Or not ready for prime time? Discuss.) Dean's asking for help in collecting 250,000 signatures on an online petition to be delivered to Congress in the next few months.