President-elect Barack Obama drops off his children, Malia (left) and Sasha, at their school in Chicago on Monday. (Reuters)

Chicago, Nov. 10: Armed with millions of email addresses and a political operation that harnessed the Internet like no campaign before it, Barack Obama will enter the White House with the opportunity to create the first truly “wired” presidency.

Obama aides and allies are preparing a major expansion of the White House communications operation, enabling them to reach out directly to the supporters they have collected over 21 months.

Just as John F. Kennedy mastered television as a medium for taking his message to the public, Obama is poised to transform the art of political communication once again, said Joe Trippi, a Democratic strategist.

The nucleus of that effort is an email database of more than 10 million supporters. The list is considered so valuable that the Obama camp briefly offered it as collateral during a cash-flow crunch. At least 3.1 million people on the list donated money to Obama.

After Obama declared victory, his campaign sent a text message announcing that his supporters had not heard the last from the President-elect.

Accordingly, the President-elect’s http://www.change.gov transition website features a blog and a suggestion form, signalling the kinds of direct interaction that the Obama administration will encourage, perhaps with an eye towards turning its following into the biggest special-interest group in Washington.