Obama grassroots network meets over stimulus

Thousands of groups of ardent fans of President Barack Obama met across the country during the weekend in hopes of converting the grassroots energy that fueled his election campaign into a durable movement. The meetings were the first test of Organizing for America, a body that wants the army of 13 million people who signed up for Obama's record-shattered shattering campaign to be harnessed to his presidential agenda. Organizing for America grew out of Obama for America, a group that took U.S. politics by storm by its use of social networking websites, text messaging and the Internet to build and motivate vast numbers of voters and raise money. Prior to the group's existence, few in U.S. politics recognized the power of new technology as an electoral tool. But even supporters say they fear it could be difficult to sustain the campaign's momentum.