Old Medium, New Campaign Tool

Last Thursday’s New York Times highlighted an interesting phenomenon among the growing crop of presidential candidates–almost all of them have published a book.
Referring to this trend as “candidate lit,” the article looks at books’ effectiveness as campaign tools.  The verdict?  They can be handy.  Successful books can offer the candidate another infusion of cash, build his or her [...]

Really?

Even though it’s a week-old story, I feel I need to comment on the whole Clinton-Geffen-Obama  dust up.  This is news?  Really?  Petty sniping between fundraisers, candidates and their campaigns seems to be pretty routine. 
What I am surprised about is the untempered venom with which Clinton’s campaign, specifically Howard Wolfson, the communications director, responded.  We [...]

The Scandal That Wasn’t

Turns out that the controversies surrounding intellectual property, trademark, and copyright law are not exclusive to the recording and film industries–they can pop up in politics as well. 
Last week, the GOP distributed a press release stating that video clips featured on Nancy Pelosi’s web site violated copyright and trademark law.  In their efforts to take advantage of online video, [...]

Otherworldly

Following in Warner’s footsteps, other Presidential campaigns are seeping into Second Life. 
According to ZDNET, John Edwards now has a campaign headquarters in the online world.  However, this isn’t the work of the campaign, a volunteer took the initiative to create a virtual presence.  Jose Rote, the avatar of Jerimee Richter, has established the headquarters and [...]

Don’tcha?

One of my favorite authors is Sarah Vowell–she’s an essayist and contributes to NPR’s This American Life.  One of the main reasons I enjoy Ms. Vowell’s writing so much is that she manages to intertwine snarky pop culture references, arcane historical facts and pithy political observations into funny, insightful, essays.
My favorite piece by Ms. Vowell, [...]

Blogs, Politics and PR

As the events of the past few weeks illustrate, new technology, online communities and blogs are playing an increasingly important role in the realms of politics and government.  

In light of this, and to get a better sense of these relationships as they have developed over the past few years, I interviewed Michael Grass, founding editor of DCist, and [...]

Smokin’ in Barack’s room

I’ve been meaning to write about Barack Obama’s announcement this past Sunday, but that’s been covered ad nauseum.  However, one particular moment stuck out for me–the question about his smoking habit.  Adfreak mentioned this today and brought up some interesting points about the effect of Obama’s tacit “endorsement” of Nicorette.
First of all, it’s interesting to see [...]

Controversies and Cover-ups

Well, first there’s this.  Both bloggers from Edwards’ campaign have resigned.  It’s unfortunate, and also an excellent example of how effective attack campaigns can be.  I wonder what repercussions this will have going forward.  How will the other candidates manage their online presence?  Will they avoid blogs, like Romney?  Or will they be used as [...]

Blogging in a Vacuum

Today’s been a busy news day for politics and PR.  From the news about Tim Russert’s testimony at the Scooter Libby trial to pallets of missing cash in Iraq.  But the biggest news is the John Edwards blogger scandal. 

 

This story is a perfect example of the dangers of entering any political race, not just the [...]

Politics in La-La Land

Steven Spielberg has a political adviser to guide his campaign donations.  There is also a cottage industry of consultants eager to assist celebrities, organizations and business leaders make “strategic partnerships,” with political groups and candidates.  Or, put simply, guides political donors on where to spend their money and on whom to focus their fundraising efforts.
 
Since [...]