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A Preview of Election 08 - Podcasting Politicians
Video Blogger writes "The LA Times predicts that the 2008 election will feature the rise of Podcasting Politicians, as strategists from both parties try to ride the latest trends to secure a victory in 2008. 'You'll not only be able to text people with messages, you'll be able to raise money, deliver video, audio, create viral organizing -- where one person sees something really interesting and it gets passed on and on,' says Donnie Fowler, a Democratic strategist."
There is a site launched recently targeted towards Politicians of any faction to use as a resource for NetRoots Campaigning. It is not surprising really to consider the web as the next frontier for vote gathering. NetRootCampaigning.com does a great job of explaining why online campaigning will play such a pivotal role in upcoming elections, through the use of blogs, pod casts and audio distribution of speeches. The idea that you can get to know the candidates better makes sense, and the web is a great forum for accomplishing this. Each candidate that creates a strong web presence should be commended, we may for once be able to see that it is they are all about.
Jason
is going to willingly download political podcasts which are basically campaign ads, other than someone who is already fanatically committed to the particular candidate. Seriously, I simply can't imagine going to all that trouble to hear a campaign ad. Now I suppose if I have autofeeds set up and they find a way to jam their infomercials into my PodPlayer, I might accidentally hear one or two, but frankly, to me that would be like audio spam, and I would hold that against the candidate -- it would certainly not convince me to vote for him/her.
I'm sure there will be a large number of people listening to podcasts of their favorite politicians, but I am equally sure it will have no bearing on the outcome of the election.
The more you regulate a company, the worse its products become.
Yes, the Democrats have realised, just as Rheinhold predicted all those years ago, that lots of people will have mobile phones in 2008!
It's stunning, and I expect the use of mobile phones will dramatically change the future of elections! For example, to raise money, people won't call fixed lines any more, but - get this! - call donors on their mobile phone!!
The opportunities are limitless... you could actually send people text messages to remind them to vote. You could... like... get them to download your ads, if you called them something cool like "podcasts"...
This kind of amazing insight is why the Democrats will definitely win the next elections, unless of course the Republicans simply start a new war, deport some gay abortion doctors to Guantanamo Bay for immigration violations, and install yet more unverifiable voting machines in all the swing states.
Democrats, please! If you want to win in 2008, listen to your young, radical wing. Impeach Bush. Reform Congress, starting by kicking out the corrupt Democrat congressmen who have sold out their constituents. Get people tuned into the real problems in the country... the failed war on drugs, the corruption of the ruling elite, the systematic theft of the nation's wealth by the military-industrial complex, the acts of aggression on foreign states, the institution of a spy state, the use of torture on people held without trial or representation.
Get a million people into the streets, and do this using text messages, of course, like people's revolutions have done all over the world for the last ten years. Get organised using wikis, email lists, and real grass roots movements. Forget the hype, and please, please, please don't read any more Rheinhold.
But, since you Democrat leaders seem to be part of the same machine that elected Bush, I guess I'm spitting into the wind by saying this.
My blog
where one person sees something really interesting and it gets passed on and on
That closed-loop, forward-to-your-friends behavior is already an echo chamber ringing loudly with nonsensical, tin-foil lined inanities (across the idealogical spectrum) and apocryphal pablum. We already see enough "I don't usually forward this sort of thing, but this is really spooky!" crap from people that we still pretend are our friends.
Political-camp-driven psuedo-factoid-chain-letter type behavior is going to continue to amplify the already tunnel-vision madness that typifies the current election cycle for people in both parties. None of it persuades anyone to change their mind about anything because the simple act of receiving it in your inbox subjects it to already well-armored biases (well founded or otherwise) that result in the same instantly applied judgement that's used to throw out V1@gr4 spam. This sort of stuff may help a candidate keep her already-loyal base stoked up, but is there any question about those votes anyway?
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
"you can vote for people and hopefully get them into all sort of positions that will give his administration a tough time"
Independents generally don't troll Democratic. Your attitude is precisely why, even though I dislike where the Republican party is going (religious idiocy, hawkishness, inept foreign policy, restriction of domestic freedoms, prioritizing commercial interests above public interests, etc), I won't consider registering Democratic or voting for most Democrats. If the Democratic party would propose and deliver a coherent, workable agenda, instead of attempting to cripple our government through obstructionism and presenting themselves simply as the "we're not Bush" party, I'm sure there are a lot of Republican moderates like myself that would switch.
Embracing centrist views is the only way Democrats will garner enough votes to get elected in force. Bill and Hillary and a handul of others understand this, why don't the rest of you? I'm not pleased with where this country is going, but I simply don't see anyone offering viable alternatives.
This isn't the sig you're looking for... Move along.
The major difference, however, is where the leadership is coming from. Repubs are primarily driven by a few think tanks and the Karl Rove brigade, which was able to whip people into shape up until this year. We've seen just in recent weeks Bill Frist (and many other Repubs) break away from the "Party Agenda" to ideas favoring what they think their constituencies desire. Which is natural; the current administration (some argue the entire Republican party) has fallen into deep disfavor among the people and Repubs are scrambling for damage control.
Dems are going through a different transition, driven by the "Vast Left Wing Conspiracy" characterized by MoveOn. There's in-fighting right now, because many of the Democratic leaders aren't leading us in a direction we're willing to go. Asserting Lieberman or Hillary are centrist is laughable; they're Right.
Many people feel that the one thing is needed at this point is obstructionism. Bush and cronies have gotten us nowhere good with a rubber stamp congress, and requires someone(s) to stop him. Bush is not nor will ever be a coalition builder. His dirty political master Rove has ensured that none of the current Republican flock will be effectual in building a coalition, with few exceptions. (Those exceptions being centrist republicans that have tended to vote against the R groupthink in the first place)
The democratic party is developing a coherent agenda for 2006. The messages are getting out to those who actually care to listen. And a coup is developing in the Dem party, driven by grass-roots efforts to make politicians accountable to the wishes of their party, not their lobbyists.
You better watch out, there may be dogs about . .
I agree, both Kerry and Bush were bad for America. Which is why, when I voted, I didn't vote for either of them, I voted for a third party.
Which got something like a fraction of a percent of the total vote, but still... If enough people who disagree with both main-party canidates vote for third parties, eventually it might have a very small difference.
It beats not saying anything.
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.