Watching Every Move You Make
Politicians, especially during election season, are fair game any time and any where. In the YouTube era when almost everyone carries a cell phone camera, candidates and incumbents must act as though they are under video scrutiny literally every moment they’re in public (and, no doubt, sometimes when in private). With the proliferation of various types of cameras, and the ability to immediately upload images and video to the Internet, politicians can never let their guards down. The New York Times covers the video surveillance phenomenon at the presidential campaign level. While attention paid to candidates for lesser office may not be as intense, all politicians must remember that wherever you go and whatever you do, someone has a camera to record your actions and upload to You Tube.
The World is Going to Hell -- Not
Much concern has been expressed about the wealth gap between the rich and poor. A New York Times op-ed essay says that’s not the best way to measure financial well-being, and the situation is not nearly as bad as it is often portrayed.
Today in Political History
Feb. 12, 1793: The U.S. Congress passes the "Fugitive Slave Law" which barred anyone from assisting a runaway slave.
Feb. 12, 1809: Abraham Lincoln, 16th president (1861-65), is born.
Feb. 12, 1909: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded. (Source: Perspicuity)
Feb. 12, 1973: The first release of American prisoners of war from the Vietnam conflict took place. (New York Times)
Wise Words
“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crises. The great point is to bring them the real facts.”
-- Abraham Lincoln (Source: Quotations Page)
Campaign Tip
Keys to Fundraising
1. Target potential donors
2. Determine and group these prospects by their probable level of donation. Remember no one wants to be left out because they can't donate. For this reason we recommend that you get Contributor Volunteer Envelopes that allow voter contacts to not only give their money but allows them to help in other ways like: posters, yard signs, bumper stickers, host an event, get out the vote drives, work the polls on election day, phone banks, campaign office help
3. Develop persuasive reasons for prospects to give
4. Select the appropriate methods for soliciting each group of prospects (direct mail, small-group breakfasts, one-on-one meetings, surrogate meetings, etc.)
5. Execute the plan and make the asks
6. Ensure that the day-to-day cash flow from planned fund-raising programs meets the predetermined cash flow needs for the overall campaign plan. (Source: JHDesign)
National Politics
Best Stories From . . .
-- ABC News: Analyst Matthew Dowd predicts that Barack Obama will win the Democratic nomination and then face John McCain "in an epic generational battle between two candidates who are calling the country to a sense of common interest and who are both about bringing the country together across party lines. Now that would be a campaign worth the price of admission."
-- Wall Street Journal: Columnist John Fund says McCain has a better chance to win it all in November than many people think.
-- The Hill: Mike Huckabee "could soon find his phone ringing off the hook as Republicans of all stripes ask him to abandon his bid for the presidency for the good of the party. ... Many Republican officials, wary of the energy and shocking fundraising numbers Democrats are enjoying, are eager for the party to coalesce around McCain, and they see Huckabee as an obstacle to that effort at unity"
-- The Politico: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said twice Sunday that Iraq 'is a failure,' adding that President Bush's troop surge has 'not produced the desired effect.' 'The purpose of the surge was to create a secure time for the government of Iraq to make the political change to bring reconciliation to Iraq,' Pelosi said on CNN's 'Late Edition.' 'They have not done that.' The speaker hastened to add: 'The troops have succeeded, God bless them.'"
Blog Watch
-- At Out of Context, Robert Gehrke says: "My colleagues from the D-News put a lot of work into ferreting out every potential conflict of interest at the Utah Legislature, and a pat on the back to them for doing it. But I'm afraid that in this case the forest has a conflict of interest with the trees. Here's my beef: Utah law ... defines a conflict of interest as when a policymaker receives a direct financial benefit as a result of an official action. I ran into this problem when I spent weeks leading up to the session studying the conflicts legislators have and decided that it gets a lot trickier than it has been made out to be. In short, all conflicts are not created equal. For example, does Sen. Jon Greiner, an Ogden police chief, really benefit financially because he sponsors more laws that cops will enforce? If so, what is he supposed to do in the Legislature? And what about Rep. Richard Greenwood, who is a former highway patrolman? Does Rep. Sheryl Allen, the administrator of the Davis Education Foundation, really benefit from legislation to tighten reporting and auditing requirements after alleged and actual embezzlement at the Davis and Weber foundations ...? Compare those cases ... with the recent Tribune story about current and former Utah lawmakers cashing in on charter school contracts and you get a good illustration of the ethical shades of gray we're dealing with here. So good job to the D-News for putting the time into this. But it seems that calling some of these cases 'apparent conflicts of interest' and casting the net so broadly doesn't really do much to shed light on the actual conflicts of interest that go on at the Capitol." (For more on the Legislature, see UtahSenateDemocrats, SLCSpin, Salt Lake Crawler, Lincoln's Legislative Blog, Jeremy's Jeremiad, A Liberal Mormon, Salt Blog, and Utah Moms Care.)
Lighter Side
Favorite Headlines
(From James Taranto’s Best of the Web at OpinionJournal.com)
Never Get in the Way of a Homesick Canyon
"Couple Rescued From Canyon Heading Home"--headline, Associated Press, Feb. 8
That's What We Call a High School
"Location for Hanover School Still Up in Air"--headline, Times (Munster, Ind.), Feb. 11
Bad News for Handicapped Nebraskans
"Neb. High Court Outlaws Electric Chair"--headline, MSNBC.com, Feb. 8
Their Feet Were Bigger Than Their Brains
"Tooth Scan Reveals Neanderthals Traveled More Than Thought"--headline, LiveScience.com, Feb. 9
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