Campaign Tip
A Blogger Has Your Back
Campaigns are used to hiring PR people, field workers, volunteer coordinators, pollsters, and so forth. But today in any major campaign a new essential job has emerged: campaign blogger.
A couple of articles in the February issue of Campaigns & Elections magazine (subscription required) note that in today’s campaign communications environment a smart candidate will employ a blogger or two who have connections with other bloggers and know how to win the on-line battle.
This is a lesson learned the hard way in 2006 by Republicans in the George Allen/James Webb U.S. Senate race in Virginia. Webb had a network of liberal bloggers supporting him from the outset. They encouraged him to get into the race, supported him at every step, and criticized Allen at every opportunity. When Allen had his “macaca” moment, the bloggers pounced, posting the video on YouTube and magnifying the slip-up and keeping it alive.
Meanwhile, Allen had just a traditional Internet presence with a basic web site. He eventually hired an “eCampaign Manager,” but that person had few relationships with political bloggers and didn’t understand how to work on-line communications channels. With 60 days to go in the race and with Allen in trouble, the campaign finally brought in a respected blogger to help, but by then it was too late.
The lesson is that major campaigns must engage the blogging world from the outset to establish credibility, frame the debate and play defense. Webb’s tech-savvy activists kept the pressure on, carrying Webb’s messages and keeping Allen on the defensive.
An article by Chad Dotson says: “A campaign that hires a blogger isn’t just hiring someone to write pithy posts about the candidate or the opponent. Rather, a good blog coordinator has built up relationships with (and can reach out to) other influential bloggers, massage their egos, organize them, and fight to get the campaign’s themes distributed across the online landscape. … Next benefit: damage control. A good blogger can help the campaign deliver a quick, effective response when bad press hits. That, of course, is an essential element of a successful campaign. … Most of the major presidential candidates have already begun the process of hiring bloggers to coordinate online activities for 2008. It’s a trend that isn’t going to disappear.”
National Politics
NASA Heads for Deep Space
New York Times article says that after 25 years of “going around in circles” with the space shuttle, “NASA has set a new direction for the future of human spaceflights. Once again, we have our sights on the Moon … and beyond … this time to stay.”
Wise Words
“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.”
-- Ernest Benn (Source: Quote Garden)
Today in Political History
Feb. 20, 1839: Congress outlaws dueling in the District of Columbia. (Source: National Journal 2007 Calendar of American Politics)
Feb. 20, 1962: Astronaut (and future senator) John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth as he flew aboard the Friendship 7 Mercury capsule. (Source: New York Times)
NY Times Covers Tragedy
New York Times story looks at Trolley Square gunman Sulejman Talovic as his family struggles to understand what led him to become a killer.
Blog Watch
At Out of Context, Judy Fahys reports: "There were a few flashback moments Friday, when former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt and former House Speaker Marty Stephens visited the 2007 Legislature. Stephens, wearing his traditional dark suit, made the rounds. Leavitt made speeches. The former governor told House lawmakers, 'Utah is still very much my home.' And he confessed that he does back in Washington, as U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, what he used to do while in the privacy of the governor's office: he plugs into the Internet and listens to the live 'action' on the Utah House and Senate floors" (for more on Leavitt, see Death Knell) (for more Legislature-related posts, see The Senate Site, Paul Rolly, Lincoln's Legislative Blog, and UAC Blog).... Ten Big Questions For interviews SLC Councilmember Jill Remington-Love.... Holly Mullen says Mitt Romney is the "Where's Waldo" of the '08 presidential race.
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