Howdy folks, we’ve had a busy morning over at the day job — it’s campaign launch time! And we have some great materials to work with, starting with the first of three snazzy videos:
Yep, it’s a reproductive rights campaign, just in time to reinforce the contraceptive coverage fight that’s recently consumed many of our friends on the right, much to the glee of Democrats hungering for the votes of women.
Besides the video, we of course have a petition and other resources, and we’ll also be unveiling some fun ways for people to get involved, perhaps even in full-on user-generated-content style. Check it out, and help spread the word.
The campaign’s single largest expense was for Internet advertising: Mr. Obama spent $4.3 million on Web ads in January, about as much as some of the Republican candidates raised.
Also note the following:
Mr. Obama had a payroll in January of close to $3 million, including payroll taxes, suggesting the large campaign staff that is already working around the country to lay the groundwork for his re-election.
What are those ads doing? Recruiting donors and volunteers. What are all those staff members doing? Well, lots of things, but raising money and organizing volunteers are likely at the top of their lists. I’ll say it again and again: online organizing is typically an incremental process that rewards sustained effort. Spending money to build his list and organize its members nine months before election day? The best investment Obama could make, and a good recipe for a 2008 repeat.
As Michigan and Arizona voters head to the polls to choose a Republican presidential candidate, the folks at Daily Kos hope that at least a few liberals will be among them. Why? Because they’ll vote for Rick Santorum, of course — that is, if “Operation Hilarity” succeeds:
“…an attempt to extend the Republican nomination campaign in order to improve Democratic chances in November. The basic idea is to encourage Democrats, liberals and progressives to vote for Rick Santorum in Republican primaries and caucuses where Democrats, liberals and progressives are allowed to vote.”
Hmmm, isn’t this basically the same tactic that Lefty bloggers screamed about (including on DKos) when Rush Limbaugh tried “Project Chaos” in ’08? This time around, “Operation Hilarity” aims to prolong the Republican nomination rather than the Democratic one, but bear in mind that we have no real evidence that Limbaugh’s antics made a difference four years ago — Democratic voters (and Hillary Clinton’s tenacity) kept the nominating process running into the summer of 2008. In any case, not even all liberals are joining with the Kossacks as they storm the conservative castle this time around. Honestly, the whole effort strikes me as silly and kind of pointless, except as a joke — and a weak one at that.
Our good friend (and recent Pinterest enthusiast) Beth Becker reports in with this tidbit from the trail: campaigns are turning to “protected” Twitter feeds to organize volunteers. Since the account owner of a protected feed has to approve everyone who wants to follow it, he or she can make sure that it’s restricted only to campaign volunteers. Thus, it can be used as a reasonably secure channel aimed directly at them and only them. And Beth says, “lots of campaigns are doing it with huge success.”
I say “reasonably secure channel” because obviously any such system is going to have the potential to be compromised, at the very least by a “volunteer” who is not who she or he appears to be. And just like email, the contents of a protected feed can still be copied and forwarded on to the rest of the world. But since we’re talking about volunteer-organizing instructions (“Be at the corner of 10th & Pine at 9 AM & wear your blue campaign shirts”) rather than high-level strategy discussions, the danger seems slight. Yep, yet another channel to keep in mind….
Our good friends over at Campaigns & Elections are busily prepping the next issue for print, but they took a quick break a few days back to post the previous issue’s “Technology Bytes” column. The focus? Campaign websites, a subject too-often ignored in our current gee-whiz social media obsession. Check out the articles below to see why campaign sites DO matter, and also check out how small changes can make all the difference in a site’s effectiveness at recruiting volunteers and donors.
Plus, don’t miss the overview of presidential campaign microsites, as well as some musings on the potential harm done by those email-gathering “splash screens” common on many political sites.
A quick public service announcement from your friends here at Epolitics.com: as you’re cruising around the web, you’ll no doubt occasionally find stories you like. And I bet you even have a few web sites you visit over and over, perhaps even daily. May I offer some friendly advice? CLICK AN AD EVERY NOW AND THEN. These websites need you to show your affection in the sweetest way possible, which is to send some money so that they can survive long enough to feed you a few more stories. Note: when you click an ad, the website typically earns money.
Our very own little slice of online heaven (Epolitics.com) brings in maybe $250 per year from Google Ads, just enough to cover the hosting costs with maybe a couple of beers on the side. But the site’s not in business to make the big bucks; it earns its keep in the love showered upon your Editor and all of our fine guest authors and in the occasional Europe trip we are called upon to make because of our work here. But clicking an ad here and there wouldn’t hurt, would it? That goes for RSS/email recipients, too — click through to the articles once in a while and select a fine Google Ad, eh? You might just catch a good conversation in the comments, too.
I tend to hit a handful of sites (the Post, Slate.com, PoliticalWire, The Awl, Space.com and New Scientist to name a few) just about every day, and when I remember, I go out of my way to select a fine advertisement to explore in more detail. It’s just neighborly, after all. No ring needed! A simple click will do. That is all.
Guest article! The latest from our old friend Beth Becker, who’s seized with excitement over Pinterest, the latest shiny object potentially useful item in our ever-growing social media toolkit. Also, check out Beth’s previous work on Epolitics.com.
It’s all about the visual now: from Twitter’s embedding of photos and video to the new Facebook timelines for both profiles and pages, the online world is buzzing with the power of a photo.
If you’ve been paying any attention at all over the last few weeks, social media fans everywhere are raving about Pinterest, the newest platform that’s still in limited beta. But what is it? And, what are its implications for an organization in the political space? (The answer to the latter: endless.)
This morning I had the privilege of chatting with the folks at NPR/PRI’s “The Takeaway” for a bit. The subject? Political ad microtargeting, which handily was one of the subjects of a recent Campaigns and Elections “Technology Bytes” piece. We only had a few minutes to talk, but we got to cover a little bit about how campaigns build target profiles to reach individual voters with messages tailored for them — at least in theory. We also touched on some of the limitations of the technology, which has the potential to leave some votes on the table and also can hit the point of diminishing returns fairly quickly. Listen here, and tell me what you think — as I write this, I’m in the Austin, Texas airport on a slow connection and haven’t been able to check it out for myself!
South By Southwest is coming up fast and I can’t hardly wait to get there, I tell you what. One highlight SXSW-goers shouldn’t miss: our very own panl on the Occupy Movement and citizen journalism:
Occupying Media: 24-Hour Protest People
The Occupy Wall Street Movement began in September, 2011 with the goal of holding a 24/7 public protest at the nerve center of American finance. Uniquely among American mass protest movements, the “occupation” used a variety of specially configured audio, video and social media resources to built an independent media capacity to extend the reach of its message and bypass mainstream media filters. These systems emphasized the role of the citizen observer over traditional media engagement strategies, and by creating “news” and validating events through shared experience, they helped the occupation movement achieve and sustain critical mass. This panel features members from various occupation sites who have worked on national media efforts.
Guest article! Below is the latest from Kayle Hatt, a Canadian political organizer who works with candidates on field organizing and communication and who earlier wrote about candidates and social media and about social media in that far distant land to the North. Kayle’s been awol from the site b/c of successive Canadian elections keeping him busy (he holds province-wide party office with the Ontario New Democratic Party), but his left-wingers made major gains in recent federal and provincial elections, so we’ll forgive him — this time.
Hey Everyone, Look Where I Am! Using FourSquare, Gowalla and Facebook Places in Your Political Campaigns
At this point the classic real estate saying “Location, Location, Location” has transitioned into the catagory of cliché, but politicos know that location matters. Political battlegrounds are drawn along the lines of wards, districts and, in parliamentary traditions, ridings. Targeting can be broken down into census tracks or demographic clusters. We colour our geographic zones by their red-to-blue leanings and view them accordingly (or in Canada, blue-to-red-to-orange leanings). And, of course, voters care profoundly about their small corner of the world.
I think it’s fair to say that politics and location are completely interconnected. So wouldn’t it be great if you could integrate this concept of location into your social media campaign?
Last night’s GIF Party hosted by the Tech Ladymafia was more than just a chance to enjoy happy hour prices at the Science Club — it was also a true celebration of the humble .gif, the web’s workhorse graphic format since way back in the way-on-back.
In fact, the party organizers were prepared to turn their guests into .gifs, through a clever app that created animated images on the fly via digital video. Party like it’s 1996, kids! Forget this YouTube crap; let’s go into motion the old-fashioned way. Results after the break, to save your eyeballs — and your sanity.
This weekend’s RootsCamp has sold out — not as in “sold out to The Man,” but actually sold out of tickets! Very cool for New Organizing Institute and the whole RootsCamp crew, but a bummer for you if you haven’t gotten your pass yet. Epolitics.com will be a sponsor once again this year, so look for our logo on the sponsor wall. But don’t look for me! I’ll be down in Texas, cavorting with friends and family on a trip that was planned long before NOI set the date.
This’ll be the first RootsCamp I’ve missed in half a decade, which is a bummer, but you kids be sure to take good notes. Hmmmm, maybe there’s an Epolitics.com guest article in your future?
Howdy folks, sorry for the brief publishing hiatus, but things been a little crazy down in the e.politics bunker. One bit of fun: today’s Pennsylvania Progressive Summit panel, “Smart Digital Strategies for the Real World,” where I’ll join Lizandra Vidal and Audrey Ross to talk about a perennial favorite topic around here: connecting online and offline advocacy. I’ll be introducing some general concepts, mining the #Occupy movement for examples. Resources below!
