e.politics: online advocacy tools & tactics

Quick Hits — May 13, 2008

• Update: MoveOn Targets McCain Aides.
• Obama: Smear emails “not just a random sort of viral thing”.
• Racist Secret Service E-Mails. Oof. I mean really, oof. Stupid enough to think, even more stupider to email.
• How to spot Photoshop chicanery.
• Why is this site password protected? Burt Edwards wants to know.
• Can Bob Barr Tap Into Ron Paul’s Movement? C.f. Libertarian Bob Barr Hopes to Scoop Up Ron Paul’s Internet-Driven Support and Ron Paul Supporters, What Are Your Plans?
• MoveOn picks winner of Obama ad contest.
• Does his ad buy prove his critics wrong? Obama is online this week in WV, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania….
• On the Dangers of Hacked Computer Networks and Inadvertant Nuclear War.
• Unjustifiable Carnage, Uneasy Alliances, and Lots of Self-Doubt: What Grand Theft Auto IV gets right about gangland and illegal economies.
• Obama Looks Ahead to Oregon Primary in E-mail Push.
• How the Web Contest Predicted the Real Thing.
• Top Four Essentials of eCampaigning. C.f. The Essentials of Online Advocacy Begin With Email (e.politics sez, you better f*cking believe it).
• Why I like the Google Video Player.
• Quantcast Helps The Media Planner. Improve your advertising plans with free site demographics.
• Clinton Going Down, While the Web Dreams of an Obama Win.
• Another political PowerPoint, this time Clinton’s. See Politico and Wired.
• New Google Service Makes Web Pages Social.
• How Defense Research Is Making Troops More Effective in Wartime.
• Air Force Colonel Wants to Build a Military Botnet. Or not.
• The indie-rock fall and rise of R.E.M..
• OMG! WARNING: Over the top, offensive humor! Note comment: “Godwin’s Law: As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.”
• Obama’s online organization.
• Volunteers asked to help find dead spacecraft on Mars via online photos. Check out the size of those pictures!
• Republican Slogan Borrowed From Antidepressant. The jokes are too obvious to bother making.
• Concharto: Wikipedia for history/geography nerds. via GeoDog.
• The peak oil culture wars.
• Space porn! Virtual telescope brings the cosmos to your desktop.

– cpd

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Quick Hits — May 7, 2008

• Update: The Obama Camp Dials It Forward. Post-primary conference call plays it subtle, while all is well in ClintonLand.
• McCain Launches Spanish-Language Website. Wonder how the Minutemen (no, not THE Minutemen) will feel about THAT one?
• Bury bad news with online press releases. Somebody forward this to Hillary Clinton. C.f. Craigslist Ad Of The Day.
• The critical technology, for the early phase of the industrial revolution, was gin. From gin to sitcoms to lolcats, via Henry Copeland.
• Bunches o’ Studies and Stats on Nonprofit Marketing.
• How-To: 10 Tips for Launching a Solid Podcast.
• Two new guides to presidential online advertising from Clickz, Online Presidential Display Ads Leading to the 2008 Primaries and All Primaries Are Local: 2008 Presidential Campaigns Buy Local Online.
• The Tale of the E-mail. Hillary and Barack’s constrasting post-Indiana/NC notes. C.f. She’s Still In, And She’s Still In To Win.
• Pew Study Confirms Cell Phones Rule.
• Mobilizing Generation 2.0: A Practical Guide to Using Web2.0 Technologies to Recruit, Organize and Engage Youth.
• Right now, I’m watching the President of the Utah State Senate on my desktop. Julie, you had me at “desktop.”
• Google Reader is becoming more of a social networking application.
• Twitter Post Rescues Jailed Journalist, but Egyptians ignore Facebook call.
• How the White House lost 5 million e-mails.
• Jailed Chinese Journalist Shi Tao’s Poem Follows Olympic Torch’s Route Online.
• Matt Stoller on how liberals rule the web, and The Baltimore Sun on how Matt and friends raised 400K for Donna Edwards. Via tPrez.
• Phantom Obama Vote Appears on NJ Voting Machine.
• Web Ads from Left and Right Advocacy Groups Signal More to Come.
• Media criticism in context: “Yes, it would be nice if the press spent less time on inanities and more time on how candidates planned to actually run the country. But this view of the media is just too simplistic.” Via Salon.
• North Carolina Radio Host Reports Anti-Obama Chain E-Mail Distortion As Fact. C.f. Pennebaker: Clip Doctored, about the Mickey Kantor video distortion. (also via tPrez).
• Union-organizing emails get employees of a social networking site fired! Sent around by Michael Whitney.
• Clinton’s and McCain’s Gasoline Tax Holiday Reimagined as a Phishing Scam.
• National Intelligence Agency Breaks Out RSS Feed.
• 6% are Natural Born Clickers.
• Twitter frenzy! Using Twitter for Your Organization, Use TwitterFone For Easy Voice-To-Text On Twitter, and Political Junkies Congregate and Comment on Election Results Through Twitter. Plus, 5 Tips to Grow Your Twitter Presence and The Bivings Group Does Twitter.
• Yes, a Montana cattle ranch is using banner ads combined with search ads to sell their premium beef via the internet.
• 10 Valuable Tips for Shooting Web Video. Via Frogloop.
• Google, YouTube and the city of New Orleans try to host their own presidential forum. Via Mike Allen.
• Video: how primary-season attacks have been amplified in the general election.
• FBI Targets Internet Archive With Secret ‘National Security Letter,’ Loses.
• Harold vs. Markos. Not everyone wants a unified Dem ticket.
• META Keywords are Legally Dead.
• Be very afraid: Engineers find ‘missing link’ of electronics. Robots take next step toward world domination.
• A minute and a half with Shana Glickfield…is enough to spark any man’s dreams.
• Clone-tool war on nipples continues. Complete with tragic casualty figures.

– cpd

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Quick Hits — April 28, 2008

• Adding Video to Turn Dead-End ‘Thank You’ Pages Into Viral Marketing Campaigns. The Obama campaign finds yet another sweet spot for online recruiting.
• The Post Is Having A Rough Day. Spam attack!
• Reluctantly, a Daily Stops Its Presses, Living Online.
• Rev. Wright Baits the Soundbiters.
• The Internet Goes Green. The growth of the envirosphere, via Micropersuasion.
• Space war would leave destructive legacy.
• McCain: It’s “clear who Hamas wants to be the next president.” Fruits of a blogger conference call.
• Google Earth Outreach Aides U.N. Track Refugees and Save Lives.
• Beyond Bittergate, Barack Yields Success to His Supporters.
• Obama’s Database Will Make Him the Power Broker. Another persistent political following! “Like Mussolini/ And Kennedy…”
• The chummy relationship of campaign professionals and journalists in Washington. Or, getting scolded for making fun of McCain on Facebook.
• Schism Grows Between Obama and Liberal Bloggers.
• Were Mesopotamians the first brand addicts?
• Subject Line, ‘From’ Address Crucial to Email Marketing.
• Who Stole the Plans for iRobot’s Battle Bots?
• YouTube vid inspires Obamacrombie t-shirts.
• Facebook as Weekly Evil.
• McCain on FriendFeed: “Considering the McCain campaign’s sometimes uneven online strategy, this is a step in the right direction.”
• Social Applications Dominate the Web.
• Gays, Lesbians More Receptive to Blog Ads than Heterosexuals.
• An overview of web mining in societal benefit areas.
• Top 10 Wireless Marketing Mistakes.
• 3 Top Tips to Improve Your Online Writing.
• Henry Copeland of Blogads: “As the social media winter looms, the winners will be the folks with strong relationships, low overheads, a strong commitment on innovation rather than coat-tail riding, and, most of all, a indelible passion for the business. We’re looking forward to seeing you after the bust.”
• Sorry Disney, But You’re Kind of a Skank Factory.
• DNC’s national cable ad buy. The RNC’s not so hot about it.
• Web Site Blames Sen. McConnell for Quorum-less FEC.
• The Twitter Disconnect. An introduction and how-to. Also, glimpse a hardcore Twitter-using life.
• Things Really Were Different Before Clinton-Obama. Time keeps on slippin’ slippin’ slippin…into the future.
• Which Government Agency Should Be Your Computer’s Firewall? HAL 9000 or black squirrels?

– cpd

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Quick Hits — April 24, 2008

• Espionage Against Pro-Tibet Groups, Others, Spurred Microsoft Patches.
• New Freedom, and Peril, in Online Criticism of China.
• In every measure, Obama clobbers Clinton online. Also, Barack Obama Takes Lion’s Share of Online Video Viewerships.
• Obama Uses YouTube To Lobby The Public After Losing Pennsylvania.
• Notes from the eCampaigning Forum 2008.
• Cuddle Parties: When Touchy Feely Goes Goofy.
• Why Democrats Rule the Web.
• Smug Alert in SF. Thanks, Slate
• Lost in the Smoke-Filled Room: Unexpected Talent. On the benefits of a primary process. C.f. The Primary ‘Bounce’.
• Government to Seek Terrorists in World of Warcraft: The Full Proposal.
• Welcome to the high-tech age of consumer jihadists. Suggested by Burt Edwards.
• Look Ma, I’m on CIA.gov.
• Anti-war site lets you spend $3 trillion your way.
• Obama’s GOP Shadow.
• Laughing Baby vs. the YouTube Commenters. C.f. The vile state of Internet discourse knows no borders.
• Colbert Snags Clinton, EdWORDS and Obama in One Cast.
• Fight, prefrosh, for social justice — via e-mail.
• Newspaper Ads Drive Online Research, In-Store Purchases.
• Online Advocacy — Using Petitions for List Building.
• Obama Talks About (Internet) Rumors.
• MTV News Still on the Edge of Political News. Kurt Loder rides to the rescue one last time.
• Twitter Away Your Life With Social Networking. And, Is Twittering Sustainable?
• The Twittering Class and the Primaries.
• Tips for success in a Web 2.0 world.
• Do Progressive Techies Have a Google Blind Spot?
• Drive additional web traffic with email.
• Facebook Chat — distraction or benefit?.
• Sick Profits Video Contest. User-generated content goes to the doctor.
• Despite Negative Press, Facebook Is a Powerful Agent for Social Change. But wait: 51% of Donors ‘Not At All Interested’ in Social Networks.
• The New Guards: The Players. A look at potential Republican MoveOn equivalents. C.f. MoveOn.org Asks McCain To Drop Pastor Who Blamed Victims For Katrina.
• EEN’s Avatars Campaign Brings Online Marketing to Life. Online/offline connection.
• Huckabee to follow in Robertson’s footsteps? Yet another independent audience?
• Radiohead Launches Social Network.
• Nerd alert or sublime beauty? Full Earthrise and Earthset in Hi-Def, from the Japanese Kaguya lunar orbiter. I can see my house from here! Via Space.com.

– cpd

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Quick Hits — April 9, 2008

• Update: Bloggers, DIY Filmmakers Capture S.F. Olympic Protest.
• F.B.I.: Lieberman 2006 Crashed Its Own Site. “Cyber-attack” was friendly fire episode.
• Queen Rania of Jordan opens communication with the West via Youtube.
• The Invisible Negative Campaign. Conference calls pour bitter acid in reporters’ ears.
• Truckers are Organizing Online: Is a Nationwide Shutdown Coming? 10-4.
• Charlton Heston Dies; Wikipedia Beats the Major News Sites to the Story. Via Micropersuasion.
• RNC Out-Twittering DNC. DNC too busy raising money.
• P.O.W. to Power Broker, A Chapter Most Telling. A fascinating look at a critical period in John McCain’s life.
• Five-Step Strategy to Market Your Nonprofit Online.
• The Fall of the Report of Drudge.
• Google AdWords for Nonprofits: 10 Tips About Keywords.
• Al Gore’s $300 million. Some of it’s going for blogads.
• What’s ahead for social advertising?
• Presidential Yahoo Buzz: Nationwide, PA, NC.
• Leno apologizes for ‘gayest’ gaffe. Was pursued by an outraged squirrel, plus a lot of online activists.
• Lost in McCainSpace.
• Write like a blogger. Only don’t die in the process.
• Stoners in the Mist. Flash presentation is modern-day successor to 50s anti-everything “educational” films, also has user-generated content angle. Via Wonkette.
• House Staffers Livid Over Web Site. LegiStorm founder defends himself on NPR.
• Jake Tapper’s smoke detector goes off at ABC News. “That fact simply highlights a growing narcissistic disease within the campaign press corps in which members increasingly see themselves as central players in the unfolding political production. Specifically, with regard to the Democratic primary, the press clearly views itself as the third candidate on the stage.”
• Lefty bloggers get free trip to Israel.
• Mapping Content to Better Tell a Story: Refugee Camps on Google Earth.
• Scientists Unveil High-Res Map of the US Carbon Footprint. Google Maps version would kick ass.
• Hillary Tries Grassroots Budgeting. Clinton’s choose-your-adventure fundraising tactic.
• New Clinton Radio Spot Goes After Obama on Energy Policy. Dig the tag cloud.
• Zombie Computers Decried As Imminent National Threat. Zombies now teaming up teaming up with their natural allies; genocidal robot/zombie war against humankind looms.
• How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse. We gotcha covered.
• Citizen journalism and capacity building.
• ‘Congress Has Given Up On The Actual World.’ Daily Show takes on the Second Life Congress.
• U.S. Webcasters Have It Easy (Compared To China).
• Creepy… I’m Sorry, But it’s Just Creepy. McCain girls finally break Alan Rosenblatt’s will to live.

– cpd

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Quick Hits — April 3, 2008

• Trust in Peers Trumps the “A-List,” Study Finds. Definite implications for political marketing.
• Act Blue’s Record Take. They’re raking it in for candidates.
• Online Call Tools and the 2008 Campaign.
• Detroit Mayor Is Charged With Eight Felonies. Much to his surprise, text messages are stored somewhere. C.f., TXTmob Subpoena Shows the Hazards of Using Technology to Protest.
• French President Caught Monitoring Blogs: Mon Dieu!
• Voter Relationship Management: The Constituent Is the Customer. A look at the available tools, from the point of view of business CRM.
• With the Internet Comes a New Political ‘Clickocracy’. Jose Antonio Vargas’s new gig, writing think pieces (nice work if you can get it).
• In 2008 campaign, the Internet packs a powerful political punch. Frank Davies overview piece.
• Kenya: What a laptop and a video camera can do.
• Calling all women who tech and talk. Regular e.pol reader Jeanette Russell says, “Hey Ladies!”
• Local bandit eludes Indian police AND Google Earth. But he still can’t get his mom elected.
• Broad Concerns About Internet Voting. Guys are worried, too.
• “Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has finally figured out how to raise funds on the Internet”. But still, a lot less than Obama.
• Chinese Authorities Place ‘Wanted’ Posters For Tibetan Rioters On Web Portals. Also, China Destroys Tibet’s Sacred Environment. When wrecking your own just isn’t enough.
• Over 1.3 Million Petition Signatures in 10 Days against Chinese actions in Tibet. China to petition-signers — um, yeah, we’ll get right on that.
• Magic Spy Smart Phone.
• Stanford Law Professor Larry Lessig Bets ‘Wikipedia’ Approach Will Transform Congress.
• McCain Girls Are Your New Jalopy. And more than a little hard on the ears.
• Raffle craze strikes innocent presidential candidates.
• Republican videos attack congressional democrats.
• The Press and Political New Media.
• Obama Utilizes Internet for Success.
• Cuba Lifts Restrictions On Personal Cellphones.
• Citizen Huff: How Arianna became the Matt Drudge of the Left.
• Gore Launches Ambitious Advocacy Campaign on Climate.
• Blogger’s Rights, via Burt Edwards.
• Website changes political climate. Reaching the young online.
• The Message Box: the Zone to Stay on Message. Fun with diagrams.
• Color-Coded Threat Level System In New Colors for Spring!
• Clinton’s Wiki-Warrior.
• Air America Host Suspended for Clinton Remarks. YouTube strikes again.
• Clinton Floats Delegate (Online) Petition.
• Obama inspires an online art explosion. “The Web has become a rich canvas for artists and candidates who know how to connect digitally.”
• Micha Sifry gets the Download from Joe Trippi.
• Democratic Lawmaker Vouches for Bush Administration’s Secret Plan to End Cyber War. See also DDoS Packets are Two Percent of Net Traffic, Report Says.
• Ed Markey’s Subcommittee has hearing on Virtual Worlds. He really looks stunning in that WoW Orc outfit.
• Latest sign of the impending Apocalypse: New Kids on the Block are reuniting.
• Science Link of the Day: “There you have it: the world’s most sensitive eyes allow them to be simple! And smash things! And it’s worked for 400 million years.”

– cpd

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Quick Hits — March 6, 2008

Post-Politics Online/pre-SXSW Quick Hits extravaganza.

• Does Good Design Matter? Todd Zeigler’s excellent follow-on to our Politics Online panel. C.f. lots of POLC coverage at Capitol Valley and Tech Daily Dose.
• Trusting Politics 2.0 Can be Difficult in Local Elections.
• Getting Duped: How the Media Messes with Your Mind.
• Online Video Audience to Hit Critical Mass in ‘08. “Nearly 80 percent of US internet users will watch online video at least once a month in 2008.”
• News and Media US Website Visits Up Sharply. Lindsey Lohan softcore locked in deathmatch with political coverage. C.f. Obama: Bigger than Britney.
• How-To: 6 Tips on Writing an Actionable Press Release. Basic but useful.
• Historically, Most Online Communities Haven’t Stuck. Facebook and MySpace: do not forget the lesson of Ozymandias.
• Crowd Enabling, the Obama way. A mighty bold claim: “Even if Obama fails to achieve his goal of becoming President of the United States, I predict he will have a deeper and more powerful understanding of the American people than anyone in the history of politics.”
• Did the Clinton Campaign Doctor Obama Footage to Make Him ‘Blacker’?
• Spying Fight about Emails, Not Phone Calls, DOJ Reveals.
• McCain’s Unfiltered Blog. Straight conversation.
• Hillary’s pop culture problem vs. Did SNL Save Clinton’s Campaign?
• Is the Obama Campaign Really Different?. Or is he the new New Coke?
• ObamaCycle: A Craigslist for Obama Campaigners.
• Hillary’s Classy Tweets to Ohio and Rhode Island. Not sure “Tweet” and “Classy” belong in the same sentence.
• Air Force Launches Recruitment Campaign Touting Cyber Command. Check out the gee-whiz landing page, and also the fact that the Air Force has blocked access to many (most?) blogs.
• Obama Reaches 1 Million Donor Mark. Check out the comments on Micah Sifry’s article about it.
• Obama does not read blogs. No wonder he has time to run for president.
• Quote of the week: “‘It’s a love tap compared to the Wu-Tang fist of fury that’s coming at this guy in the fall,’ said Rick Wilson, a Republican media consultant.”
• Heather Havriskey interview with George Carlin. A must-read for anyone interested in writing or the creative process.
• Facebook Launches Band Pages. “MySpace also might start to get worried — I’m sure I’m not the only one who uses that site solely for auditioning bands.”
• New Source for News Vetted by Scientists. A peer-reviewed take on social news.
• The Charms of Wikipedia.
• Are Liberals and Conservatives Different Species? The Answer is Yes.
• Extended rant against microsites. Not sure if I agree, but it’s worth reading.
• A Whole Toolbox of Contention.
• ETech: Lessig Calls for Geeks to Code Money Out of Politics.
• Wanted: A More Digital Congress.
• Inside Obama’s Ground Game.
• Hillary’s Rapid Responders.
• Obama Lawyer Crashes Clinton Call. With audio!
• Politico 2.0: Ruffini Blogs, Twitters, Crowdsources Obama Donations. Via tPrez. C.f. Josh’s take on the candidates’ post-Tuesday splash pages
• Flickr and TechSoup to hand out free Flickr Pro accounts to nonprofits.
• Facebook changes political affiliation choices. Michael Whitney and Nancy Scola are not impressed.
• Over 1 million people have seen Robert Greenwald’s anti-McCain online videos.
• Geeking out before checking out: Spacecraft photographs avalanches on Mars. Don’t miss the accompanying Earth/Moon family portrait, taken from Mars orbit — such a cute couple. And, dig the new European automatic robotic space truck. Finally, some good advice for the Coast Guard, and a Farewell to the Dungeon Master.

– cpd

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Quick Hits — February 25, 2008

• Update: Primary Season Signals Adoption of Online Ads by Political Campaigns. “Not only are those ads relatively inexpensive; they’ve allowed often cash-strapped campaigns to determine whether their dollars were well spent, before voters went to the polls.” Lots of details in this one.
• Politics and tax top US search league. Also note that Huckabee’s site outdrew McCain’s by 50% in January, and that Obama’s site had double the traffic of Hillary’s and four times that of McCain’s.
• Story on McCain’s Relationship with Telecom Lobbyist Sets Bloggers Abuzz. Nothing like a potential scandal to wake up the pajama-clad warriors — and set up a fundraising frenzy.
• John McCain Abuses Email. Lithe, blonde email in question denies all allegations.
• UK-Based Facebook User Figures Begin to Plateau. Facebook dons waterskis, prepares ramp over shark tank.
• The race online: Obama, rivals bring Internet campaigning to new level. Overview article from Frank Davies of the Merc News.
• Ralph Nader’s Bid for Presidency Meets with Negative Online Buzz. No love for Nader in the Lefty blogs.
• Googlebombing McCain. Via tPrez. Warning: he’s no stranger to flak.
• U.S. online search up 10% since last year.
• GOP politics in a nutshell. Dissecting a Republican online video.
• U.S. Spies Want to Find Terrorists in World of Warcraft. Juan Cole replies:
  “The recent alarmism about terrorist activity in virtual worlds seems designed to prey on the fears of the Internet common among the Great Unwired. Most of the concerns are simply unreasonable.”
• Viva Obama!. Lots of citizen vids. But wait: here comes the inevitable online Obama backlash.
• Ad Age: Creatives Have a Crush on Obama. One reason that Obama-supporting citizen media is so good — plenty of it is created by professionals. Via ReelPop.
• How much millet can a cellphone buy?.
• Lost in Wisconsin. “Again and again, following Super Tuesday, the Clinton campaign failed in basic on-the-ground organisation.” Also check out this reader comment about “Camp Obama,” Deconstructing an Obama Victory and Clinton on the ropes: How she got there (the last a Burt Edwards suggestion).
• “In Canon” Voter-Generated Content. Interesting model for considering citizen media.
• How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love Domestic Wiretapping.
• Email best practices: What are the best days and times to send bulk email?. And, Using Images in Email.
• Map of the Political Blogosphere. Via Technology Evangelist, who argues that it shows the continuing value of having original content.
• Two Articles on Political Online Advertising. Eric Frenchman adds to Kate Kaye’s excellent Clickz reporting.
• EBay Boycott Ends Today; Impact Disputed. Online activism ain’t just political.
• Grassroots organizing online, post-Ron Paul. Top-down vs. bottom-up — the battle continues.

– cpd

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Quick Hits — February 20, 2008

• Update: Exclusive: New Hillary Fundraising E-Mail! Well, kinda.
• Lawrence Lessig considers Congressional run. More at Techcrunch, Wired and tPrez.
• Blogger Joshua Micah Marshall wins journalism award.
• CNN retaliates by firing American Morning producer for blogging.
• MP3s of candidate conference calls? Let’s all listen in on the spin! Via tPrez.
• A Fuzzy Bear Explains Complicated Wiretapping Fight.
• Cayman Islands Bank Gets Wikileaks Taken Offline in U.S. Whistleblower site gets shut down, but content is widely mirrored.
• The New Success. Or, new ways to measure political failure.
• Newsrooms Struggle with Wikipedia Citations. As if the damn bloggers weren’t bad enough.
• Should Your Organization Use Social Networking Sites? Via Nonprofit Marketing.
• Shanghai Activists Using Blogs and YouTube.
• The frightening reason that press releases still work. (Hint: they still get reprinted verbatim).
• Special Report: iPhones & Email Marketing. Lots of iPhone-specific tips — written for commercial marketers but definitely relevant for political and advocacy types as well.
• Marketers lag behind the new technology of communications. Shocker.
• Keeping Tabs on the Superdelegates. How the web exposes the superdelegate process (note Sarah Lai Stirland’s earlier coverage).
• Political viral video strategies.
• Social Bookmarking For Journalists: 101. Via Bivings.
• Facebook Surveillance vs. Google Disappearance. “The real motivator is money, of course, since social networking sites are in the business of monetizing the social graph. That means people are traffic and personal information is content.”
• True.com Sinks to New Cleavage Low. On the nature of boobs and the limitations of content targeting.
• Keyword Research for Bloggers: A Comprehensive Guide. Not just for bloggers, btw. Via Problogger.
• Anti-Web 2.0 Group Resorts to Kidnapping and Torture. Sensible marketing, by any means necessary.
• The continuing tragedy: Mandy, Right Wing Babe of the Day.

– cpd

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Quick Hits — February 12, 2008

Potomac Primary special edition — special because for once, DC’s vote actually matters.

• Update: Over the Horizon: User-Centered Online Politics?
• Hillary’s Valentine Email to supporters. Tasty treat or sickly sweet? Also check out the viral email that’s helping her.
• Michelle Obama Robocalls DC Voters, as does DC mayor Adrian Fenty. C.f. Rep. Foxx pledges no more robocalls.
• Ron Paul Rallies Supporters via YouTube.
• Dueling Washington (State) GOP Web Sites. Huckabee die-hards launch online offensive.
• What, No Flowers? RNC Sends Valentine E-Cards. Mike Turk’s not in love.
• Moroccan Man Jailed For Fake Facebook Profile. It’s good to be the king, but don’t pretend to be his younger brother.
• How Sticky Is Membership on Facebook? Just Try Breaking Free.
• Not every site needs to be a social network.
• Why Google keywords cost more but deliver less.
• A cellphone in every pocket.
• Putting Candidates Under the Videoscope.
• Predicting the return of predictive journalism.
• Georgia Perspective on the Evolution of Media and Politics. From an MTV voter turnout organizer.
• Catch-22: Communicating with Congress. Interesting — mass emails may actually be being heard.
• Nokia creates its own mobile advertising network.
• TSA Reads Blog Comments, Changes Policy.
• Google News Goes Local With Neighborhood Headlines.
• Super Tuesday’s Gadgets: Touch Screen Monitors, New Notebooks, and 3D Graphics Drive TV Coverage.
• A New Online Fundraising Record on the Horizon. C.f. Money, Money, Money.
• But do donations predict a state’s final vote?
• Despite Web success, Obama loses Silicon Valley.
• Wired’s Guide to Starting a Viral Political Campaign on YouTube.
• Start a Nonprofit and Join Election ‘08 YouTube Free-For-All. A new route for 527s and similar outside political groups.
• MoveOn delivers Obama $500,000, plus 500,000 messages to friends.
• Political Blogging Scholarship. Please don’t feed the animals.
• Video Games for Social Change.
• Matt Stoller Fails to Consolidate the Netroots. Food Fight!
• Presidential fundraising doubles in 2007.
• Lolcats meets Obama: Yes We Can Has (cheezburgers).
  I does haz no understanding of why this is as funny as it is. Via tPrez.

– cpd

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Quick Hits — February 6, 2008

Mmm, mmm, do I love me a Super Tuesday party. Or two. Or three.

• How the web followed the Super Tuesday results. C.f. Twitter/Twittervision/Google Maps Super Tuesday Mashup and Internet political buzz super for democracy (note quote from e.politics — and Google didn’t pay a dime for it).
• Obama’s Wired Tuesday Push. Missed this one yesterday.
• Super Tuesday: How We Got Here. An excellent history lesson from CQ. Via Political Wire.
• Silicon Valley Donations: Microsoft Loves Hillary; Google, Obama.
• Edward Cone: A reality check on Web politics. This guy’s been paying attention.
• Results on the Web and on Your Phone. Politics is a relentless pursuer.
• Matt Drudge Starts Posting on YouTube. Reputed Clinton love-fest clearly over.
• Obama, the Internet and the Decline of Big Money and Big Media. Did the ‘net make a successful Obama campaign possible?
• With No Clear Winner, Spin Wars Fierce
• Most apt image from Super Tuesday.
• Clinton May Self-Finance Campaign.
• Super Tuesday, Internet Style: How We’re Using the Web In the 2008 Elections.
• Are Democrats raising more money online than Republicans because they are more Web-savvy or popular?
• Local (Chicago) Democratic Candidate Launches Online Video Satire.
• Media Celebrity Launches World’s First Online Political Talent Community and Magazine. Warning: press release. But will it find you a job? (We’ll see.)
• Barack Obama online exploits. Evidently, he’s putting Canada to shame.
• Amateur Online Music Videos Do Huge Traffic, Give Candidates Free, Positive Exposure. C.f. Obama song resonates on the Internet.
• DARPA Nabs Big Bucks for Mach 6 Planes, Giant Robotic Blimps, Next-Gen Networks. Shape-shifting planes battleship-sized blimps hovering at 65,000 feet = airplane-geek heaven.

– cpd

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Quick Hits — February 5, 2008

Yay, Super Tuesday, the most wonderful time of the year. The following Hits will be updated throughout the day. See also yesterday’s list.

• Update: Just got a Drudge Siren email alert, and apparently Obama is “large” in the exit polls. It’s gonna be an interesting night; I’m off to the parties.
• Update: The Inside Story of Obama’s Online Music Video.
• Update: In an Internet First, Americans Abroad Cast E-Votes in Democratic Primary.
• Update: Barack Obama’s Web Site Overwhelmed During (Last Night’s) Clinton Appearance.
• Update: US Voters Using Google to Find Polling Places.
• Update: The Rationality Gap: Campaigns Way Behind the Online Advertising Curve. Alan Rosenblatt: “For 10% of their ad budgets they could dominate the web.”
• A brief distraction: Venn diagram of the British Islands. Thanks to Chris Cosart for a helpful find.
• Update: A Clinton campaign conference call is a study in spin. Check out the ending — a Fox debate?
• Update: I Hope It’s a Hoax. The (politically) provocative e-mail that “Chelsea Clinton” is sending around.
• Update: Obama Leads in Online Buzz, Favorite Sites by Visitors’ Party Affiliation Issued. Which candidates are dominating the online discussion?
• Update: Does web traffic tell us that Obama and Huckabee will win big today? Josh is skeptical, and for good reason. More from the tPrez Daily Digest, including lots of nonrepresentative online polls and a look at Barack Obama’s hockey stick.
• Update: AZ Robocall Hits Obama On Social Security.
• Update: Primary Jam. Excellent WSJ interactive guide to this year’s primary election pile-up, and a good demonstration of how to present information with technology.
• Update: The E-War: Dems: All Hillary Wire, All the Time. Hillary’s election-day email blitz. More on the expectations battle from Slate.
• Update: McCain Tops the Democrats in Media Coverage.
• The Early Word: Super Fat Tuesday. Good overview of what’s ahead.
• The Opposite of Interactivity. Zephyr Teachout’s not so impressed with Hillary’s online/offline national town hall, but PoliticsTV’s Dan Manatt likes it better. C.f. Checking in With the Politically-Active Social Networking Generation and Clinton On Message, and On Television. Update: Also, Creating Those Hallmark Moments.
• Romney Internet-Only Ad Ties McCain to Clinton. See also McCain, Romney Unveil New Attack Ads.
• New HRC Mailer Hits Obama On Economy. Direct mail = probably the oldest form of database-driven politics.
• Push Polling, Robo Calls and Other Telephonic Shenanigans.
• Obama’s $28M Online. Patrick Ruffini on the death of offline fundraising. Update: That $32 million total for January turns out to be more than twice that of the Clinton campaign.
• Students On How Social Networking Is Transforming Politics.
• Web Graphics and Social Media Bring A Bird’s Eye View of Celebrity Presidential Endorsements.
• The Web and the Race For the White House. Overview of online support.
• Ron Paul’s candidacy shows the potential (and limits) of online politics. A short email interview with the candidate.
• In Election of Change, TV Gives Voice to Insiders. No insurgency on the airwaves.
• On The Road Again, And Again, And Again. Life of an embedded political journalist.
• Shifting Loyalties: Obama Winning Big Edwards Backers.
• Bill Clinton on Hillary Clinton’s Web 2.0 presidency.
• Facebook Used to Mobilize Against FARC. “In Colombia, a Facebook page dedicated to protesting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, that country’s largest rebel group, is helping organize thousands of people in cities around the world for demonstrations.”
• Lots of Super Tuesday cell phone sounds at RingTones08.
• Super Tuesday Gladiators. “Billy, do you like movies about gladiators and Hillary Clinton?”

– cpd

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Quick Hits — February 4, 2008

Mega pre-Super Tuesday edition. Are any Giants-sized upsets coming our way in the political world?

• Update: Concise, insightful Super Tuesday video slideshow overview from CQ, including some great photos and clever graphics. Via PoliticalWire.
• Update: Anti-Illegal Immigration Forces Rally Against McCain. Anti-McCain email goes out to 1.5 million people.
• Update: Drudge takes on both John McCain and Hillary Clinton.
• Update: The Super Tuesday Strategy Review. Using Google Maps to track the candidates and decypher their plans.
• Update: More news on the Obama surge from the Cafe Press primary: “After being nearly tied two weeks ago in weekly candidates sales (Obama at 28%, Hillary at 26%), now as of last week, Obama has surged to account for 48%, while Hillary is down to 19% of weekly candidate sales.” More here, and thanks to John Hlinko for the tip.
• Update: Why Google only tells you what you already know. Do online searchers look to reinforce or challenge their views?
• Update: Is Barack Obama “Dean on steroids”? (Via tPrez)
• Update: Tracking superdelegates via wiki. (Via tPrez)
• Campaigns Experimenting Online to See What Works. Excellent overview article from Jose Antonio Vargas.
• Senate candidates learn the pitfalls of online politics
• Super Bowl Super Tuesday Spots. Note Obama’s geo-targeting, prominent cell phone signup and site URL.
• Does money translate into votes?
• The Smart Mobbing of Super Tuesday
• Hillary Clinton’s Online/Offline Town Hall. She’ll take questions via email, text and video, with Bill and Chelsea (among others) hosting satellite town halls around the country.
• The New Rules of Politics. Karl Rove weighs in.
• MTV/MySpace Postmortem: Change vs. Experience vs. Ron Paul.
• US campaigns go networking on the net.
• Bush asks for $6 billion to fight the terrorists online
• Huckabee Endorses Fire-And-Brimstone YouTube Competitor ‘GodTube’
• Another Ethical Scandal Plagues Novick Campaign. A vicious Wikipedia defacing.
• Obama’s $32 Million Haul. More here and here.
• Republican Presidential Candidates Unleash YouTube Ad War. C.f. Romney’s Latest Ad; McCain’s on the Web.
• Republicans make Fox News sick. “To recap New Hampshire for Fox News: Hannity was pursued by a Republican mob, O’Reilly got into a shoving match with an Obama aide, and CNN grabbed more viewers. Now that’s a week to remember!”
• The Day After. The end of the Edwards campaign, through the eyes of his blogger outreach staffer.
• Move Over YouTube, Here Comes YouBama. “An Obama video becomes an automatic hit on YouTube when it’s uploaded.”
• Genuinely inspired, the Facebook generation is turning out to vote in record numbers. Will they make a difference?
• Moveon Endorses Obama.
• On-The-Ground Organizing. The ‘net can’t do everything.
• Track the ‘08 Money Chase
• San Francisco Mayor, A Clinton Backer, Says They’re Going To Go After MoveOn Members
• 3D Electoral College
• Political Attack Ads Easy to Find Online. Getting nasty in North Carolina.
• Check Out Politics Schmolitics. Political humor from Daily Motion.
• Online Boors Ill-Equipped To Assess Political Hotties
• Chicago Tribune suspends comments on political section of website. “But some comment boards seem to attract and enable the vitriolic and brutish; they represent the very worst form of online communication.”
• Democrats Flood States With Ads as Tuesday Nears
• MTV’s Choose Or Lose Taps Local Reporters To Cover Presidential Election. Via tPrez.
• Steve Garfield’s Super Tuesday Coverage Plans With The UpTake. More technology than I can take.
• Google Works to Torpedo Microsoft Bid for Yahoo, and Microsoft fights back.
• Why did the Fred Thompson Blog Work?
• Library of Congress on Flickr
• How to Herd Organic Search Traffic to Your Blog.
• FTC Commissioner Explores Facebook, Makes Friends.
• White House Under Seige? Don’t piss off Google.
• Australia wild party child turns party pro. My teenaged near-namesake uses MySpace to promote a party, 500 “friends” show up and do $20,000 worth of damage. Delanys everywhere are extremely proud. Via my friend Doug McCammon.

– cpd

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Quick Hits — January 22, 2008

• Update: Clinton-Obama Mudslinging During South Carolina Debate Plays Out Online
• Update: White House Has No Comprehensive E-Mail Archive
• McCain’s Web Ad Responds to Swiftboat-like attack. Watch the video, and see also McCain, Huckabee Trade Friendly Fire.
• Clinton and Obama Open Silicon Valley Offices. “The new office openings coincided with a cleverly-timed campaign advertisement, which ran this past Sunday during Clinton’s television interview with Tim Russert on NBC’s weekly political talk show Meet The Press. The ad prominently featured Obama’s California headquarters web site address.”
• How this year’s race makes a mockery of voting for the most “electable” candidate.
• Tracking and analyzing robocall push-polling in South Carolina.
• “Virtual candidates” and web politics in Scandinavia.
• Why campaign coverage sucks. “The current generation of political reporters has based its bid for election-year authority on its horse race and handicapping skills. But reporters actually have no such skills.” Sound familiar?
• Cloverfied viral marketing frenzy. Via AdRants.
• ACLU’s anti-Guantanamo blog ad strategy.
• Lawrence Lessig’s latest book is free online. Via DIA.
• Richard Viguerie Goes Online for Paul. The conservative leader launches what amounts to an alternate campaign site for Ron Paul — sincere support, or a cynical attempt at list-building?
• How Facebook Is Like Ikea. Some assembly required.
• Presidentials Turn to National Cable Advertising. Another way to aggregate demand trans-locally using niche targeting. Or, of finding people where they live. See also coverage in The Caucus.
• Election results come to roadside electronic billboards
• Political consultants addicted to making online election predictions.
• Dems allow overseas citizens to vote online in primaries. Via tPrez.
• Paul Campaign Riding High After Nevada. The latest money-bomb lands. Update: take a look at the comment stream on the YouTube version of the fundraiser kickoff video — a thrill-ride from start to finish.
• Reporter twittering. American journalism: shortening attention spans like never before. Via tPrez.
• Foreigners Keep Out! High Tech Mapping Starts to Redefine International Borders. There are few things more fundamentally political than the drawing of lines. Also note the demise of the cannon shot rule.
• PoliticalBase.com: Is it Web 2.0 genius or a first boom mini-echo?
• RIAA Website Back Online Following Weekend Hacker Attack. Next time, use a bigger bomb.
• All Web politics is local, particularly in a Chattanooga City Council race.
• About that Google party. Damn, it’s good to be pretty.
• Israel launches radar spy satellite. The stuff of science fiction not long ago.

– cpd

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Quick Hits — January 14, 2008

• Obama Gets Mobile Right. Hooray for technology!
• Or maybe not. Backlash over anti-Obama email in New Hampshire
• Someone’s keeping the faith: Email details Huckabee’s Michigan evangelical turnout operation.
• Clinton’s Fund-raising Takes Off Online Post New Hampshire. Edwards not the only one raising money in a hurry.
• The Chuck and Huck online fundraising spectacle: “Just another barbecue/political fund-raiser/rock concert/ninja demonstration.”
• Bloggers for Fred Thompson. ‘Bout all he’s got left these days.
• Hillary Clinton Joins Paid Search Advertising Game. Putting those $$ to work.
• On the list-building benefits of Kerry’s Obama endorsement.
• Barack Obama’s Blue Period. Campaign site redesign as artistic statement.
• Kos pushes Romney in Michigan, sparking a voter fraud claim. Others are pushing a vote for “uncommitted.” More on Kos messing with the Midwest, as other bloggers bestow blessings on their chosen candidates.
• Attack on Huckabee Moves From YouTube to Boob Tube. C.f. Huckabee Campaign Responds to Victims Voice Video.
• Comedian Starts a Wiki To Track Attacks on Obama.
• Kenyan website uses Google Earth, SMS to track post-election violence
• CIA would like to read your emails.
• Blogging That Makes Me Wanna Cry. New finding: mainstream media are not the only ones who suck.
• Moveon.org To Launch New Group of Web 2.0 Tools To Unleash Your Inner Activist. C.f. Power Tools.
• Surprise: Congressional Websites are Still Awful
• Campaigns & Elections magazine threw a redesign party and didn’t invite us. Update: we’re invited to the next C&E party, and drinks are on them.
• Inside Googleplex DC. A pre-unveiling-party glimpse at the new digs (note: we get to go to this one).
• The ongoing tragedy: Right-Wing Babe of the Day

– cpd

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Quick Hits — January 3, 2008

• Welcome To The Iowa Caucuses, Viewed Online Through Grassroots Lenses. Can’t get enough Iowa? Let’s hang with the locals.
• Obama Girl, Britney Boy Top YouTube Videos. More significant: Obama Girl makes the AdRants Raciest Ads of the Year list.
• Deconstructing Makeup: Is All Viral Media Social? Why didn’t Dove get more out of their social media ads?
• Tool Helps Marketers Determine Keyword Quality. Good targeting = better results.
• 10 Best Practices to Increase Email Response Rates for Fundraising. See also Email Marketing for Dummies and E-mail’s Moment of Truth
• Blogging Goodwill Fashion. Creative online nonprofit marketing.
• Political Polarization in the U.S., with Amazon book purchases as a lens. Via Personal Democracy Forum.
• GOP: The Next Generation. Boldly taking metaphor where no one should go again. (C&E article on Republican new media guys available here).
• Romney, McCain, Obama Dominate Presidential Display Ads This Year. Via PardonMyFrench, which has commentary.
• 7 Types of Blog Posts Which Always Seem to Get Links and Traffic. Lists being one of them.
• Top 10 Public Relations Blunders of 2007. Via Strumpette.
• Damn kids, get off my lawn!
• Accounting 101 for Freelancers. Newly relevant for e.politics — more on that later.

– cpd

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Quick Hits — December 11, 2007

Time for a little of The Good, The Bad and the Downright Ugly of Online Politics

• Let’s start with the Ugly: The travesty of political robo-calls, in which Slate’s William Saletan takes on a campaign tool that needs to die.
• Next, the Bad: Obama, Under the Clinton Microscope. Hillary staffer Bob Nash tries a little opposition research via email, forgetting that messages might just get forwarded.
• On to the Good, beginning with a pop culture/political culture mashup of epic proportions: Six Degrees of John Edwards.
• Next, in a move to outflank Edwards’s Kevin Bacon connection, Craig endorses Obama! Alas, not Larry Craig, but Craig Newmark of Craigslist, who’ll no doubt be able to provide the campaign with plenty of cheap furniture and even cheaper dates.
• Enough with the endorsements, let’s talk about the cash: Blog P.I. digs into the three main Republican online donations sites and finds Slatecard the winnah. Josh is right; give this one a close read.
• More on the fundraising front, as Bloggers Take On FEC Over Edwards’s Internet Cash.
• And we just can’t get enough of Edwards today: check out this excellent Wash Post feature that takes the words that voters use to describe the candidate to pollsters and displays them as a tag cloud. Sounds nerdy, but the results are an impressively easy and intuitive way to see what people are thinking.
• From the Good to the Sublime: Time has collected the Top 10 campaign gaffes of the year (are we allowed to hope for more before New Year’s?), complete with video (via Political Wire).

– cpd

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