The 2008 presidential elections may be over, but Joe Rospars and Michael Palmer still have some issues with each other. The two men ran the online operations of Barack Obama and John McCain, respectively.
When asked at today's Politics Online Conference what separated the two campaigns, since they largely used the same tools (videos, online organizing, etc.), the two responded with dramatically different takes. Rospars jumped in and spoke for Palmer, saying his Republican counterpart would likely point out the Obama campaign's superior resources. Not pleased with that answer, Palmer rejoined: "You had a celebrity president... The difference was the enthusiasm gap. You had the candidate with more money and who was more popular, particularly with the media." Palmer then asked Rospars if Obama would have won without him, to which Rospars responded: "Given the alternative, yes."
NationalJournal.com delved into how Rospars ran the online operations of Obama's campaign in a recent profile piece.
How will Barack Obama's new-media operation shape the next round of campaigns? E-mail, e-mail, e-mail, experts concurred at today's Politics Online Conference. And make sure the new-media components are integrated throughout the rest of the campaign.
Sam Graham-Felsen, who ran the Obama campaign's blog, told nearly 100 Hill staffers, Internet consultants and new-media types that while e-mail may be the "least sexy" part of any new-media operation, it is the "single most powerful driver online and offline."
Nick Schaper, new-media director for House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, predicted that the one of the biggest changes moving forward will be for all levels of the campaign, including senior staff, to become more knowledgeable about how the Internet team operates. Everyone on a campaign should know how to operate their Web site's content management system, Schaper said.
Continue reading Panelists: Seeds Of Next Election Are In E-Mail.
Republicans have been kicking themselves for not thinking of some innovations that Barack Obama's campaign rolled out one after another, but in some cases John McCain's strategists were presented the same ideas and gave them a thumbs-down. One infamous case: text messaging supporters with the announcement of a vice presidential pick. Online GOP strategist Patrick Ruffini writes on TheNextRight.com that he's heard from "numerous" people inside the McCain campaign who say the idea of announcing online or via text message was floated "months before" the Obama camp made its announcement. Senior staff "shot down" the proposal as "undignified."
That's a dangerous mindset, Ruffini warns. "The notion that this is somehow not mainstream enough, that this is somehow not dignified, too cutting edge, too bleeding edge, is just so self-defeating and so illustrative of the problem that I think it must be discussed," Ruffini said in an interview with NationalJournal.com. Former McCain Web staff denied to NationalJournal.com any notion texting was dismissed for being "undignified" but confirmed that it was considered before being disapproved on concerns it would disrupt the rollout of a surprise pick.
The campaign strategy was to "ride the wave of the pop," and "anything that would have mitigated that pop we couldn't do," said the McCain Web staffer. The surprise factor (announcing little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin while the media focused on Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty) successfully drove thousands to JohnMcCain.com, and the campaign raked in $4.5 million in donations from the Web during the 24 hours after the pick, with thousands signing up for campaign e-mails.
At least it's not a segment about the virtual Jessica Yellin.
From CongressDaily's Erin McPike:
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- For many political operatives who make their living electing Republican candidates, what has injured the party extends far beyond the message. Tactically, operatives are warning that if the GOP does not systematically change campaign infrastructures to reflect the American electorate's growing comfort with technology and the Internet, Republican candidates are going to keep losing to Democrats who have gotten ahead of the technology curve.
Phil Musser, a former executive director of the Republican Governors Association who is involved with RebuildtheParty.com, laid out a call to action to several dozen members of the Republican National Committee at a weekend rebuilding retreat called by South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson. The audience included a number of the 168 state party chairmen and national committee members who will elect the next RNC chairman early next year. Read the full story here.
Chris Bowers, Joe Gandelman and Walter Olson were the top finishers in NationalJournal.com's prediction poll of top political bloggers for the 2008 election, the Web site reported Thursday. Bowers, of OpenLeft, and Olson, of Overlawyered, prevailed on the left and right, respectively. Gandelman, of The Moderate Voice, had the high score overall outside of the poll's left-right divide. For purposes of this contest, Missouri was awarded to John McCain even though official declarations had not been made by Wednesday afternoon. In House and Senate races, candidates who were ahead were considered the winners. One point was awarded for each correct answer. The Electoral College tally was used as a tiebreaker.
Read more about the bloggers poll here.
Hip-hop star Will.i.am, who made headlines during the campaign season for his "Yes We Can" YouTube video in support of Barack Obama, debuted his latest ditty dedicated to the president-elect on Oprah Winfrey's Friday TV show. As of Monday morning, "It's A New Day," had been viewed 134,580 times on YouTube and is available on DipDive.com. Watch the video for the foot-tapping tune above.
(Photo Credit: Darcy Burner for Congress via Flickr)
Darcy Burner, the Microsoft program manager and cause célèbre of the liberal blogosphere who was challenging Republican Rep. Dave Reichert for Washington's 8th District seat conceded late Friday after the Associated Press called the race for the incumbent. Three days after the election, 81 percent of precincts had reported and Reichert captured 52 percent of the vote (143,012) while Burner received 48 percent (134,480).
"It is likely at this point that Congressman Reichert has won re-election, and while we will certainly ensure that every valid vote is counted, we accept the decision of the voters," Burner said in a statement thanking her supporters and trumpeting Democratic President-elect Barack Obama's win over GOP Sen. John McCain. Obama's selection "will ensure that the change to the direction of our country called for in this campaign is realized in the new year," she said.
Continue reading 'Netroots' Candidate Concedes Wash. State Race.
High-tech hackers that tried to infiltrate the campaign computers of Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and John McCain, R-Ariz., likely originated in Russia or China, Newsweek's Evan Thomas said at a National Press Club briefing on Thursday. The FBI would not disclose much about the incidents when they occurred and the Obama camp was supposed to be briefed on the problem "but that was put off," he said. The hackers were looking to swipe information that might be useful in future negotiations with the next American president, the magazine reported, quoting several unnamed sources, in its special election edition.
According to Newsweek, the attacks happened sometime around midyear and were reported to the Obama and McCain camps by the U.S. Secret Service , the FBI and even the White House. The story does not detail how the government learned about the intrusions but said they assured the Obama camp that the break-ins didn't appear to be the work of his political opponents. A federal agent told Obama campaign officials that they had an IT security problem "way bigger than what you understand. You have been compromised, and a serious amount of files have been loaded off your system," the article stated.
President-elect Barack Obama wasn’t the only one who walked away with a victory on Tuesday night. Progressive grassroots political network MoveOn.org also patted itself on the back for encouraging more than 4.5 million members to contribute $88 million to the Illinois Democrat's White House race. The group endorsed Obama in February and since that time has organized a million MoveOn members to work in field efforts in coordination with the Obama campaign.
The breakdown:
▪ MoveOn and its members contributed $58 million-plus directly to Obama
▪ Raised and spent more than $30 million in independent election efforts
▪ Delivered up to 600,000 battleground state volunteers
▪ Delivered 400,000 volunteers from non-battleground states
▪ Added a million young members from June to Sept. and mobilized them
▪ Registered 500,000-plus young Obama supporters in battleground states
“Our members sense the opportunity to achieve things that seemed improbable if not impossible only a year ago," MoveOn's Eli Pariser said. "For our members, this is the culmination of a decade of work to build a progressive, people-driven politics in America." Pariser added that Obama will face daunting challenges from the day he takes office but his group looks forward to being part of "the enormous wave of civic and political engagement that his presidency has inspired and that will enable him to achieve the things that have been on the top of his agenda and ours."
It's Wednesday morning -- the day after Election Day -- and one of the most closely watched races in the country from the high-tech perspective is still up in the air. In the battle for Washington's 8th District, only 40 percent of precincts have reported and Republican Rep. Dave Reichert is maintaining a slim lead. As of 6:43 a.m. EST, he has 50.1 percent (68,541 votes) while Democratic challenger Darcy Burner has captured 49.9 percent (68,165 votes). The campaigns don't expect final results until later in the week but both candidates said they felt good about their chances, the AP reported. The Burner-Reichert race was by far the closest congressional race in the state with Washington's other House members clinching re-election.
The hard-fought race is a rematch from 2006 where Reichert, a former sheriff, defeated Burner, a Microsoft program manager, 51-49 percent. This time around, the campaign has gotten nasty with Burner fighting accusations she lied about her Harvard University education and Reichert having to answer to published materials that misstated his own higher ed experience. Over the course of her run, Burner became the darling of the liberal blogosphere, collecting a heap of cash from Internet activists. She also received $93,894 from Microsoft and its employees this cycle while Reichert got a total of $35,750 from the high-tech giant.
LostRemote.com posted some historic home pages from Election Night
For more, click here.
Friend --
I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first. We just made history. And I don't want you to forget how we did it. You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change. I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign. We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next.
But I want to be very clear about one thing...
All of this happened because of you.
Thank you,
Barack
*John McCain: "We have come to the end of a long journey" [read].
What are people searching for on Google as of 12 a.m. EST? Here's the round-up from the Internet search giant:
1. mccain concession speech
2. did prop 8 pass
3. mccain concedes
4. obama acceptance speech
5. california election results 2008
6. obama elected president
7. 44th president
8. california proposition 8
9. obama won
10. california secretary of state
For more, see Google's blog post for analysis and more details.
The GOP regained the Texas seat of former Majority Leader Tom DeLay Tuesday night, with Republican Pete Olson beating Democratic Rep. Nick Lampson. The change also means that Congress will lose a prominent Internet era child safety advocate who cosponsored a number of key bills, including several that were signed by President Bush this year. One such measure strengthened and reauthorized funding for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and another authorized a $320 million funding boost for Justice Department-supported Internet Crimes Against Children task forces. That bill, which was combined with a proposal from Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., also imposed higher penalties on Internet providers that do not report child pornography found on their networks.
As the major television networks christened Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., the next president of the United States, bloggers from the left and right reacted -- some more extensively than others. Some initial thoughts:
"Hell yeah"
-- Markos Moulitsas, Daily Kos
"It's over."
-- Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo
"It is an extraordinary thing, an achievement that will be recognized a hundred years hence, that Barack Obama has won the White House. Even those of us who opposed him, and who will no doubt be opposed to many of his policy objectives over the next four years, must pause and say congratulations on an improbable, amazing rise."
-- Hugh Hewitt, Townhall.com
"It’s a historic moment. Congratulations. Here’s my promise to you: As long as I can still publish a blog and speak my mind openly about the next denizen of the White House, I will. First order of business: He can now change the “0″ to a “1.”
-- Michelle Malkin
"I have many, many disagreements with Barack Obama. But tonight I congratulate him on his victory. I have seen a few critics say, 'he won't be my president,' but that is nonsense. He will be my president, and I will wish him well, particularly as he takes on the duty of protecting the American people in a dangerous world."
-- Jim Geraghty, National Review
©2008 NPR Photo by Stephen Voss
National Public Radio is broadcasting and webcasting live until at least 3 a.m. ET with all coverage available at NPR.org and on stations nationwide. This is the public radio network's most extensive coverage to date, involving more than 120 reporters and bloggers. The news is accessible to the deaf and hard-of-hearing through the first-ever live captioned radio broadcast -- a project being demonstrated at NPR until 11 p.m. with a test audience at NPR. The captioned broadcast uses HD radio technology developed by NPR, Harris Corporation and Towson University to allow the deaf and hearing impaired to experience NPR’s broadcast via scrolling text on specially-equipped receivers.
Internet magazine Slate.com proclaimed “President Obama” on its home page a bit ago... Video blog Rocketboom.com called it at 6:37 p.m.
(Photo Credit: DavidAll06 via Flickr)
Election Night is a great opportunity for the television networks to try out their latest, greatest technology. Here's a round-up of the gadgets and gizmos helping tell the story as the returns come in… (hat tip, AP)
NBC/MSNBC: Projecting a map of the United States on the Rockefeller Center skating rink, turning states blue or red as they are called. Massive banners for Barack Obama and John McCain climb up 30 Rockefeller Plaza, tallying the 270 electoral votes.
CNN: They have the "magic wall," which lets anchors manipulate information (as seen in a parody on "Saturday Night Live") as well as a virtual-reality Capitol to track control of Congress. Don't miss the holograph projection device that makes it appear that someone being interviewed in a separate city is in CNN's New York studio.
ABC News: A trio of gigantic video screens shine on Times Square.
CBS News: Katie Couric anchors the night's coverage plus special reports are scheduled via Webcast in the early morning hours.
FOX News: TV, radio and Internet newscasts originate from Manhattan studios where the network is debuting its "launchpad" -- a technology that uses a control pad to allow reporters to customize visual elements like results, maps and live shots.
Qorvis Communications, best known to Tech Daily Dose readers as the brains behind the Digital Freedom campaign, SaveNetRadio and a slew of other high-tech initiatives, hosted an Election Night party at their downtown DC headquarters on Tuesday evening. Despite the damp weather, the event drew a number of tech policy pros from the Computer and Communications Industry Association, Consumer Electronics Association, Digital Media Association, Information Technology Association of America and other groups. Among the familiar faces gracing the gathering, which was cosponsored by Beam Global Spirits & Wine, were Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and President Bush (wax likenesses from Madame Tussauds). Life-sized cardboard cut-outs of GOP presidential nominee John McCain and vice-presidential picks Sarah Palin and Joe Biden were also on hand for plentiful photo ops.
One way to follow what fellow Americans are thinking about on Election Day is to check out Google’s list of the 10 fastest-rising queries. As of 12 p.m. ET, the list included: "exit polls 2008," "early voting exit polls," "voting results," "presidential election results," "poll results," "election coverage 2008," "election update," "election tracker," and "who is winning the election." Read more about Google's Hot Trends here.
Also on the list was Chick-fil-A, the restaurant chain headquartered in Atlanta, Ga. Why, might you ask, is a fast food joint in the top 10? Some Chick-fil-A stores around the country are said to be giving away a free chicken sandwich to voters. Other companies such as Gifford’s Ice Cream & Candy Co., California Tortilla, Starbucks, and Ben & Jerry’s were also expected to hand out freebies, according to news reports. USA Today wrote that “due to possible conflict with election laws in various states most are not requiring proof of voting.”
According to Google’s search analysis, "Obama" was the number one top campaign-related queries during the election season followed by "Palin," "McCain," "Tinda Fey," "Joe Biden," "Chuck Norris," "Cindy McCain," "Bristol Palin," "SNL Palin" and "Colin Powell." Also making the top political topics list included "socialism," "the electoral college," "gas prices," and "social security." -- Winter Casey
Posted Saturday on NationalJournal.com...
Alexandra Kernan-Schloss waited in line for 11 hours in 2004 to vote near her school, Kenyon College, in Gambier, Ohio. With just two voting booths at the polling place, she wasn't able to cast her first-ever presidential ballot until 3 a.m. -- after news of her candidate's defeat had been widely reported. The young Democrat was deflated but determined to get more involved. Now a senior at George Mason University, she has dedicated recent months to registering her peers, advising them about how and where to vote, and getting them pumped up about turning out on Tuesday.
"Ohio was lost," said Kernan-Schloss, a Barack Obama supporter, before heading out for a door-knocking expedition on a cool fall evening. "Virginia won't be lost this time. You can see the difference that we're making." Kernan-Schloss is one of thousands of young people across the country who are volunteering in the waning days of the presidential campaign to help get out the vote. Hers is a new generation of activists, wooed to the fight for the White House by way of Facebook and Twitter. Text messages keep them in the loop. Technology has facilitated their participation and hooked many of them on politics.
Read the full story here.
The U.S. Internet Industry Association provided some advice for the new president and the 111th Congress in its weekly e-mail bulletin on Monday. The trade group, which represents small Internet service providers, said the successful use of broadband technologies can address the realities of economic recovery, national security and the emerging need for new solutions in healthcare, energy management and education.
USIIA's detailed recommendations will be released soon but the three basic themes include:
1. Do no harm. Popular claims notwithstanding, there is nothing wrong with the nation's broadband infrastructure, and the Administration should not move in haste to fix a system that is demonstrably not broken. Unlike the financial system, the automotive industry or the airline industry, the broadband industry in the U.S. is not broken and is not in need of a bailout.
Continue reading Internet Group Offers Advice To New President.
From Monday's CongressDaily PM edition:
Tech Firms Back Two Senate Commerce Republicans...
With the seats of Republican Sens. John Sununu of New Hampshire and Gordon Smith of Oregon on the line Tuesday, media and technology heavyweights such as Google, Cisco and Time Warner Inc. are opening their wallets in an effort to keep these members of the powerful Senate Commerce Committee in office for another term. Both lawmakers have taken pro-business stances on a range of communications issues, which may explain why so many companies want them around in the 111th Congress.
Read the full story here.
... But Still Angle For Strong Relationship With Democrats
If Sen. Barack Obama is elected and Democrats pick up seats in Congress, they can expect a collegial relationship with inside-the-Beltway technology and entertainment industry leaders. Computer and Communications Industry Association President Ed Black went to bat for the Illinois Democrat last week, posting a YouTube video that urged citizens in Florida to vote for Obama.
Read the full story here.
The Center for Democracy and Technology's Sophia Cope posted an item on the high-tech think tank's PolicyBeta blog on Election Day eve urging the next president -- be it John McCain or Barack Obama -- to devote considerable attention to global Internet freedom, the concept that governments around the world will not interfere with the free flow of information and ideas on global communications networks, particularly the World Wide Web.
Political leaders in many countries are "successfully remaking the Internet into a tool of government control" and the United States has not led by example, Cope argues, noting that "we can’t just be a leader in words; we must also be a leader in deeds." The Bush administration has spoken out of both sides of its mouth: decrying the human rights record of the Chinese government before the Olympics while defending National Security Agency warrantless wiretapping, she said.
"A vow from the highest reaches of the U.S. government to uphold the digital human rights of freedom of expression and privacy on the Internet and other communications technologies will echo throughout the world," Cope wrote. "Repressive regimes will be put on notice that the U.S. government holds itself to a high standard and expects other governments to follow suit." Read the full blog post here.
Regardless of who wins the White House on Tuesday, both presidential candidates’ agendas would have significant impact on the information technology outlay of state and local governments, according to consulting firm INPUT's experts, who have been mining the major policy positions of Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama and posting their analysis on the company's B2G Exchange blog.
"The candidates only rarely discuss policies with direct IT implications for state and local governments, such as REAL ID,” INPUT's Chris Dixon said in a release. “Yet, you do find some surprising nuggets with IT implications, such as Barack Obama’s support for more intelligence fusion analysts at the state and local levels and John McCain’s commitment to using tele-health technologies in healthcare." "A lot of folks will ask us which candidate will be ‘better’ for state and local IT," INPUT's Tim Brett added. "In our view, they are both very big on IT."
In the end, the next president will have to negotiate with Congress to win the legislation and funding that will drive state and local governments' IT decisions, they said. Plus, the economic downturn will most likely dominate the first 100 days of the new administration and Dixon and Brett believe that some sort of stimulus is likely to trickle down to states and localities via federal grant programs.
Telecommunications giant AT&T has ranked second behind the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees on the Center for Responsive Politics' list of "heavy hitters," top all-time donors 1989-2008. During that period, AT&T has given $39.9 million with 43 percent going to Democrats and 55 percent to Republicans. This election cycle, the company gave $3.5 million, with $2.6 million padding PACs and $863,211 filling individual campaigns' coffers. Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama received $180,813 and $154,366 from AT&T respectively while Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. and House Democratic Conference Chairman Rahm Emanuel of Illinois were also major beneficiaries.
Other high-tech notables that made the watchdog's 19-year tally include the Communications Workers of America (#12) at $25.7 million with 99 percent going to the Democratic Party; Time Warner (#29) at $18.6 million with 70 percent going to Democrats and 29 percent to Republicans; Microsoft (#30) at $18.3 million with 51 percent going to Democrats and 48 percent to Republicans; Verizon (#33) at $17.1 million with 39 percent going to Democrats and 60 percent to Republicans; and BellSouth (#48) at $14.3 million with 45 percent going to Democrats and 54 percent to Republicans.
On Election Night, cable giant Comcast Corp. will make it easier for subscribers to monitor campaign-related news on CNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, FOX, CNN Headline News, and MSNBC simultaneously. The company's recently launched news feed service, which is part of Comcast Central (channel 960), lets users toggle from one station to another on a single screen, eliminating the need to switch back and forth from different networks (I tried it out last week and now I'm addicted). Disclaimer: the service, which will continue after the election, isn’t available across Comcast’s entire footprint but is accessible to about 9 million customers that have digital cable.
Over the weekend, David Oxenford at the Broadcast Law Blog pondered what would happen if radio hosts in the United States prank called vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin (or any public official or private citizen for that matter) and aired the interview without permission. His commentary comes on the heels of news that a pair of Canadian shock jocks tricked the Alaska governor into engaging in an on-air conversation under the premise that she was talking to French President Nicholas Sarkozy. Had such a stunt been executed here, it would have led to an FCC fine, he wrote.
"Under U.S. law, you cannot air a telephone conversation on a broadcast station without first getting the permission of the person at the other end of the line -- even if the person just says 'hello' before being informed that they are on the air, and even if they are a public official," he said. The FCC rules were made clear in a recent FCC ruling that fined a station $4,000 for failing to inform two airport employees that they were on the air when the station called to ask about certain policies concerning taxis at the airport. The station argued that the interviewees were public officials and the conversation was newsworthy, but the FCC rejected that argument.
Listen to the conversation between the Quebec comedy duo "The Masked Avengers" and an unsuspecting Palin here and read a transcript here. Palin's campaign issued the following response: "Governor Palin was mildly amused to learn that she had joined the ranks of heads of state, including President Sarkozy and other celebrities, in being targeted by these pranksters. C'est la vie."
Leonardo DiCaprio and his celebrity friends have released another unconventional get-out-the-vote video. This one features Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Snoop Dogg, Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts, Ben Stiller, Will Smith, Steven Spielberg and many more. Watch the public service announcement -- the second in a series backed by Google, YouTube, Declare Yourself, and MySpace. Click here for the first star-studded video.
(Photo Credit: seaworthy via Flickr)
The folks over at eBay's government relations shop have channeled their election-related excitement into a productive (and profitable) endeavor -- an office pool offering "big prizes" for the top three places and, as deputy general counsel Tod Cohen described in an e-mail to staff last week, "perhaps more importantly the esteem and respect of your peers." Senior regulatory counsel Jack Christin won last time around. Follow the jump to see the races included in eBay's fourth biennial election contest (in case your office would like to copy their entry form). The tiebreaker -- predicting Electoral College totals for John McCain and Barack Obama.
With four days left until Americans head to the polls, Nielsen Online on Friday provided some highlights of the final weeks and days of the online presidential campaign, including online advertising, Web traffic, online video viewing and candidate buzz. Unique visitors to BarackObama.com outpaced those to JohnMcCain.com nearly 2 to 1 in September, the company said in a press release, with BarackObama.com's share increasing from 6.1 million in August to 7.9 million last month. Unique visitors to JohnMcCain.com grew from 2.7 million to 4.2 million.
Meanwhile, online video proved to be a strength for the McCain campaign in September. Growing 175 percent month over month, total streams at JohnMcCain.com increased from 1.2 million to 3.2 million. Unique viewers at the site also increased 175 percent during the month, growing from 475,000 to 1.3 million. The number of video streams at BarackObama.com increased 60 percent month over month, from 1.3 million total streams in August to 2.0 million streams in September. Unique viewers at the site also increased, growing 35 percent in September from 824,000 to 1.1 million.
Surrogates for Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., made their final arguments to high-tech stakeholders today with a pair of debates that contrasted the presidential nominees' positions on taxes, trade, technology and telecommunications policy. At one event, Larry Irving, who served in the Commerce Department under former President Bill Clinton, spoke in support of the Obama campaign while conservative activist Grover Norquist represented McCain.
Norquist, who is president of Americans for Tax Reform, warned that if Obama wins, he will sign whatever bills Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi send him. "You're not buying a vision, you're buying a signature," he said. Later in the day, former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt spoke on behalf of Obama's campaign at a separate event. McCain adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin was slated to appear but cancelled.
Hundt, who led the FCC under Clinton, joked that "Doug had something better to do than come and answer my questions about the Blackberry." Holtz-Eakin told reporters last month that McCain helped invent the device as Senate Commerce Committee chairman. His remark, which sent ripples of ridicule through the blogosphere, came on the heels McCain telling the New York Times that he carries a BlackBerry but does not use e-mail. Read more in CongressDaily's PM edition.
Forget comedian Sarah Silverman and "The Great Schlep" -- Computer and Communications Industry Association chief Ed Black is trying to get Florida voters to cast ballots for Sen. Barack Obama by arguing that the Illinois Democrat is the right leader to spur innovation in the Sunshine State. In a video posted on YouTube on Tuesday, Black -- who is a telecommuting Florida resident -- says it is "is so frustrating to see our state not reach its potential to become a tech powerhouse." High-tech policies in an Obama administration "will stimulate innovation, will increase Internet access and will create the jobs our state needs," he argues. Note: Black was speaking on behalf of CCIA's PAC, not CCIA itself.
High-tech CEOs have joined with executives from a number of industries to encourage their employees to take an hour on Nov. 4 to vote (see video montage above). CEOs involved include Cisco Systems' John Chambers, eBay's John Donahoe, Google's Eric Schmidt, Intel Corp.'s Paul Otellini, Sprint Nextel's Dan Hesse, Symantec's John Thompson, Time Warner's Jeffrey Bewkes and many more. During the 2004 election, 20 percent of eligible voters did not vote because they said they were "too busy" with work or school and never made it to the polls, according to "The Vote Hour."
Popular conservative blog RedState.com took a huge leap Monday by endorsing Alaska Democrats Mark Begich and Ethan Berkowitz. Begich is the Anchorage mayor running against Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, who was found guilty of hiding more than $250,000 in gifts, including about $200,000 in renovations at his Girdwood, Alaska, home. Berkowitz is challenging Republican Rep. Don Young who is being investigated as part of a corruption probe involving high-ranking Alaskan officials.
The directors of RedState, whose endorsement carried the subhead "Party Loyalty Has Its Limits," wrote: "We stand at a perilous moment in American politics, with the real possibility that the Democrats could get to 60 votes in the Senate. This is no time for litmus tests of party loyalty, for abandoning our own." "Good conscience," the authors said, compelled them to advise Alaskans to vote for the Democratic duo.
"Ted Stevens and Don Young have been a pox on the Republican house for too long -- too addicted to the pork barrel, too fast and loose with ethics," RedState said. Stevens' conviction is the "exclamation point on an era in Republican politics in general and Alaska politics in particular that needs to end (and which Gov. Sarah Palin has been battling to clean up)." The blog added: "Republicans need to clean our own house. Washington cannot too soon see the end of Stevens and Young."
Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain frequently touts former eBay CEO Meg Whitman as someone he turns to for economic advice, even floating her as a possible Treasury Secretary. In his latest statement on the economy, however, he incorrectly claimed that Whitman was the "founder" of eBay. Watch the clip above.
The Huffington Post notes that Whitman joined eBay as CEO in 1998, three years after it was founded by Pierre Omidyar, a fan of Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama. Just in case it comes up, McCain adviser Carly Fiorina, was chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard before being ousted in 2005. HP was founded by William Hewlett and David Packard in 1935.
Just in case politicos need some mood music to accompany their poll-watching and predictions in the eight days left before the presidential election, interactive Internet radio provider Slacker.com has launched a pair of stations tailored for fans of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. Supporters of independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader are out of luck.
The stations were programmed using songs from candidate speeches, campaign trail efforts, writings and interviews, including those from Blender Magazine, "Saturday Night Live" and Rolling Stone. The DJs at Slacker also utilized campaign rally music and some of the songs feature samples from McCain and Obama speeches. All songs and artists were selected to suit the politicians' personal music tastes. While Slacker's offering is bipartisan, the start-up's CEO Dennis Mudd donated $2,000 to the failed presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., in 2004, according to FEC filings.
McCain's station includes an eclectic mix of tunes ranging from Elvis Presley and The Beach Boys to Hank Williams Jr. and ABBA. On the Obama station, users can hear songs from artists including Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder and Sheryl Crow. Click here to listen to McCain Radio and here to listen to Obama Radio.
From NationalJournal.com…
The increasing use of online financial tools, debit cards and prepaid credit cards to make political contributions has created technological loopholes in federal and public oversight of campaign donations. The result has been a recent spate of news stories raising questions about apparently implausible or suspicious donations to the presidential campaigns. Right-of-center activists also claim that Barack Obama's campaign has collected tens of millions of dollars from suspect overseas donors.
Their complaints spurred the Republican National Committee on Oct. 6 to ask the Federal Election Commission for an investigation of the Obama donations. To test the campaigns' practices, this author bought two pre-paid American Express gift cards worth $25 each to donate to the Obama and McCain campaigns online. As required by law, the campaigns' Web sites asked for, and National Journal provided, the donor's correct name, location and employment.
The cards were purchased with cash at a Washington, D.C., drugstore, and the campaigns' Web sites were accessed through a public computer at a library in Fairfax County, Virginia. The Obama campaign's Web site accepted the $25 donation, but the McCain campaign's Web site rejected it. Read Neil Munro's full story here.
A high-tech watchdog group has unveiled OurVoteLive.org, a Web site where reporters, bloggers, and voters across the country can monitor problems at the polls on Election Day. The project was built by the Electronic Frontier Foundation for Election Protection, a national nonpartisan voter protection coalition, which runs the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline. The site will collect and analyze reports to the hotline.
OurVoteLive.org is already documenting over 1,000 examples per day of voters needing information or reporting problems such as registration and ID issues, difficulties with voting machines, and polling place accessibility, EFF said in a press release. At least 200,000 calls are expected to come into the hotline and be documented on OurVoteLive.org through Nov. 4. The site also features maps, nationwide trend information and a blog that will highlight incidents as they develop. (Photo Credit: briancors via Flickr)
(Photo Credit: HelpMeVote08.com)
Both presidential candidates -- Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. -- are viewed by the public as below average leaders, according to the latest statistics on HelpMeVote08.com, a leadership analysis tool created by Dr. Tom Heemstra, founder of Mach 5 Leadership Performance. The site gives Obama a slightly higher grade than McCain overall, but neither candidate scores better than "average" on a single leadership characteristic. Obama leads McCain in honesty, fair-mindedness, intelligence, and competence and the political issues of education, healthcare and the environment. McCain leads Obama on national defense and personal courage. Read more here.
Listen up, politicians. Matt Haughey, who runs the MetaFilter community blog has laid out a 10-point plan for winning the nerd vote (thanks to BoingBoing for the tip). A few of his recommendations and explanations:
▪ Broadband everywhere: "I want crazy South Korea/Japan style broadband I've heard about for years: 100Mbps (upload and download) fiber connections for less than $50/month with unlimited bandwidth and the ability to run your own servers."
▪ No federal taxes on Internet purchases: "It's worked out well for over a decade, let's just stick with not charging tax on online shopping."
▪ Revamp copyright/IP law: "Using the internet means you are making a perfect digital copy of everything you ever read, see, and hear, and it doesn't always jibe with existing copyright law. There is lots to say about this, but I wish we were a little more Lessig and a little less Disney when it comes to this realm."
▪ Fund the Patent and Trademark Office so it can do a better job: "Software patents almost universally suck and stifle innovation."
▪ Open government: "Open source voting machines, xml data for every vote on every bill by every legislator. Public domain dumps of every photograph, recording, film, and publication commissioned by the government in an easy to retrieve place."
The Internet is playing a major role in the current presidential campaign, both as a source of information for voters, as a means of communication between voters and political organizations, and among voters themselves, according to a new report by The Pew Research Center For The People & The Press. A majority of voters (59 percent) say they have sought out election content online or had some type of online communication about the campaign, the center said Thursday. Younger voters and Democrats are outpacing older voters and Republicans in using the Web for campaign information and activities.
The use of online video has exploded, and significant numbers of voters have visited candidate Web sites and read blogs about the campaign, the report stated. However, use of social networking sites – such as MySpace or Facebook – for campaign information has not grown much since early in the campaign season. Last December, just 18 percent of voters said they had exchanged emails about the campaign with friends or family; now 37 percent have done so. About a quarter of voters (26 percent) now say they have received an email from one of the political campaigns or from a political group or organization, up from 17 percent in December.
Continue reading Internet Raises Stakes For Candidates In Election '08.
From Tuesday's CongressDaily PM:
Democratic House candidate Darcy Burner is collecting more than twice as much money from Internet activists and officials at Microsoft, where she has worked for eight years, than GOP Rep. Dave Reichert in their battle in Washington's 8th District. According to FEC filings, Burner has received $93,894 from Microsoft and its employees this cycle while Reichert, who is seeking a third term, has gotten a total of $35,750.
It is a rematch from 2006, when Reichert defeated Burner, 51-49 percent. By the end of that cycle, Microsoft, whose headquarters are located in the district, had donated $62,942 to Reichert and $121,400 to Burner. This time around, Microsoft-affiliated contributions to Burner are bested only by the $104,076 in donations received by the end of July through ActBlue, an online PAC that raises money for Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. For Reichert's part, Microsoft-affiliated donations account for the largest single source to his campaign.
Read the full story here.
The Center for Democracy and Technology wrote to the presidential campaigns of Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., on Tuesday arguing that once the election has passed, the presidential camps should publicly expose specific incidents in which overaggressive copyright claims have stifled political expression during the campaign cycle. The request came on the heels of a Monday letter to four major TV networks by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge and others that urged them to stop sending Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown requests that pertain to short clips of news footage used in election-related videos.
McCain officials recently complained that campaign videos containing less than 10 seconds of broadcast footage have been removed from popular video-sharing site YouTube at the demand of media companies who own the footage. Such "takedown" requests are improper because the use of brief clips of footage in political commentary is generally legal under the "fair use" provision of copyright law, CDT said. The letter from EFF was sent to CBS, the Christian Broadcasting Network, FOX, and NBC.
"The videos at issue include clips of news footage that last only a few seconds, used as part of constitutionally-protected political speech. This is not piracy, but fair use, no different from what Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show do every night," EFF attorney Fred von Lohmann said. "Sending unfounded takedown notices is not only against the law, it also threatens to interfere with the vibrant political debate occurring on community video sites like YouTube."
Continue reading Pressure For 'Fair Use' Of Campaign Footage Surges.
Commission on Presidential Debates Co-Chairman Frank Fahrenkopf on Tuesday downplayed a crusade by a group of Internet activists and political strategists who have called for sweeping changes made to the way the 20-year-old entity operates or its abolishment altogether. Fahrenkopf, a former Republican National Committee chairman, told CongressDaily that the Open Debate Coalition’s complaints are the latest in a legacy of grievances that confront the commission every presidential election cycle.
“Everyone has got a right to their opinion,” he said, but added he believes his group has worked hard to be accountable. He is the first CPD official to comment publicly on this controversy. Coalition organizer Lawrence Lessig, a Stanford University law professor, wrote to colleagues after the final debate between Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., saying that the “outdated, top-down Commission has got to go -- or be dramatically reformed.” He added that 2008 should be the last year the Commission on Presidential Debates exists, and that voters should “own” debates in the future.
The Open Debate Coalition -- whose backers include conservative activist Grover Norquist; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s advocacy group American Solutions; left-leaning MoveOn.org; the founders of Craigslist and Wikipedia and a handful of Democrat and Republican pundits -- wrote to McCain and Obama asking them to support a number of principles. Lessig said the campaigns responded favorably but the Commission “refused to implement these principles or even engage in dialogue about them.” Fahrenkopf countered that the commission never heard from the group before the debates were planned but he welcomed their future input.
How will our evolving, modern-day electoral map affect elections this year? Will voter registration efforts change the game? What role do pollsters and bloggers play in monitoring (and possibly moving) public opinion this campaign season? Get answers to these questions and many more at a Wednesday evening National Press Club event sponsored by the Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet, Politicker.com, and George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management.
Panelists include: Anna Greenberg, senior vice president of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner; Maren Hesla of Emily’s List; Michael McDonald, associate professor of government and politics at George Mason University; James Pindell, managing editor of Politicker.com; consultant Phillip Stutts; and Politicker.com editorial cartoonist Rob Tornoe. The moderators are conservative commentator Matt Lewis and Margie Omero, president of Momentum Analysis, a Democratic public opinion research firm.
Get event details here.
The office of the Republican vice-presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin has quoted prices as high as $15 million for copies of state e-mails requested by news organizations and citizens, according to msnbc.com. No matter what the price, most of the e-mails of Palin, her senior staff and other state employees won't be made public until at least several weeks after the Nov. 4 presidential election, her office said Thursday.
How did the cost reach $15 million? When the Associated Press asked for all state e-mails sent to the governor's husband, Todd Palin, her office said it would take up to six hours of a programmer's time to assemble the e-mail of just a single state employee, then another two hours for "security" checks, and five hours to search the e-mail for whatever word or topic the requester is seeking. At $73.87 an hour, that's $960.31 for a single e-mail account. And there are 16,000 full-time state employees. The cost quoted to the AP: $15,364,960.
As the 2008 presidential election enters its final days, the Annenberg Research Network on International Communication has found some sharp differences -- and surprising similarities -- in John McCain and Barack Obama's positions on technology policy, according to the University of Southern California's Election 2008 Web site. In general, Obama and the Democratic Party feel that government can play a strong role in guiding the development of America’s communication environment, while McCain and the Republican Party rely more on the ability of the competitive marketplace to meet the public’s desires.
On media ownership and consolidation, Obama believes that prescriptive regulation encouraging diversity of ownership and enhanced enforcement of antitrust laws will lead to increased media competition. McCain’s public record and statements reveal some contradictions on the issue. While he has warned that “consolidation without competition can hurt consumers,” he has encouraged looser restrictions on ownership. On network neutrality, McCain opposes mandated network neutrality; his position is that the free market is the “best deterrent against unfair practices.” Obama, on the other hand, sees declining network neutrality as a side effect of the limited competition available among broadband service providers.
Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain mentioned "Joe the Plumber" 21 times when discussing the economic downturn in Wednesday night's final debate with Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama. Obama mentioned Joe, the nation's every man, five times. So, who won the debate? The owner of the Internet domain JoeThePlumber.com: Joe Francis, an Amarillo, Texas residential and commercial contractor.
Joe told the Silicon Alley Insider that he has been flooded by calls since McCain and Obama spent most of the debate talking abut Ohio's "Joe The Plumber" -- a real guy named Joe Wurzelbacher -- whose taxes might go up under an Obama administration. Francis, however, seemed to take it all in stride: "It was kind of cool, but I didn't expect all this... We're just kind of a small company in Amarillo."
Francis has been contacted by radio stations and people looking to buy his domain name, the blog said. He didn't disclose exactly how much he had been offered, but did say it was in the "hundreds of thousands." Oh, and he's willing to sell. I guess snaking drains pays the bills but Francis stands to earn a pretty penny for a URL that most of the world had never visited.
(Photo Credit: Darcy Burner for Congress via Flickr)
The campaign for Washington State's 8th congressional district is heating up with Microsoft executive and Democrat Darcy Burner having raised just under $1.2 million during the third quarter of 2008, which her camp says is more than double what has been raised by her opponent, Republican Rep. Dave Reichert during the same period. The total is expected to rank Burner in the top handful of first-tier challengers nationally, her campaign said in a press release. Opensecrets.org reports that Burner has received $93,894 from Microsoft while Reichert has been given $35,750.
Burner, who unsuccessfully challenged Reichert in 2006, has become the darling of the liberal blogosphere and has raised much of her campaign cash from outside her district. She is popular with left-leaning activists not only because of her positions but because she engages with them, according to a story on Time.com. It's not unusual for Burner to post on Democratic blogs, and less than a month before her primary, she attended the Netroots Nation gathering in Austin, Texas convened by progressive blog Daily Kos.
A Reichert spokeswoman told Tech Daily Dose that Burner's bankroll is "coming from liberal, left-wing netroots who espouse extreme views and call Darcy their 'hero,' and they support her because they know she would do their partisan bidding." The Reichert aide cited one consultant quoted in the Time.com story who said: "The big question people are quietly asking about her is, in building her movement, did she lose touch with the people she sought to serve?" Reichert's staffer says the answer is "a resounding yes."
(Photo Credit: PalinAsPresident.com)
In the past 24 hours or so, PalinAsPresident.com has taken the Internets by storm, swirling through the political blogosphere and getting attention on CNN and other news outlets. The intricately detailed, interactive site pokes fun at GOP vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin. Point, click, giggle...
Conservative activist Grover Norquist has joined the Open Debate Coalition, a bipartisan group of online activists, strategists and bloggers pushing for less copyright restrictions on presidential debate footage. Norquist, who is president of the lobbying group Americans for Tax Reform, said in an e-mail to The Politico that he was happy to join in "calling for dismantling the Commission [on Presidential Debates] or fundamentally reforming it so it is accountable to one constituency only: the public."
"If the Commission wants to show any bit of responsiveness this year, they'll make sure that debate footage is put in the public domain so people can put clips on YouTube and otherwise share key moments without being deemed copyright lawbreakers," he said. Norquist added that "there is no excuse for the Commission imposing their will on the debates, despite the wishes of both major party candidates and a broad grassroots coalition on the right and left."
Coalition organizer Lawrence Lessig wrote to members outlining what he believes are the next steps. Follow the jump to read more...
Continue reading Grover Norquist Joins Open Debate Coalition.
Avue Technologies, a human resources firm that bridges the gap between the public and private sector, launched a Web site on Wednesday designed to help job-seekers find and apply for posts in the new administration, regardless of whether Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., or Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is in the White House. TransitionJobs.us will offer politically-appointed job openings when they are announced after the Nov. 4 general election and will track the "fill rate" of administration gigs, providing an overview of occupied and unoccupied positions.
The site, which is free to the public and contains no advertising, offers downloads of application forms used by prior administrations as well as those required for all presidential appointees. Visitors to the site will also be able to access a wide variety of helpful materials designed to help them understand the federal government's structure and how the employment process and practices work.
"Staffing a new administration is a monumental task, especially for a nation in crisis. The ability of the incoming administration to quickly fill approximately 7,000 vitally important positions will have an enormous impact on the success of either the McCain or Obama presidency," Avue CEO Linda Rix said. "The appointment process can be transformed in a manner that will dramatically increase the information available to those seeking employment as well as to streamline the process and provide for a much faster and efficient employment cycle."
From NationalJournal.com...
Everyone agrees the Internet can raise money, but this election might be its first real test as a get-out-the-vote tool. Perhaps that's why there's so little agreement in the political world over which methods will ultimately prove effective. In a survey of political consultants published in August by the E-Voter Institute, 77 percent said the Internet is an effective way to turn out the base. But there's so little consensus on the specifics that even simple things like offering information on polling places on a candidate's Web site are to some a low priority and to others a basic necessity.
Ben Katz, founder of CompleteCampaigns.com, a Web-based campaign services company based in San Diego, said that although voters might expect John McCain and Barack Obama to post polling place information, he wouldn't advise his downballot clients to expend the effort. There are more effective uses of their limited resources, Katz said, in part because most voters won't think to check a congressional candidate's Web site for such information.
But candidates and advocacy groups with the means to do so can see benefits from helping get supporters to the voting booth. For the organizations Jim Gianiny serves as president of Democracy Data & Communications in Alexandria, Va., a voting center is a major selling point: "They are facilitating participating in the Democratic process, and that's a really valuable thing." Read the full story here.
Video sharing Web site YouTube responded to a copyright complaint by the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., late Tuesday, telling the camp that its suggestion to fast-track reviews of Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown requests that pertain to political candidates and campaigns won't fly. The recommendation, made by McCain general counsel Trevor Potter in a Monday letter skirts the larger issue that YouTube "does not possess the requisite information about the content in user-uploaded videos to make a determination as to whether a particular takedown notice includes a valid claim of infringement."
While presidential campaign-related video is "invaluable and worthy of the highest level of protection," YouTube attorney Zahavah Levine argued that "there is a lot of other content on our global site that our users around the world find to be equally important." She added that the site, which is owned by Google, also tries to "be careful not to favor one category of content over another, and to treat all of our users fairly, regardless of whether they are an individual, a large corporation or a candidate for public office." The real problem, Levine said, is entities that abuse the DMCA.
Content uploaders, like McCain's camp and others, can play a critical role in helping to fight illegitimate copyright complaints, she said. Levine said the campaign is "operating from the position of strength, with knowledge of where the content in your videos came from," which means it can file counter-notifications; see retractions of abusive notices; and hold claimants legally responsible for their actions by filing a lawsuit. "We believe that with your vigilance and efforts in these areas, we can go a long way towards minimizing abusive takedown behavior," she concluded.
On Monday, the top lawyer for the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wrote to executives at video sharing Web site YouTube complaining about the processing of take-down requests under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. "Overarching copyright claims have resulted in the removal of non-infringing campaign videos from YouTube, thus silencing political speech," McCain's general counsel Trevor Potter wrote.
"Numerous times during the course of the campaign, our advertisements or Web videos have been the subject of DMCA takedown notices regarding uses that are clearly privileged under the fair use doctrine," he explained to YouTube founder Chad Hurley, general counsel Zahava Levin and William Patry, senior copyright counsel for Internet giant Google, which owns YouTube. The uses at issue have been the inclusion of fewer than 10 seconds of footage from news broadcasts in campaign ads or videos as a basis for commentary, which is protected under copyright law, Potter said.
The McCain camp proposed that if YouTube receives a takedown notice for any video posted from accounts belonging to political candidates and campaigns, the firm should "commit to a careful legal review, including fair use analysis, to determine whether the infringement claim has substantial merit." If YouTube finds that the clip is legal, the site should decline to act upon the notice, Potter recommended.
Continue reading McCain Camp Cries 'Fair Use' Foul For YouTube.
An all-star panel of technology experts convened in Washington on Tuesday to discuss how mobile applications are changing the political landscape -- a timely topic with less than a month left until Election Day. Pollster Peter Hart provided the keynote at the National Press Club event. During is talk, he gave an update on the 2008 landscape and discussed how analysts collecting data for the elections are factoring in consumers who rely solely on their wireless phones.
Additional speakers at the Mobile Future sponsored event included Jed Alpert, CEO of Mobile Commons; Rock the Vote's Michelle Mayorga; Casey O'Shea, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee national field director; and Katie Harbath, former deputy e-campaign director, Giuliani for President. The bottom line: More elected officials using are text messaging to speak directly to voters, which has posed new challenges for pollsters to reach the growing community of voters who have cut the cord.
On a related note, the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, which has conducted three major election surveys with both cell phone and landline samples since the conclusion of the primaries, found that in each occasion, there were small differences between presidential horserace estimates based on the combined interviews and estimates based on the landline surveys only. Yet a virtually identical pattern emerged: In each case including cell phone interviews resulted in slightly more support for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and slightly less for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
In Pew's latest poll, conducted Sept. 9-14 with 2,509 registered voters, including 549 reached by cell phone, 46 percent backed Obama and 44 percent backed McCain. Among the landline respondents, the candidates were tied at 45 percent each. Read more here.
American University's School of Communication resumes its American Forum series on Tuesday with "Youthquake '08: How Millennials are Shaking up the Media, Mavericks, and History Makers of this Election." The discussion about the effect young voters are having on the upcoming presidential election will feature James Kotecki, a video blogger for Politico.com; Emily Freifeld, multimedia producer for WashingtonPost.com; Cornell Belcher, a Democratic strategist and pollster for presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.; David Winston, a Republican strategist; and Heather Smith, executive director of Rock the Vote. The panel will be moderated by SOC professor Jane Hall. For more information click here.
This weekend was the first big test for "The Great Schlep," a humorous Web-based effort intended to have Jewish grandchildren visit their grandparents in Florida, educate them about Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, and win the battleground state of Florida. The New York Times reports that the virtual movement "has been building with the pace of a nice brisket." So far, about seven million people have watched comedian Sarah Silverman's four-minute online video that explains why "visiting your grandparents could change the world."
But Mik Moore of the Jewish Council for Education and Research, the nonprofit behind the project, said 100 people visited the Sunshine State over the holiday weekend while about 100 more visited relatives in other swing states. Moore deemed it "a really good start," and said he hoped dozens more would schlep before Election Day.
In Florida, the campaign combined one-on-one persuasion -- sometimes over bagels -- with more formal activities, the newspaper reported. One schlepper from Los Angeles ended up addressing about 100 people at an event his grandparents put together at their retirement community. Read the full story here.
In anticipation of Wednesday's debate between Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., a diverse group of political watchdogs, bloggers and online strategists assembled under the banner of the Open Debate Coalition are urging the presidential candidates to implement the following principles for the final face-off before Election Day:
1) That the debate moderator has broad discretion to ask follow-up questions after a candidate's answer, so the public can be fully informed about specific positions.
2) That after a "town hall" debate full of questions handpicked by the moderator, none of which were outside-the-box, you will allow Bob Schieffer to ask some Internet questions voted on by the public.
3) That, as a stipulation of the next debate, the media pool must release all 2008 debate footage into the public domain – as you agreed would be in the public interest. CNN, ABC, and NBC agreed to release video rights during the primary, and CBS agreed more recently.
4) That you agree to work with the Open Debate Coalition after the election to reform or create an alternative to the Commission on Presidential Debates, so the process is transparent and accountable to the public.
Read CongressDaily's recent coverage of the coalition here.
A Tennessee college student was arraigned on Wednesday on charges related to breaking into vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin’s private e-mail account last month and later posting several messages as well as the contents of the Republican vice presidential candidate’s address book to the Internet. See AP video above.
Here's a quick rundown of the Internet questions Tuesday night's presidential debate moderator Tom Brokaw selected to ask Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill. MyDebates.org, a joint project by the Commission for Presidential Debates and social networking community MySpace, sent Brokaw 25,000 potential questions from by Web users in anticipation of the big event.
(1) "Since World War II, we have never been asked to sacrifice anything to help our country, except the blood of our heroic men and women. As president, what sacrifices -- sacrifices will you ask every American to make to help restore the American dream and to get out of the economic morass that we're now in?"
(2) "Would you give Congress a date certain to reform Social Security and Medicare within two years after you take office? Because in a bipartisan way, everyone agrees, that's a big ticking time bomb that will eat us up maybe even more than the mortgage crisis."
(3) "How can we apply pressure to Russia for humanitarian issues in an effective manner without starting another Cold War?"
(4) "[This question] has a certain Zen-like quality, I'll give you a fair warning… What don't you know and how will you learn it?"
Read the candidates' responses here.
From Tuesday's CongressDaily PM Edition:
As Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., prepare for their town hall debate tonight in Nashville, political watchdogs, bloggers and online strategists are urging the presidential nominees and debate organizers to ensure that questions asked via the Internet are chosen by ordinary people rather than the media. A recent letter from a bipartisan coalition to both campaigns argued that questions selected by TV producers during the primary cycle's YouTube debates were "gimmicky and not hard-hitting enough" and never would have "bubbled up" on their own.
"The Internet portion of this debate is true bottom-up democracy, the format needs to allow the public to help select the questions in addition to asking them," said the letter, signed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's advocacy group American Solutions, left-leaning MoveOn.org, and the founders of Craigslist and Wikipedia. Other signers include GOP strategists Mindy Finn and Patrick Ruffini, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington, and DailyKos.com founder Markos Moulitsas.
In tonight's debate, questions will be selected from online submissions and likely voters in the audience. One petitioner, Internet activist Carl Malamud, said the format appears to be a small step in the right direction. Liberal blogger Matt Stoller agreed: "My guess is that in 2012, people will wonder why debates were ever done without public input." Read the full story here.
After a year of hard work, the IBM Center for the Business of Government has unveiled a presidential transition Web page intended to serve as a resource for new political appointees and help career executives who take government jobs smoothly navigate the change (since more than half will not have been through a transition before).
Some key features of the site:
▪ The Operator’s Manual for The Next Administration: Enables managers to quickly select from one of eight “tools” or levers - such as performance, collaboration, or money - that executives need to use to advance their policy goals.
▪ Getting it Done: A Guide for Government Executives: Provides an interactive environment to share and learn from government executives. Select from one of six “to dos” on working and managing in a political environment.
▪ Issue Briefs: Short two-page briefs to highlight policy-related issues featured in past IBM center reports, such as delivering benefits in an emergency situation, improving the environment and securing the global economy.
▪ Transition Reports: Series of reports relevant to those involved in developing management initiatives during presidential transitions.
For more on tech transition issues, check out this story written by yours truly for Government Executive magazine.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
-- Margaret Mead
Less than a week after Leonardo DiCaprio and a bunch of his A-list friends launched an online public service announcement to encourage American youth to register to vote, the Creative Coalition will try its hand at leveraging Hollywood's spotlight to promote the Democratic political process. The Coalition plans to launch its new "YouVote" video on popular video-sharing site YouTube and on NBC’s "Access Hollywood" on Monday.
The video, conceived and directed by filmmaker Sue Kramer, stars over 40 celebrities, including Blake Lively, Anne Hathaway, Tim Daly, Samuel L. Jackson, Susan Sarandon, Marcia Cross, Jane Krakowski and The Muppets. "This video demonstrates that Hollywood understands voting is not about liberal or conservative, it’s about participating in the democratic process and being a proud American,” Kramer said.
A couple of questions: Which celebrity get-out-the-vote video will rule YouTube? DiCaprio's has 722,172 views thus far. Also, can Muppets vote? Update: A keen reader informs me that Muppets cannot vote -- and sends me this YouTube video as proof. (Thanks, AS).
The Science Coalition, a group of 47 of the nation’s leading public and private research universities, has released a list of 10 questions they would like to have answered by the presidential campaigns of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. The questions, which were sent in anticipation of Tuesday's televised debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., focus on where the candidates stand on expanding the nation's commitment to basic research.
Several questions relate to specific research areas, such as medical, national security, space, and energy and climate change. Others deal with particular policies, such as K-12 STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education and the America Competes Act, which Congress passed and President Bush signed but remains largely unfunded.
Follow the jump to read all 10 questions…
Leonardo DiCaprio, will i. am, Tobey Maguire, and Forest Whitaker launched a new series of public service announcements to encourage American youth to register to vote. Celebs appearing in the soon-to-be-viral-video: Amy Adams, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Bacon, Halle Berry, Courteney Cox, Ellen DeGeneres, Jamie Foxx and many more. First the spot employs reverse psychology, which typically works best on small children, then roughly four minutes of rambling. But it might do the trick...
An interesting story posted last week on nationaljournal.com:
It's been months since John McCain first caught flak for calling himself a computer "illiterate" in an interview given this January. But while McCain's personal comfort with technology wouldn't seem to rank up there in importance with the other issues of the day, the subject has refused to disappear, popping up most recently in an attack ad from Barack Obama's campaign and in news coverage of a McCain adviser's claim that his candidate had invented the BlackBerry.
Now, with the first of three presidential debates days away, the stage is set for the issue to resurface yet again as the candidates tussle over the problems facing the high-tech financial sector and the larger global economy. Both candidates will be under pressure to show not only that they grasp the 21st-century challenges that will come their way, but that they're in touch with the daily realities of ordinary Americans. For a good many voters, that may mean having a working knowledge of computers and the Web.
"I think it's a valid question," said Susan Mills, executive producer of a forthcoming "NewsHour" documentary about the presidential forums. "But I would see it coming up in the town hall meeting more than the other two." In that debate, the candidates' second, they will field questions from audience members as well as from visitors to MyDebates.org, a partnership between the Commission on Presidential Debates and the social networking site MySpace.
Read Kevin Friedl's full article here.
(Photo Credit: David Katz via Flickr)
A few snippets from Friday night's presidential debate at the University of Mississippi between Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill.
"We've got to make sure that we're competing in education. We've got to invest in science and technology. China had a space launch and a space walk. We've got to make sure that our children are keeping pace in math and in science." - Obama
"We're going to have to rebuild our infrastructure, which is falling behind, our roads, our bridges, but also broadband lines that reach into rural communities. Also, making sure that we have a new electricity grid to get the alternative energy to population centers that are using them." - Obama
"I have a fundamental belief in the goodness and strength of the American worker. And the American worker is the most productive, the most innovative. America is still the greatest producer, exporter and importer. But we've got to get through these times, but I have a fundamental belief in the United States of America. And I still believe, under the right leadership, our best days are ahead of us." - McCain
Stanford University law professor Lawrence Lessig and a large left-right coalition have asked the two presidential candidates to bring their debates into the Internet age by embracing "open debate" principles. The letter to Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., was signed by Newt Gingrich's group American Solutions, MoveOn.org, the founders of Craigslist and Wikipedia, top bloggers, online strategists and others.
The letter calls on the candidates to commit to "a principle that whenever you debate publicly, the raw footage of that debate will be dedicated to the public domain. Those in charge of the video feed should be directed to make it free for anyone to use." During the primaries, CNN, ABC and NBC agreed to release video rights but Fox News Channel threatened legal action against McCain for using a debate clip. "Such control over political speech is inconsistent with our democracy," the letter stated.
Furthermore, the group asked that "town hall" Web questions be chosen by the people, not solely by the media. "In order to ensure that the Internet portion of this debate is true bottom-up democracy, the format needs to allow the public to help select the questions in addition to asking them," the group said. According to the letter, questions chosen by TV producers during this cycle's YouTube debates "were considered gimmicky and not hard-hitting enough, and never would have bubbled up on their own."
Follow the jump for the full text of the letter...
Continue reading McCain, Obama Urged To Adopt 'Open Debate' Principles.
As presidential candidates Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama headed back to Washington from the campaign trail on Thursday to deal with the nation's financial crisis, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation released a pair of reports that explain how a new economics doctrine – innovation economics – should drive economic policymaking in the next White House.
One study describes how three traditional economics doctrines – conservative neo-classical (supply-side), liberal neo-classical (Rubinomics), and neo-Keynesianism – have dominated thinking in Washington. It explains how innovation economics, which is based on an explicit effort to understand and model how technological advances occur, should be the path of the future. A companion report argues that putting innovation at the center of U.S. economic policies can spur economic growth and raise standards of living.
ITIF offers eight policy ideas to drive innovation-led economic growth:
1) Significantly expand the federal research and development tax credit
2) Create a national innovation foundation
3) Allow foreign students receiving graduate degrees to get a green card
4) Reform the patent system to drive innovation
5) Let companies expense new investments in IT in the first year
6) Establish a federal chief information officer
7) Implement a national broadband strategy
8) Implement an innovation-based national trade policy
Rick Davis, campaign manager for Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain and his running-mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin released the following statement on Wednesday concerning reports about hackers gaining access to Palin's personal Yahoo.com email account:
"This is a shocking invasion of the Governor's privacy and a violation of law. The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities and we hope that anyone in possession of these emails will destroy them. We will have no further comment."
Gossip blog Gawker.com posted screenshots of Palin's emails earlier in the day, complete with family photos and exchanges she had with colleagues. Gawker reported that the Yahoo account has been shut down but said it would leave the images up on its site, noting: "It’s newsworthy and we will not be taking it down!” Wikileaks.org originally obtained the Palin data.
Lauren Weinstein of People For Internet Responsibility said in an email that the Palin hacking was "dumb, wrong -- and dangerous -- both from ethical and practical standpoints." "The hackers who released her data have handed that campaign a gift that on balance will probably help Palin's and McCain's efforts between now and Election Day," he wrote.
Presidential hopefuls Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and John McCain, R-Ariz., have now both weighed in on a questionnaire about the future of U.S. science policy. Obama provided his answers to "Science Debate 2008" in August and McCain on Monday. The group that sent the campaigns the top 14 science questions facing America is backed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Council on Competitiveness, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
On innovation: Obama calls for doubling federal budgets for basic research over 10 years and supports broadband connections "for all Americans." McCain emphasizes policies to foster "broad pools of capital, low taxes and incentives for research in America," as well as the streamlining of "burdensome regulations." Read Obama's answers here; McCain's answers here; and a side-by-side comparison here.
A new Information Technology Innovation Foundation report finds that both presidential candidates, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., have recognized the central role that science, technology, and innovation play in economic growth and have developed specific policy positions on those issues.
The report, which was unveiled late Thursday night, features detailed explanations of the candidates’ views on tax, research and development funding, education, trade, broadband, e-government, energy, and related policies. The analysis shows that the two "offer good ideas for a technology agenda but that both plans are incomplete."
McCain's plan tends to be more focused on promoting innovation largely through tax incentives, like extending and making permanent the R&D tax credit, ITIF said. Obama touts polices like doubling federal funding for basic research, making the R&D tax credit permanent, and providing $150 billion in new clean energy technology funding and $50 billion for health IT.
In a new ad released Friday, Sen. Barack Obama's campaign pokes fun at Sen. John McCain because he "can’t send an e-mail." See video above.
The campaign Web sites of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Republican candidate John McCain are not accessible and usable by all Americans with disabilities, according to the International Center for Disability Resources, a watchdog group that flags barriers to participation in society and promotes best practices and universal technology design.
"It’s a big disappointment that neither John McCain’s campaign manager, nor Barack Obama’s campaign manager, took action in response to the information we provided in support of making their web sites more accessible to persons with disabilities," ICDRI President Michael Burks said in a recent press release. The group sent an analysis of the sites to the campaigns along with recommendations for how to fix the glitches.
On Obama's campaign Web site, form fields are missing labels, ICDRI said. This can confuse users of assistive technology and prevent persons from disabilities from knowing what to type into the input fields. McCain's site is missing "alt attribute" tags, which help users of assistive technology tell what message an image or object is trying to convey.
The group also scored the campaign sites of Libertarian Bob Barr and Independents Alan Keyes and Ralph Nader, which also posed problems. On Barr's site, multimedia components lack captions or transcripts; on Keye's site, images are missing alt tags or have flawed tags; and on Nader's site, image map areas are missing alt text.
Continue reading Obama, McCain Sites Get Poor Marks For Accessibility.
From Wednesday's CongressDaily AM edition:
An administration run by Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., would likely create a national technology czar with broad authority to develop policy, elevating high-tech issues to the cabinet level in a major recalibration of the government's approach to regulating the communications sector.
The move would have substantial implications for the FCC, an independent agency that could be answerable to a new layer of bureaucracy or bolstered by it, depending on political circumstances. The plan is being floated by the Democratic presidential nominee's top tech-minded advisers and supporters, including FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, widely viewed as a contender to run the agency if Obama is elected.
"There's a need for a single source at a White House level to coordinate technology policy across different agencies," Adelstein told CongressDaily late last month after a speech in Denver at the Democratic National Convention. Click here to read the entire story.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain's vice-presidential running-mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has created such a buzz among journalists and bloggers that the City of Wasilla has posted a comprehensive Q&A page online relating to the self-described "hockey mom," who was mayor of the icy berg (pop. 5,469 or 9,780, depending on the source).
Information currently available on the Web site includes:
Certified annual financial reports FY1994 to FY2005
Election results - 1992, 1995, 1996, & 1999
Operating & capital budgets - 1999 to 2009
Tax revenues
And much, much more…
My favorite passage from the site: "If you are requesting information, please visit the Public Records Request page and follow the online directions. Be sure to include an email address as we are not returning long distance phone calls because we did not budget for the volume of calls we are experiencing."
In other Wasilla news, the last farmer's market for 2008 will be held Wednesday behind the Dorothy Page Museum (323 N. Main Street). Read more city news here.
One of the hottest tickets in town during the Republican National Convention was the Google-Vanity Fair bash at the Walker Art Center. The Thursday night soiree took over the entire facility with four themed rooms: air, fire, earth and water. Each zone had food, drink and decor to match. Notable guests* included...
Telecommunications Industry Association President Grant Seiffert chats about the GOP's high-tech evolution and Republican presidential nominee John McCain's relationship with technology. Prior to joining TIA in 1996, Seiffert served five years with the Arizona senator when he was chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.
Several blocks from Xcel Energy Center, in a quaint white cottage, progressive bloggers sit with fingers poised on keyboards, waiting to pounce. The televised primetime proceedings of the Republican National Convention are about to begin and this little house will become a raucous Web war room. You might call this place the house that SEIU built, or rented as the case may be. The labor union paid for the workspace hosted by Living Liberally, a group that creates communities around progressive politics; The Minnesota Independent online newsmagazine; and a citizen journalism site called The Uptake. Bloggers have been treated to a big screen projection of major speeches as well as food, drinks and camaraderie this whole week, from 5 p.m. until midnight. About 150 are expected to participate tonight. Read the full story in Convention Nightly here here. Follow the jump for more photos...
Continue reading St. Paul Scoop: Inside The 'Liberal Lounge'.
Entertainment and technology industry officials loosened their ties and shed their suit coats Wednesday night at the highly anticipated GOP convention party sponsored by the Recording Industry Association of America, Motion Picture Association of America, Microsoft, Verizon, Comcast, TimeWarner and others. Rock band Daughtry, fronted by "American Idol" finalist Chris Daughtry, performed a rousing set and former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist swung by to say a few words about the ONE Campaign, which had a prominent presence at the event. Frist is an ardent supporter of the effort that fights extreme poverty and global disease and has visited Africa with the group.
The legendary late-night "warehouse" parties at this year's Republican National Convention have a lengthy list of big-name sponsors -- including a handful of industry titans that Tech Daily Dose readers might find interesting. They include Microsoft, the National Association of Broadcasters, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association, Research In Motion (maker of the Blackberry), T-Mobile, VeriSign, Verizon and Verizon Wireless. The high-falutin' festivities were launched by now House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, at the GOP convention in San Diego, Calif. in 1996. Even though Boehner has not been officially tied to the parties since that year, they still bear his name in convention hall chatter like: "Are you going to the Boehner party later?" and "I stayed up entirely too late and drank entirely too much at the Boehner party last night." For the record, Tuesday night's Motown band rocked (photo above).
YouTube sensation Greg Laswell joined acclaimed singer-songwriters Brett James and Joe Nichols to perform before a rather subdued crowd at the GRAMMYs Rock the Convention party on Tuesday. Laswell's songs have been featured on "Grey's Anatomy" and other TV shows while James is best known for penning Carrie Underwood's "Jesus, Take The Wheel" and Nichols for "Brokenheartsville." Local pop band The Abdomen also belted out a few tunes.
Recording Academy President Neil Portnow, Chairman Jimmy Jam and lobbyist Daryl Friedman were on hand to welcome guests. The event, which followed a similar bash at the Democratic National Convention, was aimed at educating party leaders and policymakers about critical music issues. Officials received a number of high-profile RSVPs but it was unknown whether any made it to the soiree, which was held on the campus of the University of Minnesota.
Continue reading St. Paul Scoop: Music Party, An Aural Feast.
What do former Virginia Sen. George Allen; actor Jon Voight; and Michael Sessions, one of the youngest mayors in U.S. history, all have in common? They've all stopped by the Republican National Convention booth run by popular video-sharing Web site YouTube to record and post an enthusiastic political message on the Internet. Aaron Ferstman, a spokesman for the Google-owned firm, said more than 200 videos have been uploaded so far this week -- and there is still a full day of activity remaining.
That compares to 500-plus clips recorded at the Democratic National Convention last month by a variety of attendees, including a Barack Obama look-alike and groups of revelers who sang and rapped their messages to the Web world. Location is a key difference between the two conventions, Ferstman said. At the DNC, the YouTube booth was more visible but at the RNC, staff was granted a larger workspace.
Republican National Convention CIO Max Everett came to Minnesota 15 months with a suitcase, a Blackberry and the task of coordinating the communications and technology infrastructure that underpins this week's big event. Everett now has an impressive brigade of workers and high-tech tools that keep the convention running smoothly. He took us behind the scenes at Xcel Energy Center for a tour of his nerve center.
Rumors that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates might make an appearance at the Republican National Convention are probably unfounded, sources told Tech Daily Dose on Wednesday, but the high-tech company does have a prominent presence at the GOP's big event this week. Microsoft is an official technology provider for the RNC and has several technical experts on-site.
Microsoft executives Jack Krumholtz, who runs the federal government affairs office is here as is Pamela Passman, vice president for global corporate affairs as well as Curt Kolcun, vice president for the U.S. public sector division. They also attended the Democratic National Convention last week in Denver, Colo. Meanwhile, Microsoft Surface, a multi-touch digital technology operated by hand gestures, was also on display. The program was fully loaded with RNC-related content (see video above).
Information Technology Industry Council President Rhett Dawson is at the Republican National Convention this week but his chief focus is as a delegate for the District of Columbia, not as an advocate for Apple, Cisco Systems, Microsoft and other prominent tech firms. Dawson, who stopped by a Consumer Electronic Association free trade rally on Tuesday, is apparently a longtime friend of presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain, R-Ariz. Before joining ITI in 1993, he was with the Potomac Electric Power Company and earlier in his career was an adviser in the Reagan administration where he managed the staff and decision-making process for the president and was responsible for the Office of Administration and the White House Military Office. "We are the leader in the world of technology and the lifeblood of technology is trade," Dawson said. "If we don’t lead on trade, we'll be set back."
Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., the Republican National Convention's parliamentarian chats with us about the challenges of new technology and the GOP's tech-driven effort to reach out to voters.
From Convention Nightly:
From flooding YouTube with pithy political ads to launching a faux social networking Web site to expose controversial "friends" of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, Republicans are clamoring to be cool in the Internet age. Investing in new media and online outreach has become a cornerstone of the campaign to get Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., elected, and that movement will reach its zenith at the Republican National Convention this week. Organizers want Minneapolis/St. Paul to be the most tech-savvy convention in history, and it appears that goal will be met if the list of contracts with big-name brands is any indication.
The convention credentialed 15,000 journalists from around the world and close to 200 bloggers from nearly every state, up from only a dozen in 2004. "We understand and appreciate the importance of the blogosphere in providing information and shaping public opinion," convention spokeswoman Joanna Burgos said, noting that bloggers and media outlets are being treated as equals in most respects. Read the full story here.
Before getting down and funky at the Republican National Convention on Monday night, those involved in the New Orleans All-Star Jam-Balaya got down to business, stuffing FexEx boxes full of provisions for those affected by Hurricane Gustav. The project was coordinated in part by FD Dittus Communications, which represents a number of high-tech clients. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Shell and others sponsored the event. Folks from National Journal Group also pitched in. See more photos after the jump.
Continue reading St. Paul Scoop: Doin' Good Before Gettin' Down.
This week's Republican National Convention party hosted by the Recording Industry Association of America and the ONE Campaign, which fights against extreme poverty and global disease, is presumably still on track. A number of events planned in conjunction with the GOP's big shindig were thrown off course by Hurricane Gustav.
"We’re working with our partner organizations to determine the best path forward," an official who helped prep for the Wednesday bash said. "We’re very concerned about the storm and we’re reviewing our plans in light of the situation." Rock band Daughtry, which is fronted by former "American Idol" finalist Chris Daughtry, is scheduled to perform. The RIAA party at the Democratic National Convention last week featured hip-hop chart-topper Kanye West and drew a number of celebs like Forest Whitaker, Jamie Foxx and Ashley Judd.
C-SPAN's Convention Hub is tallying the number of Web/mobile users employing micro-blogging tool Twitter to post thoughts about the Republican National Convention this week. As of Tuesday at 10 a.m., 5,131 posts from 563 Twitter accounts had posted using the #RNC08 tag.
These were the most active users:
St. Paul Pioneer Press - 297 posts - http://twitter.com/PiPress
Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis - 143 posts - http://twitter.com/sanuzis
The Huffington Post - 125 posts - http://twitter.com/huffpost
Jason Barnett, TheUptake.org - 94 posts - http://twitter.com/JasonBarnett
FishbowlDC - 93 posts - http://twitter.com/FishbowlDC
Ali Akbar, GOP Web rebel rouser - 87 posts - http://twitter.com/AliAkbar
Gregory "Flap" Cole - 74 posts - http://twitter.com/Flap
Laura Bush and her would-be successor, Cindy McCain, spoke briefly at the Republican National Convention on Monday about Hurricane Gustav's impact on the Gulf Coast. McCain, who appeared earlier in the day with Bush at a Louisiana delegation event, urged a crowd in Xcel Energy Center to visit www.causegreater.com -- a McCain campaign branded Web page that lists aid organizations to help those in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. "Together we can accomplish so much to help those who have been affected," McCain said.
From Convention Nightly:
Election experts warned today that the record turnout expected in November could place fresh strains on voting technology, putting other issues like voter ID requirements on the back burner. At a Minneapolis forum sponsored by the Pew Center on the States, electionline.org director Doug Chapin said that the systems they have been given by legislators are not designed to handle the anticipated number of new voters.
"For the last eight years, we've patched the plumbing," Chapin said. "We've found the leaks in the election system, but ... we're about to crank the water pressure up dramatically." Read the full story here.
One of the most highly anticipated parties at the Republican National Convention remains on track for later this week despite growing concerns and widespread scheduling changes in Minneapolis and St. Paul as Hurricane Gustav powered toward Louisiana. The National Hurricane Center expected the storm to hit southwest of New Orleans on Monday.
Organizers for the exclusive, invite-only bash sent an email to attendees Sunday evening confirming their presence at the event and offering logistics for how to pick up the all-important admission cards. The email added: "Like all Americans, we are monitoring the situation in the Gulf States with great concern and will keep you apprised of any implications Hurricane Gustav may have for Thursday evening."
Some wondered whether the get-together sponsored by the Internet giant and lifestyle magazine, which are both known for hosting over-the-top affairs, might turn into a more subdued hurricane relief benefit. The pair also hosted a party at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colo.
Popular social networking destination MySpace teamed up with content swapping site Digg, Rock the Vote and the Impact Film Festival to host a late night party on Sunday at the Fine Line Music Café in Minneapolis. Twin Cities rock band The Alarmists provided an energetic soundtrack for the event, which saluted the Screen Actors Guild. Stuart Townsend (best known to some as Charlize Theron's boyfriend), director of Impact's opening film "Battle In Seattle," was on hand to welcome guests. His docudrama chronicles the events surrounding the 1999 World Trade Organization meetings in The Emerald City.
Fox News Channel's impressive set-up outside of Xcel Energy Center
Several stories of interest in Convention Daily:
Back-To-Back Conventions Have Crews Wired
As exhausted Democrats rest up from last week's festivities and Republicans prepare to throw their quadrennial grand old party, weary media are wrestling with the hassles, expense, and physical challenges of relocating operations from Denver to the Twin Cities with no break between the two parties' conventions.
Many information-technology staffers are on week two of a three-week convention road trip because they had to be in Denver long before the reporters, editors, and photographers to install the computer networks, fiber-optic cables, phone lines, and other technology the media depend on to do their job.
Read the full story here.
Bloggers Plan To Blanket GOP Convention
Move over, Bill Kristol. The 2008 Republican National Convention will be a showcase for a new crop of young political analysts who made their reputations not on ink and paper but in the blogosphere. GOP insiders will be toggling for their news and gossip on the Internet, checking in frequently with blogs like Erick Erickson's RedState and Ed Morrissey's Hot Air.
This year, the two major political parties issued credentials for far more political bloggers not affiliated with traditional media outlets than they did in 2004. Four years ago, Republicans credentialed about a dozen bloggers, and Democrats registered a little over 30. In 2008, Republicans expect to host as many as 200 bloggers in Minneapolis-St. Paul; the Democrats credentialed 120 bloggers at their convention in Denver last week. The GOP is treating bloggers the same as traditional journalists, even providing them with a large office space equipped with Internet and telephone access.
Read the full story here.
The Republican National Convention officially unveiled its spiffy new Web site for convention week on Friday, which includes several features aimed at giving journalists and other Internet users unprecedented access to convention news and information. The site includes a media portal (http://portal.gopconvention2008.com), where daily and hourly schedules, press releases, media advisories, speech text, speaker bios, pictures, video and RSS feeds will be posted.
The convention site will also feature six live streaming video channels that will provide footage from within the Xcel Energy Center, including the backstage area and Radio Row, officials said in a press release. In addition, the site will feature state pages where people can connect with other GOPers from their state; links to social networking sites; and the Grand Ol’ Blog, the official convention blog.
Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic posted a quick round-up of reactions to Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's acceptance speech in Denver on Thursday night. His less-than-surprising summary: "Most on the right were disappointed while many on the left were elated."
Ezra Klein: "This has been the most aggressive speech of the week. And the most substantive I've seen Obama give. It's not a thematic address: It's not about hope or values or the universality of the American experience of the illusory obstacles that divide us. It's concrete. It's about the failure of the Republican Party, and the promises of the Democratic Party.
Linda Chavez: "One of the biggest problems the Dems have is that the world is always seen through a glass darkly. Obama’s greatest acheivement in his 2004 speech was to make the country feel good about itself. But this speech is all about the pain. And it’s very short on specifics on how he’ll cure it."
Read the full post here.
Right-leaning video-sharing Web site Eyeblast.tv has posted a rundown of the copious television and Internet advertisements that presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain's campaign has churned out in the past month. As one might imagine, the clips take the Democrats' nominee, Barack Obama, to task on all sorts of issues, and the author, Danny Glover, argues they "have hit their mark dead center."
Take a stroll down memory lane -- from the July 21 "Pump" ad, which asks who is to blame for higher gas prices, to the July 30 "Celeb," which calls Obama “the biggest celebrity in the world” and compares him with Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. There's also the flurry of ads that came as the Democratic National Convention ran its course like the Aug. 22 "Joe Biden On Barack Obama," which resurrected criticism of the Illinois Democrat, and Aug. 26 "Tiny," which takes a jab at Obama's thoughts on the threat Iran poses to the United States and Israel.
The latest Internet video was released Wednesday. Dubbed “Remote Control,” it shows scenes of dangers in the world as leading Democrats criticize Obama’s foreign policy views and as Obama professes himself to be “a believer in knowing what you’re doing.” Read the full blog post here.
Bloggers were expected to gather Thursday night at Trios Enoteca, a wine bar in the heart of Denver's historic lower downtown (LoDo), to swap stories about the past couple of days spent in the Mile High City and get tanked. Registration for the event closed a while back and the organizers -- a political blogger and a mommy blogger -- were expecting a big crowd. "We don't discriminate. Tell your friends, bring your grannie if you must," they wrote.
One of the event's sponsors, You2Gov, is running a contest for the best 30-second homemade TV political ad in the country for either Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. John McCain, with a $1,000 reward in every category. All submissions must be in the form of a YouTube video link and the deadline is Sept. 30. Winners will be announced Oct. 16.
(Photo Credit: NewsHour via Flickr)
An interesting story in Convention Nightly:
A Select Few Bloggers Make It To The Floor
While many members of the press have had to ration passes to enter Denver's Pepsi Center during this week's Democratic National Convention, the red carpet has been rolled out for a select few.
These elites have joined their state delegations on the floor and used high-speed Internet hookups reserved for their laptops. They have filed reports from a special location in the Pepsi Center that is close to the action. And they have obtained backstage podium passes for exclusive interviews with powerful lawmakers leaving the main stage.
Are they network television anchors? Nationally known journalists? Try bloggers. The Democratic National Committee has gone to great lengths to accommodate the roughly 500 bloggers it has credentialed for the
2008 gathering. While most are domestic, some traveled from as far as Argentina, Guam, Puerto Rico and Spain.
Read the full story here.
The Republican National Convention posted this video on YouTube on Thursday to show the extent of the build-out of Xcel Energy Center. Thank goodness for time-lapse technology: 18 months of planning and weeks of on-site work by hundreds of people illustrated in just over two minutes.
The Denver offshoot of online classifieds hub craigslist.org was filled with ads this week offering to buy or sell tickets to the final night of proceedings at the Democratic National Convention where Sen. Barack Obama will accept his party's presidential nomination. Here are a few examples of ads from those eager to make a quick buck or witness history on Thursday evening at Invesco Field:
▪ Obama ticket for sell (one) - $500
▪ Trade: Obama ticket at Invesco....Professional Massage Therapy - $500
▪ Trade Rage Against the Machine Ticket for Obama Speech Ticket
But convention organizers addressed the ticket scalping issue on the Frequently Asked Questions section of its Web site:
Q: What are you going to do about people who try to sell their tickets on eBay or Craigslist?
A: We will have a very strong tracking program for Community Credentials. Each credential will have a bar code and will need to be activated by the credential recipient in order to gain access. Any credentials that are advertised for sale online will be immediately deactivated.
(Photo Credit: ravedelay via Flickr)
The Republican National Convention has set up shop blocks away from the humble headquarters of software development firm CodeWeavers, Inc., so to commemorate the occasion the company is offering its product for free to every American -- if President Bush meets any of five goals in the final months of his term.
CodeWeavers CEO Jeremy White, whose software lets Mac and Linux users run Windows programs, pledged to make available its $39.95 program for free if Bush: reduces gas prices to $2.79 per gallon; reduces the average price of milk to $3.50; creates at least one net job in the U.S. this calendar year; returns the median home price in the Twin Cities to $233,000; or brings Osama bin Laden to justice.
The campaign was the brainchild of White and his staff of 10 "open source software fanatics jacked up on peanuts, Red Bull and ingenuity," according to a press release. White has posted a video explanation of his Great American Lame Duck Presidential Challenge online here. He has also extended an invitation to Bush and his staff to have lunch with him when they visit St. Paul.
As a parent and small business owner, White said he is serious about his challenge -- even thoughgiving away his product could put him out of business. "With elections approaching, the nation's business languishes. Yet, our country is at war, and facing a faltering economy, rising oil prices and myriad other challenges," he said. "It is imperative we don't waste the remaining months."
The Colorado Bar Association's intellectual property section and the University of Colorado Silicon Flatirons planned to host a luncheon on Thursday in Denver where representatives from the campaigns of Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., would speak about their candidates' positions on IP and technology policy issues. According to the event notice, this is the first time that either campaign has agreed to publicly discuss topics such as patent reform, piracy, counterfeiting and judicial appointments.
Officials slated to speak on behalf of the McCain campaign were Ed Reines, a senior partner at Weil Gotshal, president of the Federal Circuit Bar Association and a member of McCain's Justice Advisory Committee, and Ray Gifford, a partner at Kamlet, Shepherd & Reichert and former president of the Progress and Freedom Foundation. Duke Law School professor Arti Rai and University of Virginia law professor Christopher Sprigman were scheduled to go to bat for Obama.
National Journal's IT advance team is on the ground in St. Paul, Minn. and reports that Ethernet lines, power, phones, printers, tables and "more comfortable appearing chairs" are set up on-site in our workspace at the Republican National Convention. They also noted in an e-mail to staff that, unlike in Denver, journalists can look forward to indoor bathrooms. Well, that's a relief. The convention runs Sept. 1-4 at the Xcel Energy Center.
(Photo Credit: Steve Rhodes via Flickr)
By now, I've mentioned Google's elaborate "retreat" for fatigued attendees at the Democratic National Convention several times, but here's something funny I haven’t mentioned -- a little typo in the high-tech firm's relaxation room. The photo above shows a small piece of masking tape hiding a label above one of the handheld device chargers. What's the cover up? Click here to find out. Hint: Steve Jobs would not be pleased.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt will be one of the star attractions on stage Thursday at "The Big Tent," a gathering place for new media journalists, bloggers and nonprofit leaders at the Democratic National Convention. Schmidt will chat one-on-one with MSNBC pundit Rachel Maddow about the World Wide Web's role in politics and in the next presidential administration. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., visited Schmidt's turf (Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.) on Nov. 14, 2007 to deliver his innovation agenda and take questions from the high-tech giant's employees.
Watch that video here:
From Convention Nightly:
Little-Noticed Qwest Moves Into The Spotlight At Conventions
If you didn't know Qwest Communications has a 14-state service territory spanning east to west from Iowa to Oregon and north to south from Montana to Arizona, you're not alone: The Denver-based telecommunications carrier, the smallest of the three remaining Baby Bells, has long maintained a low profile in policy circles.
The company refused to participate in the government's warrantless electronic surveillance program over concerns about the legal implications -- distinguishing it from AT&T and Verizon, which successfully lobbied for immunity from lawsuits while never confirming participation.
Read the full story here.
Here's the latest in an occasional look at what members of Congress are telling their constituents via Twitter. Today we see what Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is up to at the Democratic National Convention.
Recent Twitter posts:
After a great night in the Pepsi Center, I am exited to start my day at the Families USA/SEIU Health Care Forum. about 1 hour ago from web
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Just spoke to a great crowd at the Emily's List Gala! about 17 hours ago from web
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If you didn't catch my video update from Day 1 of the convention - watch here: http://blog.hillaryclinton.... about 18 hours ago from web
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It was great to meet with so many fellow New Yorkers and also my friends at the Hispanic Caucus as well. 02:38 PM August 25, 2008 from web
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I am excited to have arrived in Denver! My first stop is the New York delgation breakfast. Check back to www.hillaryclinton.com for updates! 10:22 AM August 25, 2008 from web
Read earlier HillTweet Blues entries here.
(Photo Credit: trevorstone via Flickr)
The controversy over the Bush administration's electronic eavesdropping initiative, which played out on Capitol Hill for many months, is also a theme for some protesters at the Democratic National Convention.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., told a crowd in Denver on Tuesday that it is crucial for Congress to pass legislation to update the U.S. patent system next year -- even if the measure is a scaled back version of the broad, controversial language that was in play during the 110th Congress. The House passed its patent bill but a companion stalled in the Senate.
Lofgren, who represents the Bay Area and is a key member of the House Judiciary Committee, said a new effort should begin with "things we know we can agree on." A proposal that would curb judicial "venue-shopping" for favorable courts is critical as is language to address patent abuses, she said. "How do you legally set a framework that prevents abuses and allows for a vigorous system that protects intellectual property?" Lofgren asked aloud. "It's not easy to come up with solutions."
Qualcomm general counsel Don Rosenberg urged lawmakers to proceed with caution. He said patent reform is necessary but the U.S. regime is already "the gold standard in the world" and that leadership role must be protected. Some proposals might negatively impact innovation, he said. The focus of changes should be on the Patent and Trademark Office, not necessarily sweeping changes to how cases are litigated, Rosenberg said.
More patent talk is expected Thursday at a luncheon on the topic sponsored by the Silicon Flatirons at the University of Colorado, officials said.
An interesting story from Convention Daily:
Even In Denver, Bloggers Keep Independent Streak
When the Democrats welcomed hundreds of bloggers to Denver, they may not have known what they were in for. Even the most carefully vetted bloggers, it seems, are still capable of biting the hand that feeds them press credentials.
Before the convention had even begun, bloggers invited by the party to cover the event from inside the Pepsi Center were demanding greater access to the floor and overwhelming the DNCC staff with requests. Some bloggers used their initial posts in Denver to complain about security hassles, the credentialing process, and the lack of wireless Internet access, much to the annoyance of Democratic staffers.
Of course, the great majority of the blogs' initial coverage was positive. These are, after all, Democratic partisans. Many see their role as sharing the excitement of the convention experience with audiences back home by posting pictures, video, and regular updates without necessarily editorializing.
Read the full story here.
For eight years "technology has really been a dead zone in the White House," venture capitalist Julius Genachowski said at a Tuesday gathering of high-tech thought leaders in Denver. The Rock Creek Ventures founder, who serves as Sen. Barack Obama's technology adviser, said the problem has not just been the lack of a government-wide chief technology officer, "but an absence of those who woke up every day and thought about issues and were available for people… who had ideas and concerns."
"There's a lot to do to course correct from where we are," Genachowski said. The CTO proposal from the Obama camp is "a dramatic way to signal that the next administration would be one that takes tech seriously," he said. Additionally, he argued that science leadership has been lacking under President Bush. "This has been an administration that has treated science as anything other than science," Genachowski said.
Getting federal agencies to embrace change is not easy but one step is to "swear off big government and talk about efficient government," Verizon Senior Vice President Kathryn Brown told a technology forum in Denver on Tuesday. "The big change is to become customer-friendly," she explained. "If we start to turn around what government is supposed to do, to serve the people, we start with a mindset about what it is we have to get done."
Generally speaking, that attitude does not exist in Washington, Brown said on a panel comprised of several tech experts. Many agencies have "very good people who are thinking they're doing their best" but they are frustrated with inefficiencies, she said. "Budgets have to change, people have to change [and] expertise has to be added to the process." She said "new thinking" is needed in government and used the nationwide transition to digital television as an example.
Policymakers monitoring the February shift, who are wondering how, when and if consumers are receiving their converter boxes, could learn a thing or two from the airline industry, Brown said. Airlines have successfully devised a system for passengers to print and submit their tickets, she reasoned, so why couldn’t a similar tactic work for redeeming converter box coupons? "This isn’t something that can't be done, it's something that isn’t thought about," she said.
Wonkette.com founding editor Ana Marie Cox, and Huffington Post bloggers Glynnis MacNicol and Rachel Sklar made a video in bed in Denver and posted it on YouTube. How did I not see this earlier in the day? Apologies.
Sen. John (Jay) Rockefeller on Tuesday called for a change to politics as usual in Washington -- "change that unleashes the power of technology [and] change that uses technology to foster democratic discourse." The West Virginia Democrat's remarks came during a high-tech forum in Denver at which he praised Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for being "open to the promise of the Internet" and interested in doing "whatever it takes to lay broadband lines throughout America."
Rockefeller, a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, criticized the Bush administration for touting "broadband goals without novel tactics" and said it has been "an extremely unsettling eight years." Rockefeller said he has watched as the country has "gone from leader to laggard in the world broadband ranks." "We can do better; we obviously have to do better. I'm embarrassed that we're not doing better," he told a crowd.
Four years ago, President Bush set the nationwide goal of universal broadband deployment by 2007 but that aim has not been realized. Making sure all communities have access to high-speed Internet is hard work and isn’t simple, Rockefeller acknowledged. But sound broadband policy is "the critical foundation for achieving all of our other noble goals," he argued. "This is not just overdue political or economic responsibility. To me, it's a moral responsibility," he added.
Continue reading Dispatch From Denver: Rockefeller's Tech Talk.
An interesting story from Convention Nightly:
Google Hits Are Plentiful In Denver
Search the streets of Denver this week for Google and you'll turn up plenty of hits; the Internet heavyweight is making a big splash here at the Democratic National Convention as part of a wider effort to ratchet up its political profile.
Google is an official sponsor of the convention -- powering the search function on the party's convention Web site, and enabling speakers, delegates and other supporters of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, to instantly upload videos to its YouTube Web site.
The company also has set up Google and YouTube booths within the Pepsi Center -- but its involvement doesn't stop there.
Read the full story here.
Last week, the forthcoming Democratic National Convention and momentum leading up to the vice president selection drove the second highest share of visits to each of the Web sites of the presidential candidates in the past year, Web analytics firm Hitwise said Tuesday. The only week with a higher share of visits surrounded Super Tuesday primaries, the firm's blog said.
The market share of visits to BarackObama.com jumped 53 percent and 46 percent to JohnMcCain.com from the previous week, Hitwise said. Among the top 350 search terms that drove traffic to BarackObama.com, 28 percent were related to the VP selection. Searches that broadly included Obama's name commanded the largest share of the search terms at 33 percent.
If Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., becomes the next president, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., believes key appointments for high-tech sector prosperity will be within the Securities and Exchange Commission. "There have been a lot of problems there," she told a technology forum in Denver on Tuesday.
A perceived failure to appropriately regulate markets has led to serious economic challenges, she said, noting that the next administration must provide relief for start-up companies and young innovators. Lofgren, who chairs the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and serves on the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, also indicated that legislative changes to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may be needed "when it comes to research-heavy start-ups."
Making permanent the federal research and development tax credit is another step in the right direction, Lofgren said. She said she hopes that when Congress returns for a short session in September, members will put forward a bipartisan legislative package that includes that provision. "The federal government too often through our policies puts our thumb on the scale on what's going to be allowed to be developed," she added.
Google "voting booths" offering a new tool that lets voters search for polling places by typing in an address. Functionality is only available for seven states so far but officials say the company is trying to acquire data for the rest.
Follow the link for more pics...
Continue reading Dispatch From Denver: Google Makes Its Mark.
Former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt blasted presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain at a Tuesday forum in Denver, saying it is "a gross understatement" to state that the Arizona senator "doesn’t get it" when it comes to crafting technology policies that will help advance U.S. innovation. Hundt, who led the FCC for most of the President Bill Clinton's first term, said McCain is "actually is committed to goals in government that are pernicious."
One recent example, Hundt argued, was McCain's sponsorship of legislation that would have gutted the recently completed auction of frequencies on the 700-MHz band by handing over the spectrum to one private entity. Six weeks ago, McCain said he still believes in that concept, Hundt said. McCain's plan would amount to "a $30 billion dollar giveaway" to a single corporate interest, the former FCC chief noted.
McCain, who chaired the Senate Commerce Committee for six years, told a National Sheriff's Association conference earlier this summer that a nationwide, interoperable public safety network is long overdue. His bill would have "provided for more than twice the capacity that the FCC has currently set aside for public safety," McCain said. "Special interests in Washington want the FCC to auction off more of that spectrum than I do."
Julius Genachowski, technology adviser for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, keynoted a technology roundtable Tuesday at the Denver Performing Arts Center. He was joined by House Energy and Commerce Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey, D-Mass.; FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein; former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt; and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.
Following Genachowski's remarks, a panel discussed the question: "How can the Internet and technological changes transform the way the federal government operates?" A second session addressed the question of what strategies the federal government can use to promote technological development and innovation. A third panel evaluated how to best enable U.S. consumers to reap the benefits and opportunities of the Internet age.
Industry heavyweights slated to participate included Google Senior Director of Global Public Policy Andrew McLaughlin, Verizon Senior Vice President Kathryn Brown, First Data Corp. Senior Vice President Joe Samuel, Qualcomm General Counsel Don Rosenberg, Oracle President Charles Phillips, Symantec CEO John Thompson, AT&T Senior Vice President Dorothy Attwood, Microsoft Managing Director Jack Krumholtz and others. Look for more detailed coverage on nationaljournal.com.
(Photo Credit: ScriptingNews via Flickr)
Clarification: This is not the blogger lounge (nor is this) -- it's actually a general press filing area for "unassigned media." (Hat tip, David Hatch)
Two interesting reports from Convention Daily:
Bloggers Set Up Shop In Half-Million-Dollar Tent
Treated by the traditional press as a novelty during the 2004 conventions, bloggers are big-time now -- and they've got the digs to prove it. The Big Tent, a two-story, 8,000-square-foot temporary structure located in Denver's LoDo neighborhood, opened its doors Sunday amid a crush of reporters, organizers, volunteers, and, of course, bloggers. The Tent is the home away from home for hundreds of new media types covering the convention. Read the full story here.
Tech Titans Pour Big Bucks Into Convention
For all of the focus on small, independent blogs and online grassroots organizing, the Internet era has another, wealthier side. Tech long ago became big business, and this week the 500-pound gorillas of Silicon Valley are in Denver to network, promote their brands and generally make their presence felt. Read the full story here.
Global nonprofit One Economy launched 247Townhall’s “If I Were President” campaign on Monday -- an online effort that captures the aspirations of young people across the county, sharing their vision for the next four years. The contest is aimed at inspiring young people to engage with each other and identify solutions to problems in their communities.
The campaign is partnering with the Marguerite Casey Foundation and musicians, personalities, and intellectual leaders from all political stripes -- including Mos Def, Martin Luther, and Kimiko Joy -- to promote greater civic engagement and leadership among underserved young people. In the run-up to the election, the group is gathering and distributing user-generated videos about national and local issues, all prompted by the phrase “If I were president…”
Through Oct. 8, participants may register, create and submit their videos on 247 Townhall. The winners who produce the top 10 most popular videos will be awarded prizes including video cameras to continue their Web outreach.
(Photo Credit: Dan Patterson via Flickr)
The Consumer Electronics Association brought their “America Wins with Trade” campaign to the Democratic National Convention on Monday with the arrival of the high-tech group's tour bus and a press conference featuring Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y. CEA kicked off the effort earlier this summer in response to a challenge by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others to help educate Americans on the benefits of trade to U.S. businesses and workers.
The organization also released national polling data on Monday showing 62 percent of Democrats report they benefit from free trade. Nearly 70 percent said it was a “good thing” that trade and global manufacturing have reduced the costs of consumer electronics sold in the United States. The Zogby poll of 3,440 people, conducted earlier this year, included over 1,200 Democrats. Read more about the CEA campaign here.
The recording industry-led effort to end a long-standing exemption granted to AM and FM radio stations that allows them to air music without paying certain royalties has played out for many months in Washington and is now getting some exposure in Denver. The musicFirst coalition will bring Art Alexakis of the Grammy-nominated band Everclear to the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday to lend his voice to their campaign.
Alexakis, whose band is known for hits like "Santa Monica" and "I Will Buy You a New Life," will discuss the performance rights legislation currently moving through the House and Senate and the importance of what the music business believes is a fair performance right on radio. The National Association of Broadcasters has fought the effort on Capitol Hill, saying the measure amounts to a tax on local radio.
Internet giant Google offers momentary rest and relaxation at the Democratic National Convention this week. (Photo Credit: leh4 via Flickr)
Convention Daily reports from the Democratic National Convention that some diners at the Ritz Carlton in Denver on Sunday started to chant "No spying!" when former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina entered the room to eat. Fiorina is a major booster for presumptive Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.
According to her 2006 memoir titled "Tough Chocies," Fiorina ordered the first of a series of leak investigations into contacts by HP board members with journalists. She was forced out of the company's top spot a year before news of the spying broke. The fallout led to congressional hearings and the departure of several HP executives. Read more convention buzz here. (Photo Credit: DFarber via Flickr)
"The Big Tent," a forum at the Democratic National Convention hosted by progressive blog Daily Kos, Progress Now and the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, will be home to some interesting technology related conversations this week. Here are a few highlights. For details, click here.
Monday, Aug. 25
Your Tube & the Power of Video Citizen Journalism. Discussion about the power of YouTube, who is doing some of the best video citizen journalism on the web right now, and how you can do it too. Noel Hidalgo, deported Olympic citizen journalist, Epic Fu and others.
Tapping the Creative Community: The Power of Voter Generated Media. Move over mainstream media, it's the voter's turn. From music, videos, paintings, blogs and more, voters are exercising their freedom of speech with a big dash of creatively in this election cycle in ways we've never seen. Hidalgo, Fred Graver and Yosi Sargent.
Tuesday, Aug. 26
Blogging as a Business: Free Tricks to Gain Traffic and Revenue. Share ideas about increasing your traffic and implementing adwords strategies, to using tools to building online networks or mining data on critical government transparency. Google's Peter Greenberger.
Symposium on Media and Democracy. Thoughts on media reform, Q&A. Scheduled to appear: FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein and Common Cause CEO Bob Edgar.
Continue reading Dispatch From Denver: 'Big Tent' Tech Events.
From Sunday's Convention Daily
Aaron Myers will be a busy man this week. As director of online communications for the Democratic National Convention Committee, he and his staff of 25 are in charge of running the convention's Web site, demconvention.com, broadcasting Web video of each day's proceedings, and welcoming the hundreds of bloggers reporting from the Pepsi Center. "First and foremost, it's my job to make sure as many people as possible can see the convention online," Myers tells Convention Daily's Kevin Friedl.
NJ: According to the DNCC, this will be the "most technologically savvy" convention ever. Why is it so important to have a wired convention?
Myers: It shows the Democratic Party to be at the front of using the technology to really communicate the message. In a lot of cases, we see technology as a solution to policy problems. Look at all the talk that's going on about how technology can help us [on issues such as] the environment, automobiles, oil, all these things.
Read the full story here.
Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" -- the most powerful name in fake news -- rolled in to Denver for the Democratic National Convention and my colleague David Hatch snapped a photo of the mobile operations center.
CNN serves up political fare across the street from the Pepsi Center.
www.obamabiden.com
This page is parked free, courtesy of GoDaddy.com
www.obamabiden2008.com
This page is parked free, courtesy of GoDaddy.com
www.mccainromney2008.com
This page is parked free, courtesy of GoDaddy.com
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph Biden, who will hit the campaign trail as presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's running mate this weekend, introduced a bill before August recess designed to create an International Clean Technology Deployment Fund. The fund would be help developing countries tackle climate change and promote the global deployment of U.S. clean energy technology.
“The developing world’s demand for energy and cheap fossil fuels will continue to rise,” Biden said in a press release. "Our choice is simple – we can ignore the energy needs of developing countries as they grow, or we can join together to help them put in place an infrastructure that promotes cleaner energy and a cleaner economy.” Foreign Relations ranking member Richard Lugar and Sens. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., cosponsored the bill.
Energy demand worldwide will increase by 55 percent by 2030 and nearly 80 percent of the surge will stem from developing countries, the International Energy Agency has reported. Earlier this year, President Bush’s budget called for funding to support U.S. participation in a clean technology fund to be housed at the World Bank. Read Biden's July 16 press release here.
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., the newly named running mate for presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is a long-time player in national politics and currently serves as Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman. He previously led the Senate Judiciary Committee and remains active in that sphere. One of his most notable tech-related efforts in the 110th Congress has been his sponsorship of a bill authorizing a funding boost for more than 50 Justice Department-funded Internet Crimes Against Children task forces.
The legislation was part of an omnibus package of several bills Majority Leader Harry Reid wanted to bring to a vote before August recess. The most recent version of the bill would authorize about $300 million for the DOJ effort over five years and would establish a national strategy for child exploitation prevention -- a change from the initial bill that would have created a special counsel for child exploitation within Justice. A similar measure by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., passed the House. Read CongressDaily's most recent coverage of the issue here.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama made wireless history shortly after 3 a.m. on Saturday when his campaign announced via text message to supporters that Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., would be Obama’s pick for vice president. This marked the first time that a presidential campaign has used SMS to unveil a running mate.
Traffic on Sprint's short code for the Obama campaign rose 255 percent (see graph) following the announcement, the company said in a press release. Sprint is standing by to help presidential campaign supporters of Republican Sen. John McCain share the news of his running mate when the Arizona senator announces his pick later this month, whether they do so via voice, SMS, e-mail or Nextel Direct Connect, the telecom firm said.
In addition, as previously announced by Sprint, Obama and McCain supporters will benefit from improved network coverage in Denver, site of the Democratic National Convention, and in St. Paul, Minn., the site of the Republican National Convention.
Obama's SMS stunt was not without controversy. Fake text messages spread like wildfire with false claims that Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, former Vice President Al Gore and even Olympian Michael Phelps would be Obama's number two. Read more here.
Update: Some Web denizens have complained they either received the Obama text late or not at all. A Sprint spokesman points out: "One thing to keep in mind is that text messages are not delivered simultaneously by any carrier -- they are sent in a staggered fashion. So not the 'fail' that some have been saying on Twitter."
The "Big Tent," a new media center created by local organizations, national blogs, Digg, Google and EcoDrivngUSA will host Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington and MoveOn.org Executive Director Eli Pariser at the Democratic National Convention. The 8,000-square foot space will also house work space for bloggers and new media journalists as well as a main stage sponsored by Digg.
Other notables who plan to speak at the Big Tent include Center for American Progress President John Podesta, energy executive T. Boone Pickens, Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope, the Campaign for America’s Future Roger Hickey and more. For a full schedule, click here.
Hey folks, nationaljournal.com is offering free access to its content during the political conventions over the next two weeks, so check in frequently to get the latest news from Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Wanna know who is covering the big events for us? Click here.
The University of Southern California's Morley Winograd offers "Five Ways To Win Young Voters" and surprise, surprise technology takes center stage. Winograd, co-author of Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube and the Future of American Politics, writes:
Talk to them in their media. Millennials live their lives on social networks like Facebook and YouTube, and are less likely to actually watch television (rather than have it on in the background) than any other generation. The best possible outcome -- get them to follow your campaign on Twitter.
Make sure your walk matches your talk. Make sure everything you ever said or did can withstand public scrutiny, because between Google, Wikis and YouTube, it will all be out there by the time the campaign is over.
Don’t talk at millennials; interact with them. One-way communication is for radio and TV. It’s very old. Two-way, interactive dialogue is how millennials want to engage with candidates. That means your Web site can’t be about money and brochures; it has to be a place where supporters can meet, talk and even disagree with what you have to say.
Read all of Winograd's tips here, at USC's Election 2008 Web site, a resource for journalists covering political campaigns.
The MIT Technology Review has a fascinating article about Mitch Kapor, a high-tech pioneer who founded Lotus and co-founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Now, he serves as an adviser to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. In the article, he makes the case for a national chief technology officer.
An excerpt:
TR: Why does the country need a CTO?
Kapor: The underlying premise is that tech is inextricably intertwined with virtually everything. You can't talk about homeland security or education or energy without it being in large part a conversation about technology. The president will be well served if policy making is done in a more technologically sophisticated way.... The advantage of a CTO is that there can be coördination. There's a ton of work that goes on within different agencies: there needs to be someone to identify the best ways of doing things and some common practices.
Read the full story here.
(Hat tip, 463 Blog)
The National Association of Broadcasters has launched a new series of ads in time for the Democratic and Republican political conventions reminding attendees about the upcoming nationwide transition to digital television. The transition will occur on Feb. 17, 2009, shortly after the new administration takes office.
Signage highlighting the change has been placed in visible areas in the Denver International Airport and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The ads will run in Denver from Aug. 11 to Sept. 10 and in Minneapolis-St. Paul from Aug. 15 to Sept. 14. NAB has spent more than $1 billion to educate and inform Americans on how to prepare for the new TV era.
To: Republican National Committee
From: Democratic National Committee
Re: We'll take your BarackBook and raise you an ExxonMcCain
The DNC launched ExxonMcCain.com Wednesday afternoon as part of the effort to show presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's ties to big oil. The RNC recently launched BarackBook.com to showcase Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's alleged "friends" -- a who's who of controversial political figures. Tech Daily Dose is pretty pleased that both camps are taking to the Internets to beat the crap out of their opponent. Let the good times roll.
Reason #44,321 why the Internet is a magical, magical thing.
Here's an interesting, tech-savvy tactic to spur favorable coverage of the 2008 Republican National Convention… the RNC sent out an e-mail blast Wednesday offering a free trip to the big event and a day in presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's press pool to the winner of a Web video contest.
The deadline is Friday for contestants to upload a clip to the GOP convention's YouTube page describing "why you are a Republican in 2008?" Submissions must be less than two minutes. The public will select one out of five finalists next week and the producer of the winning segment will get a three-day trip to the convention in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minn., where their video will be shown.
More details are available here.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama met with economic advisers on Monday -- including Google CEO Eric Schmidt -- for a closed-door conversation that participants described as wide-ranging and free flowing with an emphasis on the nation's immediate needs but also its longer term strategy for growth.
Former Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J., told reporters on a teleconference that the economy is at the top of Obama's agenda because "he recognizes that millions of Americans have been hurt by the economic policies of the last eight years and he intends to make a significant change."
Laura Tyson, who served as President Bill Clinton's economic adviser, said attendees discussed the current financial market uncertainty as well as what a new economic stimulus package might look like. Other topics included energy independence, education and healthcare. Also at the table were Warren Buffett; AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and others.
"The Internet economy is becoming a larger and more important part of the economy as a whole, so it's important that whoever becomes our next president understands the importance of keeping the Internet free and open," a Google spokesman said. Google agrees with Obama's goals of investing to expand broadband access and scientific research, he said.
Rock the Vote and communications giant Comcast have teamed up on a multimedia partnership to encourage young Americans to register to vote. The initiative will include a series of co-branded public service announcements and Internet outreach on Comcast’s family of networks, including E! Networks, VERSUS, The Golf Channel, TV One, FearNet, Comcast Sportsnet, PBS Kids Sprout, CN8 and G4.
Comcast and RTV will be registering young Americans online through these networks’ Web sites as well as at Comcast.net, OurTimetoVote.com, the Comcast voter outreach resource, and Comcast Latino, the Spanish language website at Terra.com, officials said Monday. Additionally, E! will provide behind-the-scenes coverage of the Democratic and Republican conventions and will mention the Web sites leading up to the election.
The project builds on the cable industry's “Our Time to Vote” education and registration campaign, which Comcast helped launch last year. The latest announcement also comes on the heels of Comcast being named the official cable television and video on demand provider for the 2008 DNC, which will be simulcast in Spanish online for the first time at DemConvention.com.
The Republican National Convention has begun a series of Internet-based discussions each Friday about preparations being made in advance of the big event at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn., Sept. 1-4. The "Lunchtime Chats" are transmitted via Ustream.tv, the convention's live video streaming provider and offer "informal, interactive, and live question-and-answer sessions with convention organizers," the RNC said in several e-mail reminders I've received.
This week's show, which I missed due to a scheduling conflict (stepping away from my desk to fight a long line at Subway) featured Matt Burns, the convention's communications director. From the looks of the comments submitted (see below), I didn’t miss much... but I'll try to tune in next time. Here's the archived video.
As the battle between presidential hopeful Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and John McCain, R-Ariz., kicks into high gear, the good folks over at JibJab.com have offered some new comic relief. The animated video satire Web site unveiled "Time for Some Campaignin'" (to the tune of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a Changin'") this week. It depicts McCain as a cranky old curmudgeon with a hunger for war and Obama as a unicorn-ridier stumping for change, change and more change.
President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and both Hillary and Bill Clinton are also featured prominently in the two-minute ditty. JibJab's opus ends with the politicians singing: We spend billions of dollars to make our points clear; To get you to step up and cast your vote here; Then we spin you around and poke you in the rear! Oh, it's time for some campaignin'!
Click here for a chuckle.
Google unveiled a new gadget on Tuesday that only searches videos uploaded to YouTube's Politicians channels, which include content from the presidential campaigns of Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and John McCain, R-Ariz., as well as those from dozens of other candidates and politicians.
With the help of speech recognition technology, videos from the specific channels are automatically transcribed from speech to text and indexed, the company said on its corporate blog. Using the Google Elections Video Search tool, Web surfers can search not only the titles and descriptions of the videos, but also their spoken content. Additionally, since speech recognition notes when words are spoken, users can jump right to the most relevant parts of the videos.
Candidates can control the videos that appear in the gadget by managing the content they upload to YouTube and speech recognition is still a work in progress -- so Google warned that some of the transcript snippets available may not be 100 percent accurate. For a screenshot of the tool, click here.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told the New York Times in an interview published Sunday that he's learning how to use a computer but isn't an e-mail enthusiast. "I don't e-mail, I've never felt the particular need to e-mail," he said. "I don’t expect to be a great communicator. I don’t expect to set up my own blog."
McCain said he's "becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need including going to my daughter's blog." Meghan McCain, a recent Columbia University grad, writes McCainBlogette.com, which is taking a two-week hiatus to gear up for the fall campaign blitz. McCain also told the newspaper that his staff surfs the Web on his behalf.
Surf on over to CongressDaily's TechCentral for a new "Issue of the Week." Here's a taste:
Call it the political counterpart of Moore’s Law: With each quadrennial national political convention, the use of information technology seems to grow exponentially. This year, with the Democratic and Republican gatherings barely two months away, officials of both parties involved in planning the conventions say they are utilizing technology to get their messages across in more ways than ever before.
For example, the Republican convention in Minneapolis/St. Paul has a YouTube channel and has launched a YouTube video contest to attract Internet users -- while the Democratic gathering in Denver also will make heavy use of the YouTube technology. Compare that to 2004: YouTube didn’t exist four years ago when the Democrats and Republicans met in Boston and New York, respectively.
Microsoft General Manager of Government Solutions Joel Cherkis said that the planning committees for both party conventions have shown much more interest this year in reaching out to tech providers and considering the role of technology early on in the planning process.
Contrary to previous reports this election cycle, a new study by public relations firm Waggener Edstrom Worldwide found that the proliferation of digital communications -- like social networking, blogs and Web sites -- not the presidential campaigns of Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and John McCain, R-Ariz., is the key to engaging young voters (those 18 to 25 years old) in politics.
The study demonstrated that young Internet voters are not caught up as much in Internet campaigning as was previously thought from news accounts (i.e., “Internet Obamamania”). Only 23 percent of those surveyed perceived a new enthusiasm generated by candidates campaigning online and the increase in political sources on the Internet while 57 percent said they are more engaged because of digital communications.
When asked which party is doing a better job advancing digital communications and campaigning online, 55 percent said Democrat and 13 percent said Republican. When asked which candidate is their presidential preference, 48.9 percent said Obama, 29.2 percent said McCain, 10.2 percent said someone else and 11.6 percent said they were undecided.
"Just as radio and then later television in the 20th century vaulted American elections into distinctly new political eras, so will the Internet in the 21st century as even now the young Internet voters are transforming the way millions of voters want to be heard in this 2008 election," veteran political pollster Lance Tarrance said.
Meanwhile, another report released by MeriTalk, a new government professional networking portal, showed that 73 percent of "Generation Y" (42 million voters) plan to vote in the 2008 elections. Additionally, 48 percent of Ys report a Democratic affiliation, but 71 percent believe a Democratic candidate is best suited for the next administration.
National Journal magazine reports:
Don't expect much conservative blogging at the Democratic convention in Denver. Or liberal online punditry at the GOP show in St. Paul. So far, credentialed bloggers are mostly splitting along political lines--but this time around there will be far more of them. In 2004, a grand total of 42 bloggers attended the two conventions. This year, planners are expecting up to 200 citizen-journalists per event.
"We have credentialed a pretty wide variety of blogs--some that are nonpartisan and others that have long Democratic activist histories," Democratic convention official Aaron Myers said. One blog, Bitch Ph.D., includes recipes, "Ultimate Bra Post," and "open marriage/boyfriend" discussions. On the Republican side, Matt Burns, director of communications, said in an e-mail, "We are finalizing our decisions, but we anticipate there will be some left-leaning bloggers extended an invite to blog at our convention--and that is in addition to anyone The New York Times may be planning to send."
A handful of major education associations on Tuesday launched a new print public service announcement themed "One Giant Leap for Kids," that urges the presidential candidates to make K-12 student access to education technology and modern learning environments a top national priority.
The PSA was developed by the Consortium for School Networking, the International Society for Technology in Education, the National Education Association and the State Educational Technology Directors Association. The ad, which is being sent to the campaigns of Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama, will appear in a number of education and tech trade publications. They also plan to send the presumptive nominees a questionnaire asking about each candidate's vision for American education.
"On July 20, 1969, astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong planted the U.S. flag on the moon, helping America win the coveted space race. Our great nation realized this seemingly impossible dream by making sound investments in education," the PSA reads. "Student access to school technology, robust teacher technology preparation, and a renewed focus on 21st Century skills are critical to today's missions."
(Photo Credit: Missoula Public Library via Flickr)
Computerworld reports that liberal blogger Chris Bowers has launched a 'Google bomb' project aimed at boosting Google search results for nine news articles showing presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain in a negative light. Bowers, managing editor of the blog OpenLeft, is reprising a similar effort he undertook in 2006 against 52 different congressional candidates.
The articles Bowers is using range from a story about McCain voting to filibuster a minimum wage hike to an item about the Senate passing an expanded GI bill despite opposition from McCain. Bowers is aiming by Labor Day to have three of the nine articles appear in the top 10 search results for "John McCain" and "McCain," three in results 11 through 20 and three more in 21 through 30.
When he began his quest three weeks ago, none of the articles were in the top 100 search results for either keyword search, Bowers noted. Now, all nine are in the top 60 for "John McCain" searches and eight are in the top 60 for searches of "McCain." Bowers said he working independently and not affiliated with the campaign of Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama. Read the full story here.
Forget about presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain or his Democratic challenger Barack Obama -- we already know the big winner of the 2008 campaign season. It's Microsoft. The company has been named the official technology provider of the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention.
The DNC announced the news in April and the RNC's press release went out on Thursday. "Microsoft stands as one of America’s success stories, always at the leading edge of technology," Republican Convention President Maria Cino said. "Our goal has always been to make our convention the most exciting, energetic, and tech-savvy in GOP history, and Microsoft will play an important role in helping us achieve our objectives."
Under the agreement, Microsoft will provide support for various products, including Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Forefront Security Suite, and its Office Communications Server. Microsoft will also manage convention infrastructure ranging from collaborative virtual workspaces to applications like Professional Volunteer Management System, Venue Scheduling System, and other endeavors to improve staff efficiency and reduce paper usage.
Microsoft will also showcase the next generation of computing, using Microsoft Surface and its natural user interface technology to provide a digital concierge for convention participants. Surface will enable attendees to interact with and consume the latest convention and local city information, including transportation routes, hotel locations, restaurant guides, and entertainment options.
The Center for Democracy and Technology unveiled a draft document on Thursday that lays out the think tank's Internet and technology policy recommendations for the next administration and Congress. The group also launched a companion collaborative Web page that lets the public help craft a final version of the document.
Internet stakeholders -- users, innovators and experts alike -- will be able to submit comments virtually on any section of the "Internet in Transition: A Platform To Keep the Internet Open, Innovative and Free." If appropriate, comments will be included in CDT's finished product, which will be presented to the new White House and Congress.
"The challenges to the Internet are growing both in the United States and globally," CDT's Leslie Harris said in a press release. "It is critical that our new political leaders understand these challenges and be prepared to provide strong leadership to ensure that the Internet continues to be a growing, open and transformative tool for politics, commerce and community."
The Web site poses six key questions for candidates, which are intended to spark discussion. They include:
(1) Do you agree that speech on the Internet should be given the strongest protection under the Constitution?
(2) What actions will you take to restore reasonable checks and balances on government surveillance?
(3) Will your administration support enactment of baseline federal privacy legislation that protects personal information online?
(4) What will you do to preserve the open, innovative and non-discriminatory Internet?
(5) How will you promote global Internet freedom?
(6) How will your Administration use the Internet to create greater openness and transparency of the federal government?
The Crooks & Liars blog says presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain's Web outreach effort reads "like a desperate personal ad" -- but something tells me this will be pretty effective.
It works like this --
1) McCain backer selects from a number of Web, blog and news sites listed
2) McCain backer visits those sites and post comments supporting him
3) McCain backer reports details of the comment on the campaign site
4) McCain backer gets points through McCain's Online Action Center
A few featured blogs: Conservative online community Red State and liberal nerve center Daily Kos.
Internet innovators gathered at the National Press Club on Wednesday morning to discuss how the Web, social media and related technologies are changing the nonprofit, advocacy and political arenas. The webcast of the event will be archived and should be available here soon.
Panelists included Chris Kelly, the chief privacy officer for popular social networking site Facebook; Rock the Vote Executive Director Heather Smith; Republican online strategist Patrick Ruffini; Democratic online strategist Nicco Mele, and Vinay Bhagat, founder of Convio, which provides Internet solutions for online advocacy and fundraising. Tucker Eskew, former deputy assistant to the president, moderated the discussion.
Independent presidential contender and longtime political activist Ralph Nader, who still uses a manual Underwood typewriter and is not easily dazzled by technological advances, traveled to Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. on Monday to make some waves.
Throughout his career, Nader has confronted head-on the downside of nuclear, automobile, genetic engineering and other industrial advances -- and now he's questioning the amount of time Americans spend in front of their computers. [Hey Ralph, it's 9:49 p.m., I'm online and I logged on at 8 a.m. Lock me up.]
A Nader press release asks: "Has Google and the information revolution that it leads made our society better? Or is it just another mass diversion from the reality of the corporate takeover of our democracy?" At Google HQ, Nader took questions for an hour and then sat down for an eight-minute interview with YouTube, which he is unable to view on his silly typewriter.
Women's online network BlogHer has released an interesting audio interview with former Hewlett-Packard chief Carly Fiorina in which she discusses her leading role in presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's campaign and shares her perspective on issues ranging from the economy to healthcare.
"The 2008 election is a landmark for women in politics as they have played an integral role as voters, politicians and campaigners. I am proud to be from a country where women can play a vital part in the election process," Fiorina said. Online communities are playing a much larger role this campaign cycle, she added. "With the shift in media consumption, more and more voters are turning to the Web – specifically blogs – for their news."
BlogHer is a non-partisan organization that reaches nine million women each month through its news hub and 1,800 blog affiliates. The full Fiorina interview is available here.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean this week unveiled a list of blogs selected to participate in the 2008 Democratic National Convention's State Blogger Corps. Dean notified the blogs selected via an online video message at www.DemConvention.com.
"Similar to the record-breaking voter turnout our party has seen during the primary season, the demand for these coveted blogger positions is yet another indicator of the tremendous interest in this historic convention," Dean said. "The Internet has played a critical role in connecting Americans to elected officials and candidates seeking office."
More than 400 applications were received from bloggers across the United States and multiple territories. Some of the blogs selected for the State Corps are full-time, professional endeavors while others are the work of individuals, who through their own efforts have become recognized authorities on state and local politics, the DNC said.
See the full list of convention bloggers here.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain announced members of his Justice Advisory Committee this week -- a group of 50 attorneys and law professors from around the country. Quite a few on the list will be familiar to tech policy watchers.
▪Michael Abramowicz, a professor at George Washington University Law School and author of several articles about patent reform.
▪Manus Cooney, former Senate Judiciary Committee chief counsel and adviser to the Innovation Alliance.
▪Carol Dinkins, a partner at Vinson & Elkins and previous chair of the controversial White House Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.
▪Orin Kerr, a professor at George Washington University Law School and expert on computer crime issues.
▪Ed Reines, president of the Federal Circuit Bar Association and partner at Weil Gotshal.
▪Ronald Rotunda, a law professor at George Mason University and nominee to serve on the recommissioned White House Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.
▪Eugene Volokh, a UCLA law professor who pens the popular Volokh Conspiracy blog.
Some creative (and computer-savvy) minds at the New York Post have unveiled a Web-based "2008 Democratic Fight Night" game that lets a reader toss his or her favorite candidate --- either Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., or Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. -- into a virtual boxing ring to beat the living daylights out of the rival wannabe nominee.
A colleague who sent me the link pointed out that the game is "not quite Grand Theft Auto, but it still entertains." Well, he's right. It's a hoot. You can check it out here. Now, who will come up with the online game where presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona pummels himself? Any takers?
The Democratic National Convention Committee on Monday announced that Microsoft has been named as the official software and HD Web content provider for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, to be held August 25-28 in Denver, Colo.
"From voting to nominate the next President of the United States to adopting a national platform, there is a significant amount of important party business that goes on at each and every convention," a hopeful DNCC CEO Leah Daughtry said. "Microsoft's pioneering technology will play an integral role in powering the business of the Party in Denver."
Microsoft will provide the DNCC with technologies to enhance engagement with Web viewers, delegates, members of the media and other convention guests and to support delegate tracking, management of credentials and voting -- a cornerstone of the massive gathering. During the nomination process, Microsoft will provide up-to-the-minute delegate vote totals electronically, allowing timely reporting of tallies as compiled by each delegation's chair.
Plus, in a first for a political convention, Silverlight, Microsoft's platform for interactive Web applications and HD video, in conjunction with the Level 3 Communications network, will bring live, gavel-to-gavel convention video coverage of the highest quality to a worldwide audience via the DNCC's Web site at DemConvention.com.
Brittany Bohnet, of the Google Elections Team, posted this interesting item on the company's blog on Tuesday:
As you know, the Democratic primary is coming down to the wire, and American voters are following each set of state results more closely than ever before.
We wondered what would make the difference in the tight Pennsylvania primary--and what those results might indicate about the rest of the primary process and the general election. So we turned to numbers-cruncher Jim Barnes from the National Journal and asked him to weigh in on different sets of demographic data.
Jim helped us set up an embeddable Google Map comparing different essential factors for the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. As you're watching the results from this race on April 22, Jim says there are five things to look for--and they have interesting implications for the general election in November.
Click here to read the full post with all the juicy details. The map is also on the new and improved NationalJournal.com.
Popular social networking Web site MySpace will launch its Decision ‘08 center on Tuesday -- a clearinghouse for election-related news, analysis and discussion, in partnership with NBC News and msnbc.com. The site, which is owned by News Corp., will also feature RSS feeds, online voter registration, an interactive map with election statistics and more.
"The 2008 election is proving to be the most youth- and technology-driven race in history, and MySpace is a significant forum for political discussion today," Lee Brenner, director of the MySpace IMPACT Channel, said in a press release.
This blogger finds it odd/interesting that MySpace, whose overlords also own Fox News Channel and 35 Fox stations around the country, didn't pair up with its own properties for the venture. Looks like Murdoch's in bed with the Peacock.
Just in time for the Pennsylvania Democratic primary -- this YouTube video about presumptive Republican nominee John McCain is making the rounds in the blogosphere. What's younger than McCain? * FM radio [1937] * Color television [1940] * Plutonium [1940] * Velcro [1945] * Indonesia [1945]
BusinessWeek's Stephen Baker asks an interesting question on the Blogspotting blog: "Why does Hillary Clinton follow 0 people on Twitter?" Barack Obama, her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination "followed" more than 23,000 people's twitterings.
Could the twitterings of thousands of followers could be valuable data? Could analytics firms rake through the tweets and give the candidates charts about shifting attitudes and responses to speeches? Read on…
Web-savvy voters could have an impact on next Tuesday's Pennsylvania Democratic primary, according to polling data from Civic Science, a Pittsburgh-based software company. Responses and demographic data from thousands of Keystone State residents were collected over the Web sites of membership organizations and online media outlets to gauge the political leanings, demographic profiles, lifestyle preferences and trends of political consumers.
Of the 7,000 participants, 2,800 likely Democratic voters weighed in directly on the Democratic primary, favoring Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton by a margin of 61 percent to 37 percent. Obama led among all age, gender, and household income categories. Figures released by most professional phone polling firms have consistently shown Clinton leading, officials said.
"We are certainly not suggesting that Obama is going to win Pennsylvania by 24 points or that our data, by itself, is more accurate than traditional phone surveys," Civic Service CEO John Dick said. "We are in the business of measuring and understanding the opinions of Web-savvy voters and consumers. But, if these people turn out to vote next Tuesday, as they have indicated they will, we could see a very close race or even an Obama win in Pennsylvania."
Civic Science uses short, three-question polls to maximize response rates, building extensive profiles of individuals who take multiple polls over time, the firm said. The identities of respondents remain completely anonymous.
Liberal grassroots group MoveOn.org launched an interesting new contest on Thursday. It's a user-generated "Obama In 30 Seconds" TV ad competition and the winner gets $20,000 worth of video and editing equipment and MoveOn will air the ad nationally. The organization announced its support of White House hopeful Barack Obama last month.
Here's the gist, according to MoveOn's Adam Green: Anyone can design a 30-second spot about Obama between now and April 1 and the public will vote on finalists online. A panel of judges will pick a winner. The motley crew of judges ranges from movie stars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to Internet guru Larry Lessig and blogger Markos Moulitsas.
The 411:
Contest page, with details and a cool kick-off video
Thursday's e-mail to members nationwide
Press release including celebrity quotes
The celebrity gossip gurus at TMZ.com report that Research in Motion, the company that manufactures BlackBerry (a must-have for many congressional staffers and reporters), has teamed up with Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am's Web site, Dipdive.com, to run a series of pro-Barack Obama videos.
While RIM hasn't officially endorsed Barack, Will.i.am is an ardent supporter of the Democratic White House wannabe. "The Dipdive Web site has so much Obama content, it might as well be run by his camp!," TMZ says. "Hillary's people better call Apple and get on the iPhone train!"
New campaign 2008 inspired words, courtesy of the Political Addictionary...
Billary (noun): The concept of a two-for-one political candidate.
Campaignigans (noun): The shenanigans politicians pull against their opponents during the campaign season.
Conservotive (noun): Republican praying for a viable right wing candidate.
Debhate (noun): A political forum for two candidates to publicly display their mutual disgust of each other.
Politisyllabic (adjective): The multilingual ability of all politician to speak out of both sides of their mouth at once.
Fundracing (verb): When candidates rush from event to event trying to capitalize on recent primary showings or poll figures.
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain's blog-savvy daughter, Meghan, posted an entertaining video on her Web site over the weekend that shows how much fun the campaign trail can be. In it, she talks about a BBQ the McCain clan hosted for supporters and reporters at their Sedona ranch. There's footage of my friend Holly Bailey of Newsweek taking a ride on a tire swing and The Politico's Jonathan Martin helping the Arizona senator grill ribs. Watch the McCainBloggette video above.
Movie star Jack Nicholson has mashed up some of his most famous film roles for a YouTube video that endorses White House hopeful Hillary Clinton (see above). The spot has been viewed more than 1.5 million times. "There is nothing on this earth sexier, believe me gentlemen, than a woman you have to salute in the morning," Nicholson says in a clip from 1992's "A Few Good Men."
New data from Web analysis firm comScore reports that traffic to Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama's campaign Web site grew fivefold to 2.2 million in January and traffic to Hillary Clinton's site more than tripled to 1.1 million in the build up to Super Tuesday.
According to MediaPost, Obama also has a lead on social network sites: Facebook supporters (589,224 to 120,216 as of press time), MySpace friends (287,715 to 185,709), and YouTube views (21.1 million to 7.6 million). Obama has been able to use the Internet as a key fund-raising tool. Of the $32 million his campaign raised in January, $28 million came from mostly small donors online.
An article posted on The New York Times Web site on Wednesday evening calls into question Republican presidential hopeful John McCain's relationship with Vicki Iseman, a partner with Alcalde & Fay. Iseman is a seasoned telecommunications lobbyist who represented corporations before the Senate Commerce Committee, which McCain chaired twice.
According to her bio, Iseman worked on the landmark 1992 and 1996 communications reform bills and helped secure cable access for broadcast television stations. She also has worked on the digital television conversion; satellite regulation and telecommunications ownership.
The NYT story has more details about Iseman's work in the communications arena and her alleged dealings with McCain.
Polls will close soon in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia -- a special day we like to call the "Potomac Primary." Up to 2 million voters could turn out to award 358 delegates (239 Democratic and 119 Republican) to candidates in this region, according to a story in the Washington Post.
The cable news networks as well as the local stations in the area are finding all sorts of interesting ways to cover the big event. FOX 5/WTTG, for example, planned a Web-streaming experiment. Beginning at 8 p.m., the Weekend Anchor Will Thomas will host a two-hour live special with an intriguing line-up of guests.
They include: Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet's director Julie Barko Germany; Judd Kessler, a local lawyer and McCain songwriter; Sherry Moeller and Jayne Sandman of Capitol File magazine; American University professor Lenny Steinhorn; Rock the Vote Executive Director Heather Smith; and pollster Shawnta Walcott.
The station is also letting viewers get in on the conversation with live online chat and a community of blogs. Click here for more information. Meanwhile, NBC 4/WRC will have regular cut-ins on the Web and segments on-air that will be simulcast on the Internet.
(Thanks to the teams at FOX 5 and NBC 4 for the news tips)
Liberal grassroots group MoveOn.org has raised more than $500,000 in online donations for White House hopeful Barack Obama, less than two weeks after endorsing the Democratic candidate. Over the weekend, the group also passed 500,000 personal endorsement e-mails and Facebook messages from MoveOn members to friends and family, asking their personal networks to support Obama.
Officials said MoveOn also e-mailed "get out the vote" messages to nearly 2 million members in states that have voted so far -- making sure they knew where to vote, how to caucus, and why other MoveOn members were supporting Obama. Hundreds of thousands of MoveOn members voted online to endorse the Illinois senator before Super Tuesday.
Political junkies, rejoice! Google has teamed up with Twitter to provide instant updates on Super Tuesday, a major day in the race for the White House as 24 states choose their party candidates.
"Instead of sitting on the sidelines, you can send a simple text message about your voting experience. Huge turnout? Taking too long in line? Did you just vote for the first time? We want it all, if you can keep to 140 characters or less," Google Elections Team member Brittany Bohnet wrote on the company's blog.
Twitter posts are only one piece of the Google Super Tuesday Map, a one-stop shop to follow the action all day long. There, Web users can find the latest YouChoose '08 videos, Google News election headlines and primary state results down to the county level. Read more here.
MySpace, MTV, and the Associated Press teamed up on Saturday for a youth-focused event called "Closing Arguments: A Presidential Super Dialogue" featuring former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Rep. Ron Paul and Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The candidates answered audience and online questions during the live forum that preceded Super Tuesday. The event aired on MTV, MTV Mobile and MySpace.
Liberal activist group MoveOn.org threw its weight behind Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama on Friday after 70 percent of its members voted to endorse the Illinois senator. The group, which has 3.2 million members nationwide, said it would immediately begin mobilizing on his behalf in the run up to Super Tuesday.
MoveOn Executive Director Eli Pariser said the nation needs a president "who will bring to bear the strong leadership and vision required to end the war in Iraq, provide health care to every American, deal with our climate crisis, and restore America’s standing in the world. Obama has proved he can and will be that president."
The endorsement is the first time MoveOn has formally backed a candidate for president in the Democratic primary. Over the past year, MoveOn surveyed a rotating sample of 30,000 members each week to determine their membership’s preference for the pick.
Two-thirds of voters believe that presidential candidates should have at least as much knowledge about the Internet as them, according to a new poll released by the Congressional Internet Caucus, 463 Communications and Zogby International on Wednesday.
Respondents were asked: "Do you think that the next president will know as much about the Internet as you?" Almost 45 percent said, yes, and they should because of the importance of the Web. More than 20 percent didn't think candidates would be as savvy of them, but wished that they would be.
More data (thanks to the 463 Blog):
• The top tech policy priority for the next president? Energy technology policy first (38 percent) with privacy and security policy next (29 percent), health IT, third, (14 percent) and the digital divide fourth (9 percent).
• Privacy expectation. When asked what would they would find to be the best example of a privacy violation, respondents said that the exposure of geo-location (GPS) data is tops (49 percent). Other exposures were ranked lower: 11 percent if someone posted a picture of them in a swimsuit; 11 percent if someone posted a picture of them visibly drunk; and, 9 percent if someone posted a video of them simply talking with their friends.
• Internet = smart. 89 percent of respondents said that the access to information found on the Internet has made them smarter. Four percent say that the distraction and time-wasting online has made them dumber.
Read more polling details here.
(Courtesy Barack Obama campaign Web site)
Monday was a big day for Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama as he won the support of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., at a boisterous rally at American University. If his campaign and the cable networks didn’t capture enough of the event, they can turn to countless members of the audience for audio, photos and video.
As Kennedy gave introductory remarks, one young man positioned on the risers behind him opened his cellular phone to let someone on the other end listen in. He also chatted for a moment or two. When Obama stepped up to the podium, several on-camera onlookers brandished their handhelds. Who knows how many others in the crowd preserved the moment digitally.
I understand the excitement of having a real, live would-be commander-in-chief on campus, but I found the glaring display of gadgetry -- combined with the fluttering "Change We Can Believe In" signs -- distracting from the real reason I watched in the first place.
Perhaps staffers for Obama and the rest of those running for the White House will put the kibosh on brazen, televised point-and-clicking at future campaign stops.
Like many bloggers, members of Twitter are all abuzz about the results of the New Hampshire primary Tuesday after Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain won their parties’ races, surprising many observers.
A Web tool called Politweets launched Tuesday by independent developers allows a glimpse into the political debate on the micro-blogging social media site. The aptly-named site aggregates all of the candidate-related “tweets,” or Twitter logs, and ranks the presidential hopefuls based on the number of entries written about them.
Blogger Adam Ostrow writes about the rankings list at Mashable: "Not surprisingly, Obama and Clinton, who have dominated the press coverage in the past two days, are leading the conversation, while Internet sensation Ron Paul is disproportionately high on the list compared to where he places in national polls." -- Theresa Poulson
It's a bird.. it's a plane... It's the Ron Paul blimp. Supporters of the Republican candidate have raised $350,000 in private donations to rent a blimp to spread the candidate's message.
They released the flight plan at www.ronpaulblimp.com along with a preview video. The plan is to have the blimp circling over Boston Dec. 16 for the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.
On one side it reads Revolution, with the 'L" backwards, on the other it invites people to "google" the candidate for more information on his stance on issues. Paul has drawn the attention recently after online organizers rather than campaign workers raised $4 million for him online in one day.
Remember this summer when the Entertainment Consumers Association offered to throw a free t-shirt [link to story] to anyone willing to submit a question about videogames for the CNN/YouTube debate? Well, it turns out that didn't work. The candidates weren't asked a single question about games. (See Heather Greenfield's previous post about the overall lack of tech questions).
The folks over at GamePolitics aren't happy that videogames were shut out of the debate. But it seems that Mitt Romney, whose stance against violent media has angered a lot of gamers, still found a way to make them angry with his answer to a torture-related question in Wednesday night's forum.
So says GamePolitics: "For Romney, the take-away is that virtual violence is a horror, but real-life torture is okay. Governor, your hypocrisy is showing." Sounds like fighting words to me. -- Michael Martinez
The Copyright Alliance made a big announcement on Tuesday afternoon with respect to its outreach to presidential candidates. Read all about it in Technology Daily's PM Edition.
In related intellectual property news, none of the White House hopefuls -- with the exception of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Mitt Romney, the former Republican governor of Massachusetts -- have shown interest in patent reform, Foley & Lardner attorney Harold Wegner said in an e-mail.
An undated Obama statement on the issue notes that providing the Patent and Trademark Office with greater resources and opening up the patent process to citizen review "will reduce the uncertainty and wasteful litigation that is currently a significant drag on innovation."
A Nov. 15 memo from Romney said his initial goals include ensuring that the PTO's director is "a distinguished U.S. patent lawyer with many years of experience" and carefully considering appointees to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears patent cases from around the country.
"If there is to be a meaningful step forward for the patent system, it is imperative that the United States elect a president who will do more than pay lip service" to critical patent policy topics, Wegner said.
Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee has turned to obscure humor to win support. The former Arkansas governor, whose popularity is waning in recent polls, posted a political ad on his campaign Web site and on YouTube this week announcing that he is backed by martial artist and actor Chuck Norris.
A running gag involving satirical "facts" about Norris has become an Internet phenomenon and has even engaged the "Walker, Texas Ranger" star himself. The facts typically involve claims of Norris's masculinity and "alpha-male" status.
In the Huckabee video, the candidate appears on screen with Norris and says the TV tough guy is the focus of his plan to secure the U.S. border from illegal immigrants, which is a regular topic of debate among presidential contenders.
Huckabee says: "There is no chin behind Chuck Norris's beard -- only another fist," and then adds: "When Chuck Norris does a push-up, he isn’t lifting himself up; he's pushing the Earth down." Norris, in turn, calls Huckabee "a principled, authentic conservative."
"Chuck Norris doesn’t endorse," Huckabee quips. "He tells America how it's gonna be." Watch the full video here.
[Cross-posted from National Journal's Beltway Blogroll by Danny Glover]
Many political bloggers like to think of themselves as modern-day pamphleteers, after the tradition of Thomas Paine and others who rallied British colonists for the revolution that made America. A Web site called The New Pamphleteer even caters to them.
Others liken the emergence of the political blogosphere to the early American press, where partisan passion in print was a virtue and objectivity most assuredly would have been a vice.
Today's new media, in other words, is a return to a much older media time in America. The journalism of the blogosphere is more about advocating a world view than it is about informing the world.
Based on what I heard yesterday from the people planning the Democratic and Republican presidential conventions in 2008, I'd say America's dominant political parties have gotten the message -- and share that vision of blogs. They see the blogosphere as a great tool to be exploited for partisan ends and bloggers as footsoldiers in an online militia.
That's why you're probably not going to see either party treating bloggers like traditional journalists when it comes to granting credentials for the conventions.
The confrontation over intellectual property between Fox News and presidential candidates who want to use footage from the debates where they are the star attractions just got another player.
The Caucus reports that Republican candidate Mitt Romney has a new advertisement that uses Fox footage from last week's GOP debate. Fox cried foul when fellow Republican John McCain made a similar move last week.
Add to the mix the bloggers and online activists across the political spectrum who yesterday entered the fray by telling Fox to back off, and you have an intriguing "fair use" fight over copyright law developing on the fringe of a heated presidential race. Fun, fun, fun!
Here's the Romney ad:
This summer, Technology Daily produced a detailed look at the tech policy records and views of all of the 2008 presidential candidates. You won't find a more exhaustive package anywhere online.
But you can find a good supplement to our coverage over at TechCrunch, where Michael Arrington this week snagged an interview with Republican candidate Mitt Romney. They discussed topics like tech growth policies, Internet taxes, H-1B visas for high-skilled workers, venture-capital tax issues and renewable energy.
Unfortunately, Arrington said he didn't have time to cover more controversial issues like how, if at all, the government should react to U.S. tech companies helping the Chinese government filter online activities, or whether the U.S. government should mandate equal treatment of broadband content, a concept known as network neutrality.
You can read the transcript or listen to the interview.
Technology Daily on Friday reported on Fox News Channel's copyright complaint against Republican presidential hopeful John McCain, who used a snippet from last week's GOP debate in a campaign advertisement.
The Arizona senator claims that the "fair use" principle of copyright law entitles him to use the video from the Fox-sponsored event and his team said it will not stop running the 30-second spot.
Read more about the controversy in the PM Edition and follow the jump to read the cease-and-desist letter sent to the McCain camp by Fox.
MySpace and MTV brought a whole new level of accountability to a presidential townhall format Thursday. Technology has given voters more ways to ask candidates questions, but this was the first time they could rate the answers in real time using an online widget on MySpace.
New Hampshire college students asked questions ranging from genocide to health care during the hour long interview with vice presidential candidate John Edwards. Edwards wore jeans for the occasion and stood on a small platform featuring a screaming mouth bursting amid red and white rays with students surrounding him.
Host Gideon Yago invited online viewers to use the polling widget on MySpace to show "if you're feeling spun or inspired by his answers." Chris Cillizza, a political blogger for the Washington Post, announced that Edwards' answer to a question about Katrina recovery was a hit online, with most viewers giving giving him a thumbs up and 63 percent saying he had good ideas.
Just like the bigger election, voting is just open for a day at the presidential campaign Web site for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Supporters are being asked to vote on the best amateur campaign advertisement at http://www.mittromney.com.
The campaign posted the nine finalists on Tuesday after chosing among hundreds of entries. The winning ad will be aired on television. Voting is open until a minute before midnight Wednesday. Those voting will be required to give their e-mail address.
So far, Romney has spent almost $10 million on television and radio ads.
Saturday marked the second annual celebration of One Web Day, an event previewed in Friday's PM Edition of Technology Daily, and Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards used the occasion to tout his Internet policy agenda.
"I am proud to have outlined an agenda to build a universal, affordable Internet with a starting place goal of giving all U.S. homes and businesses access to real high-speed Internet by 2010," Edwards said in a statement. He said the Internet has given people the ability "to effect change and make profound differences for good in their communities," but a "digital divide" than leaves many rural and black Americans without technology access needs to be addressed.
Edwards, who along with his wife Elizabeth have actively engaged with the Internet political community, also reiterated his support for the concept of network neutrality in broadband content. "My commitment, as president, will be to ensure that the FCC preserves free expression and competition on the Internet by continuing to enforce net neutrality, ensuring no degradation or blocking of access to Web sites," he said.
Micah Sifry of techPresident lamented that Edwards was the only presidential candidate who "understood the value of One Web Day."
A day after releasing her health care plan, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., answered questions about it in a half-hour prime time webcast Tuesday evening on her Web site. Questioning began with Jay in St. Louis who asked a question Republicans plan to hit her with -- whether this is really any different than the plan she tried to offer as First Lady 14 years ago.
Clinton said her new health care plan has a big difference -- "it's not government run." She said people can choose from a wide variety of plans and those who like what they have won't need to change. Clinton said what she is offering is targeted at the 47 million uninsured Americans, those whose plan is too expensive or those who face problems getting coverage for a pre-existing condition or for a particular procedure their doctor has recommended.
Clinton said everyone has a role to play to improve the nations health including Americans choosing healthier habits. She said insurance companies will have to change how they do business. "The way insurance companies make money now is by figuring out how not to insure [certain] people," Clinton said. "It really undermines the quality of our health care."
Two of the leading presidential contenders will spend quality time on the Internet tonight -- one to talk health care and the other to take questions on an array of topics.
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton released a healthcare plan yesterday and will make that the focus of a webcast at 8 p.m. The plan, which would cost an estimated $110 billion a year, includes health information technology provisions. In fact, Clinton expects to pay part of the cost of the plan with savings achieved by modernizing the American health system.
If you want to ask Clinton about that or other tech aspects of her plan, though, you'll have to RSVP for the webcast.
On the Republican side, meanwhile, candidate Mitt Romney will hold his first "Ask Mitt Anything" online chat at 7:15 p.m. So if you're curious about Romney's "Ocean" ad and his plan to cleanse American culture by attacking Internet pornography and videogame violence, register to ask him a question.
More than 1,700 people already have registered and submitted questions, according to the campaign.
National Journal has partnered with NBC to embed reporters with the campaigns of top presidential contenders and in two key states, Iowa and New Hampshire. This is the latest report from the field. Check "Tech Trail 2008" for other tech-related campaign developments.
By Adam Aigner-Treworgy
The campaign kickoff of Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson has certainly generated a lot of media attention, and in the Southern primary states of South Carolina and Florida, it has generated a fair amount of voter attention. But how much of that attention has translated into much-needed donations to Thompson's campaign?
Following the candidate's big announcement speech in Des Moines earlier this month, his communications staff was diligent about releasing numbers that touted the success of Thompson's Web-based announcement strategy at attracting visitors and donations on its Web site, Fred08.com. The campaign bragged that it raised more than $300,000 in 24 hours online.
But after that, nary a word has come from the Thompson campaign on fundraising tactics until Friday, when the campaign announced a new gimmick meant to get Thompson devotees more involved in the campaign. In an e-mail sent to supporters, the campaign announced the "Kick-off Challenge," a program that encourages supporters to make a fundraising commitment and fulfill it by the end of the month. Successful fundraisers then will be dubbed Kickoff Champions and will be eligible for special merchandise commensurate with the amount they raise.
Mark Warner made his business fortune in the telecommunications industry before entering politics in Virginia. He served as Virginia's governor from 2001 to 2005 and last year flirted with the idea of a presidential run in 2008.
But now the Democrat has decided to seek the Virginia seat being vacated by a man with the same last name, Republican John Warner. Mark Warner announced his candidacy in a video today. Here's the video, and read the PM Edition of Technology Daily today for the full story.
Well, it looks like the MSNBC-NBC-National Journal reporters embedded on the 2008 campaign trail have started filing dispatches. The team of caffeinated political scribes is covering “Decision 2008” full-time now, each serving as their own mobile campaign bureau.
While several posts have been spotted on MSNBC's First Read political blog, these crackerjack campaign watchers will soon be filing video, audio and text reports while canvassing the country with the candidates.
A few recent dispatches from embeds:
Hillary Clinton picks up National Association of Letter Carriers endorsement.
Barack Obama lays out Iraq withdrawal plan.
Rudy Giuliani's campaign alters Web site in memory of 9/11.
Fred Thompson's campaign lashes out against Mitt Romney.
Mitt Romney commemorates the sixth anniversary of 9/11.
So far, the bylines I've seen are Aswini Anburajan, Matthew Berger, Athena Jones, Erin McPike and Adam Aigner-Treworgy. Good luck gang -- and don't forget to sleep and eat.
From "Hotline On Call" on Tuesday:
If you try to visit Rudy Giuliani's Web site today -- the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks -- you will be in for a bit of a surprise. Instead of the usual welcome page displaying the latest news, buzz, photos, and video from Giuliani's WH bid, there's instead a simple and somber message: "September 11, 2001. We will not forget." The page -- which, according to dep. comm. dir. Maria Comella, will be up all day -- displays a quote from Giuliani's 10/1/01 address to the UN: "This massive attack was intended to break our spirit. It has not done that. It has made us stronger, more determined and more resolved." Read the full blog post here.
Hillary Clinton [link], John Edwards [link], Barack Obama [link], Mitt Romney [link] and other presidential hopefuls posted 9/11 messages on their campaign sites.
Our parent company, National Journal Group, announced a new partnership on Monday with satellite radio giant XM as the race for the White House kicks into high gear. You'll be able to hear NJ experts on POTUS '08, a station dedicated to the 2008 election.
As part of the joint venture, NJ Contributing Editor Linda Douglass will host "National Journal On Air," a one-hour weekly show providing a recap of the top political news and events from the week as well as a preview of the week ahead.
Other NJ favorites who will appear on XM include Charlie Cook, editor of The Cook Political Report; Hotline Editor-in-Chief Amy Walter; NJ Political Correspondent Jim Barnes; and other journalists and experts who call our Watergate headquarters home.
XM's POTUS '08 (Channel 130) is scheduled to go live in late September. NJ readers will be able to access podcasts of "National Journal On Air" and other segments as well as links to related news and articles on NationalJournal.com.
We caught up with Douglass to ask her about her new endeavor...
As an actor, "Law and Order" star Fred Thompson has played a president now he's hoping to be one. Following an appearance on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno Wednesday night, former senator from Tennessee announced his candidacy in a Webcast early Thursday morning.
When Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., announced via a Webcast, saying she wanted a conversation, some Democratic bloggers criticized her, saying the conversation was a bit one-sided. Thompson's campaign team is likely hoping to head that off by appealing to bloggers in the days before the announcement to ask Thompson anything.
The campaign asked bloggers to encourage readers to submit questions through a separate Thompson website ImWithFred, http://http://www.imwithfred.com/which, unlike Fred08.com, requires people to register their email address and contact information. That move further helps them now engage those that some argue can help or hurt a campaign.
Over at PrezVid, James Kotecki points out that most of the 2008 presidential campaigns may be violating copyright laws when they post clips of their interviews from cable and network TV news shows on YouTube. He says he hopes that drawing attention to this fair use question will force politicians to reexamine the country's dated intellectual property statutes.
National Journal's Beltway Blogroll says:
Add MTV to the list of citizen media innovators in the 2008 campaign. The music network that made "Choose or Lose" a part of the political vocabulary is recruiting young folks from every state and the District of Columbia to write stories, produce online videos and take photos on the campaign trail. The effort is being underwritten in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. MTV won a $700,000 grant for the mobile youth journalists in the Knight News Challenge.
Meanwhile, Technology Daily's AM Edition reports that social-networking site MySpace and MTV plan to bring together the 2008 presidential hopefuls and young voters for real-time, online conversations. The top candidates of the Republican and Democratic parties will participate, each holding individual dialogues with voters.
Technology Daily has publicly lifted the curtain on a series of profiles and stories that appeared on the subscription-only Web site last week. The package focuses on what presidential candidates are saying about tech issues and how they are using technology in their campaigns. The special report's key ingredients include: the main page, profiles on Republicans and Democrats and several meaty stories.
Summer interns Sandra Gonzalez and Sarah Myers scoured the Congressional Record, candidate sites, YouTube and other sources to gather information on what has been said or done on the tech policy front. Meanwhile, staff writer Winter Casey examined candidates' views on trade.
We plan to update the package as warranted throughout the campaign, with feeds from political reporter Heather Greenfield and The Hotline's Shira Toeplitz, who writes the "On The Download" column for both publications.
It's August. It's Friday. And I had some down time today. So I figured it might be fun to run a basic YouTube search on every top-tier presidential candidate just to see which videos about them would come up first.
Much was written during last year's elections about "Googlebombing" and manipulating the information that turns up in basic search queries for political candidates. I thought it would be a good exercise to see what would happen on YouTube when I punched in the top three Democrats and the top three Republicans in today's polls -- plus Fred Thompson, the steady-polling Republican "non-candidate."
As a general rule, the first videos, or group of videos, that come up for candidates on YouTube portray them negatively. Try it yourself. Search for Rudy Giuliani, and you'll find a video of him dressed in drag up top. Go fishing for Mitt Romney, and a video about his "flip-flopping" will be your first catch. If you're looking for John Edwards, you'll see him fixing his hair before you see him doing anything else.
Hillary Clinton's infamous spoof on "The Sopranos," which her campaign produced, leads her YouTube hit list. But it's immediately followed by the "Vote Different" spot produced by a Barack Obama supporter and a clip of her butchering the National Anthem. The first two Fred Thompson clips also are harmless. But they're right in front of video of him being angrily confronted by a group called Houston911Truth.
Those crazy kids over at The Bryant Park Project, National Public Radio's new morning show for the 25- to 44-year-old demographic are at it again. This time, they've convinced GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee of Arkansas to talk candidly about his relationship with Bill and Hillary Clinton… and face-off against hosts Luke Burbank and Alison Stewart in a ping-pong match.
"While he was president, when every media entity in the country would have more than welcomed my taking the stage to condemn Bill Clinton, I didn’t do it," Huckabee tells NPR. "I saw no future in it. There was a long line of people standing in line to condemn him. I always liked the short lines anyway."
Video of the interview and the competition will be available on the show's Web page after 12:30 p.m. ET on Friday. The newsmagazine has been offering online audio and video segments for a few months but the two-hour morning drive time show will premiere Oct. 1 on terrestrial, satellite and digital HD radio, and free streaming audio.
Update: See who wins the ping-pong match! The video is online here.
Democratic presidential candidates faced off Thursday night at a Los Angeles forum hosted by the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality group. The event was televised on the LOGO network and streamed live on the Internet.
The panel of questioners -- HRC President Joe Solmonese, singer Melissa Etheridge, journalist Jonathan Capehart and columnist Margaret Carlson -- grilled the politicians, who appeared individually on stage, with GLBT-related questions.
Video clips from the first-of-its-kind event are available on LOGO's site and there's plenty of coverage in the blogosphere. HRC, for one, live-blogged the forum. Comments left by viewers on LOGO's site showed that Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, who supports same-sex marriage, was "the total surprise breakout star of the night."
Pam Spaulding of the Pam’s House Blend blog thought "the questions were tough, and covered a lot of ground — and the candidates had ample opportunity to expand on their otherwise well-worn campaign thumbnail sketches on their positions re:LGBT rights." Read her rundown here.
Meanwhile, the Washington Blade reports on its Web site that "in an otherwise low-key presidential candidates forum dedicated to gay issues, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson drew gasps from the audience when he appeared to suggest that homosexuality is a choice." The newspaper's blog has a detailed recap of the event.
BOSTON -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney came out on top here this week in a straw poll of presidential candidates conducted by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Roughly 31 percent of Democrats said they favored Clinton out of the pool of potential nominees for the 2008 race. Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., came in second at 26 percent. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois took home about 20 percent of the votes.
Romney beat the rest of the Republican field by nearly 14 points. Former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, who has not yet made his candidacy official, finished second. Almost 36 percent of the Republicans said they supported Romney.
According to NCSL, more than 500 lawmakers, aides and policy experts participated in the poll. -- Michael Martinez
On Tuesday night, Democratic presidential candidates vied for the affection of the AFL-CIO (whose executive council is holding off on its endorsement for now). Tonight, they'll head to Los Angeles for a debate hosted by the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality group.
Confirmed attendees include New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, John Edwards, former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson.
HRC President Joe Solmonese, singer Melissa Etheridge and journalist Jonathan Capehart will appear as panelists during the two-hour event and political columnist Margaret Carlson will moderate.
For a sneak peak of how the candidates have weighed in on GLBT issues, check out HRC's questionnaire (PDF).
Here's the tech angle: The debate will be televised live on Viacom's LOGO network and on its Web site. Viewers are also encouraged to send in questions via LOGO's site to be answered live by the candidates.
On a related note, the LA Times blog Top of the Ticket points out a study that shows that gays and lesbians get out the vote -- in much higher percentages than the rest of the population.
Hotline On Call offers additional debate reactions:
MSNBC's Chris Matthews: "It was not an NFL football game, but it was pretty close." On Obama: "He definitely had home field advantage. ... He was like a Judo master, kind of. The harder they came at him, he seemed to twist it and turn it. He would have made a million dollars."
NBC's Chuck Todd: "Clinton found out she had allies tonight in Dodd and Biden, and I think the fact we're seeing these candidates pair up and you almost wonder, is this a transitional moment where you are going to see folks starting side with Clinton because they think maybe they smell a winner."
Ex-White House adviser David Gergen: "The big question tonight is did John Edwards make a lot of headway with the labor unions? He was there tonight to try to get labor union endorsements in the next few weeks."
Pat Buchanan: "There's a little man there, Kucinich, who did extraordinarily well. He was clear, tough on NAFTA. He had the audience cheering. He was humorous. He was upbeat."
Some random reactions from the blogosphere to Tuesday night's AFL-CIO sponsored Democratic debate:
Marc Ambinder, The Atlantic Online: "A hometown crowd cheered Sen. Barack Obama as he volleyed with his Democratic rivals over his judgment and experience during tonight's AFL-CIO debate in Chicago. But it was Sen. Clinton who, in what might be a metaphor for the entire race, earned the loudest jeers and the most sustained applause."
Pajamas Media's Vodkapundit Stephen Green: "Edwards says, 'Lawyers are better than lobbyists!' Yes, and ebola will kill you faster than AIDS. Small comfort, I suppose… Kucinich is claiming a leadership role in Congress. Which is kind of like saying that snouty-faced guy in the Star Wars cantina scene held a leading role in Episode IV."
Matt Stoller, OpenLeft: "Clinton has made some more major mistakes that open her up to charges of being an elitist and out-of-touch insider. In the argument over Pakistan, Clinton just said that if you are running for President you "shouldn't say everything you think", and got booed."
NewsBusters Blog: "Keith Olbermann a 'fair and balanced' journalist for a day? Did the sweltering Chicago temperatures somehow get to him? The MSNBC host who is notorious for anti-Bush, anti-conservative rants employed a more balanced approach when he moderated Tuesday's Democratic presidential debate."
Right Wing News: "The best debater: Kucinich, who can't possibly win. Runner-up: Hillary, who's good in this format where all she has to do is giggle about 'women cleaning house' and how she doesn't like Bush and she gets applause. Edwards, I would put in the third slot as much as anything because his message appeals to this audience."
The Democratic presidential debate hosted by the AFL-CIO on Tuesday night has come and gone. So, who came out on top? That's not our call but feel free to play Monday morning quarterback by posting a comment here.
One thing was clear -- all seven candidates desperately, desperately wanted to be "The Labor Candidate." No surprise there. The folks at the AFL-CIO blogged throughout the event and they had some interesting thoughts…
-- "Diana" from Cooksville, Tenn., who submitted her question via the Internet, said she lost her job and can't find health insurance. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio touted the bill he introduced to offer health care coverage to all Americans.
-- Many of the candidates talked about how withdrawing troops from Iraq would help us focus more on al Qaeda around the world.
-- Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut said a "robust" diplomacy effort is needed. "We shouldn't be selling arms to Saudi Arabia while they're refusing to help us in Iraq."
-- John Edwards said if he were president today, 40 to 50,000 troops would be withdrawn from Iraq immediately.
-- On lobbying, Edwards and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois touted the fact that they don't accept donations from registered lobbyists.
-- Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden was asked about considering hiring a Republican for cabinet positions. He said he would because he wants to bring the country together and hire the best people for the job.
-- Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York called for someone to report directly to the president about rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
-- The last question was about the lengthy presidential campaign cycle. "Campaigns last too long, and they cost too much money," Obama said.
Read more on the AFL-CIO blog. The Huffington Post was also live-blogging.
The daughter of Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani is no longer an Obama girl. Caroline Giuliani, 17, withdrew Monday from the Facebook group for Democratic candidate Barack Obama, according to Slate magazine.
Slate reported she quit the group shortly after a reporter saw it and sent her an email asking about her support for Obama. Caroline will attend Harvard in the fall and is the daughter of Giuliani's second wife Deborah Hanover, whom he divorced.
Giuliani told reporters yesterday he was proud of his daughter, but declined comment on her political views. Obama said he was glad his campaign was attracting young people.
It's early August, the mercury is rising and it's time for another presidential debate! Democratic contenders will face-off Tuesday night at a forum in Chicago organized by the AFL-CIO, the country's largest federation of trade unions. About 15,000 union family members are expected to attend.
Jobs and wages, health care, retirement, education and Iraq will be the topics du jour and a number of potential questions were submitted by visitors to the AFL-CIO's Working Families Vote 2008 Web site.
The debate, which will be moderated by MSNBC "Countdown" host Keith Olbermann, will be broadcast live on the network at 7 p.m. ET. XM Satellite Radio will also air the forum on its POTUS '08 channel.
Meanwhile, the AFL-CIO sent questionnaires to "every viable major-party candidate running for president in 2008." The surveys ask, in detail, for policy proposals to address key issues facing working families. Read more about that effort here.
The New York Times' political blog reported Thursday that an e-mail battle is brewing between two Republican presidential hopefuls -- Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas and Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas.
The skirmish started with an e-mail written by the Rev. Tim Rude, a Huckabee backer, asking two Brownback supporters to consider switching sides. According to The Caucus blog, the e-mail contained some typical pitches, but there was also this:
Huckabee is an evangelical. He has not learned how to speak to evangelicals; i.e. Bush 41 & 43. He is one of us. I know Senator Brownback converted to Roman Catholicism in 2002. Frankly, as a recovering Catholic myself, that is all I need to know about his discernment when compared to the Governor’s. I don’t if this fact is widely known among evangelicals who are supporting Brownback. [sic.]
Then the gloves came off. Read more about the feud here. MSNBC ran detailed statements from both politicians here.
"The Internet to me is the political equalizer of the age. ... We have a campaign that is growing rather rapidly ... but a lot of our success has come through the Internet." So said Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas during his time in the YouTube Spotlight this week.
Watch what he has to say about how the Web has spontaneously boosted his presidential campaign:
And hear Paul's thoughts on two hot-button civil liberties issues: the REAL ID Act, which mandates standardized driver's licenses, and the anti-terrorism law known as the USA PATRIOT Act:
Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, the self-described "constitutionalist" Republican candidate for Congress, has arguably the most loyal Internet following of all of the 2008 candidates, so his visit to the campus of the Google Internet firm was a bit hit earlier this month.
Now, courtesy of the Paul campaign, you can get the condensed version (less than 15 minutes) -- and a catchy tune titled "If You Google Ron Paul" that promises "hope for America."
The song has plenty of red-meat lyrics for the civil liberties crowd. Here's a sample: "If you Google Ron Paul, you will find the man who will save us ... from the PATRIOT Act and Homeland Security. ... If you Google Ron Paul, you will find a man who will ... protect our privacy, stop the national ID card."
The voters have spoken -- and Celine Dion and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will now officially join forces.
Clinton, D-N.Y., asked the Web for help in choosing a theme song for her presidential campaign earlier this spring. After weeks of intense competition, Dion's "You and I" edged out the other tunes on the ballot, which included hits by uber-popular groups like U2 and the Dixie Chicks.
Our friends at the Hotline wisely called attention to the fact that Dion is Canadian. The ballot was actually pretty well-stocked with foreigners. U2 is famously Irish. KT Tunstall is Scottish. Smashmouth hails from California -- but their song that was up for consideration, "I'm a Believer," was originally recorded by The Monkees, another U.K. outfit.
It should also be noted that Clinton teased the announcement of the winning song with a salute to the finale of "The Sopranos." In a video posted on her campaign site, she recreated the series' final scene, complete with a star acting turn by her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
It didn’t end with the couple eating onion rings, but it did feature Journey's 1981 power ballad "Don't Stop Believin," a ditty that rocketed into the top-20 on iTunes this month thanks largely to its now-infamous role in the final moments of the show. -- Michael Martinez
Technology Daily's parent company, National Journal Group, announced an expansion of its partnership with NBC News/MSNBC/MSNBC.com on Friday as the 2008 presidential campaign season heats up. The two media outlets began sharing content last year with the creation of a politics portal on MSNBC.com.
Beginning this summer, a cadre of campaign reporters will blog and file video, audio and text dispatches from the trail for NBC News, National Journal, The Hotline, CongressDaily, MSNBC, MSNBC.com, NBC Mobile, NBC Radio and Telemundo.
The “Decision 2008” scribes will each serve as their own mobile campaign bureaus (reporter, producer, cameraperson and blogger), armed with the latest technology for both video and text, according to a press release.
National Journal Publisher John Fox Sullivan said having the reporters embedded with campaigns will provide political junkies with inside stories and interesting tidbits that they otherwise would not get.
"There is nothing like being there, up close and personal, when it comes to covering a presidential election, and this allows us to be there in a very big way," NBC News President Steve Capus added.
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