Tech Daily Dose

Mr. Underwood Goes To Googleland

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.

Posted by Andrew at 09:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

BlogHer Interviews Former HP Chief Carly Fiorina

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.

Posted by Andrew at 09:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

DNC Unveils 'State Blogger Corps'

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.

Posted by Andrew at 09:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Presenting John McCain's Justice Panel

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.

Posted by Andrew at 09:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

NY Post Entertains With 'Fight Night' Game

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?

Posted by Andrew at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Dems Select Microsoft For Denver

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.

Posted by Andrew at 08:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

All Eyes On The Keystone State

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.

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.

Posted by Andrew at 05:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

MySpace, NBC Pair Up For 'Decision '08'

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.

Posted by Andrew at 08:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Campaign Humor: What's Younger Than John McCain?

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]

Posted by Andrew at 01:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Why Isn't Clinton Tracking Twitterings?

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…

Posted by Andrew at 07:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Web Poll: Digital Divide Between Obama, Clinton

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.

Posted by Andrew at 03:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

MoveOn Launches Obama Ad Contest

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

Posted by Andrew at 02:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

BlackBerry On Board With Obama?

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!"

Posted by Andrew at 08:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Some Additions To Your Political Vocabulary

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.

Posted by Andrew at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Fun On The Campaign Trail: McCain's BBQ Video

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.

Posted by Andrew at 09:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Jack Nicholson Endorses Clinton On YouTube

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."

Posted by Andrew at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Obama Web Traffic Trounces Clinton

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.

Posted by Andrew at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

NYT: McCain, Telecom Lobbyist Controversy

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.

Posted by Andrew at 08:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

High-Tech 'Potomac Primary' Coverage

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)

Posted by Andrew at 07:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

MoveOn Making Money For Obama

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.

Posted by Andrew at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Google's Super Tuesday Extravaganza

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.

Posted by Andrew at 02:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Candidates' 'Closing Arguments' On MTV, MySpace

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.

Posted by Andrew at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Obama Gets MoveOn.org Backing

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.

Posted by Andrew at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, Look Who's Back

More than 140,000 views on YouTube and counting.

Posted by Andrew at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Reason #4,345 Why I Love YouTube

(Thanks, Politico)

Posted by Andrew at 08:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Poll: White House Hopefuls Should Be Web-Savvy

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.

Posted by Andrew at 05:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Distracting Display of Technology At Obama Rally

(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.

Posted by Andrew at 03:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Keeping Tabs On Political 'Tweets'

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

Posted by Heather at 04:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Supporters See Sky As No Limit To Ron Paul

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.

Posted by Heather at 01:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Gamers Seeing Red Over GOP Debate

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

Posted by Andrew at 03:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Candidates Pressed On Key Tech Issues

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.

Posted by Andrew at 01:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Mike Huckabee: 'Chuck Norris Approved'

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.

Posted by Andrew at 02:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Credentialing Conundrum

[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.

Continue reading "The Credentialing Conundrum" »

Posted by Andrew at 03:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Mitt Romney Tests Fox's 'Fair Use' Stance

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:

Posted by Danny at 01:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Mitt Romney Tackles Tech Issues At TechCrunch

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.

Posted by Danny at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

'Fair Use' Flap: Fox News v. McCain

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.

Continue reading "'Fair Use' Flap: Fox News v. McCain" »

Posted by Andrew at 04:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

MySpace/MTV Start Candidate Interviews

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.

Continue reading "MySpace/MTV Start Candidate Interviews" »

Posted by Heather at 03:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Romney Announces Ad Contest Finalists

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.

Posted by Heather at 01:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A Presidential Vote For One Web Day

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."

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