Okay, so next week will be a whirlwind for me... speaking at two Word of Mouth Marketing conferences -- one in Istanbul, and one in Warsaw. Anyone got travel advice for either place?
I'll be in Istanbul 3 days, and Warsaw 3 days, so not a lot of time, but... would love to hear anyone's advice on things to see, things not to miss, etc.
Oh, and since this post wouldn't really be a proper DK post without some political content... I'm going to be there from May 3rd to May 9th. I'm excited about it, of course, but slightly bummed that I will be overseas... when Hillary drops out on May 8th.
$1 million for Barack Obama in 1 minute, at 1pm Eastern/10 am Pacific, TODAY. Can they pull it off? It sounds completely insane... which is why I love it, and why I'll help. Who's with me?
If you're not familiar with it, the folks over at An Obama Minute have an effort to get Obama supporters to donate $1 million in one minute. And that minute is today, at 1pm eastern. (press release below the fold)
I love it. Grassrootsy, hella ambitious, and hella creative all in one package. If they're gonna shoot for the moon, I'm happy to go along for the ride...
Well, it's ambitious as hell, I'll give them that... You might've heard of this already, but D-Day, H-Hour, M-Minute is tomorrow.
The folks over at An Obama Minute have been running an effort to get Obama supporters to donate $1 million in one minute. Monday, April 21st, at 1pm Eastern, that is. (press release below the fold)
Can they do it? Hell, I don't even know if the servers would hold up. But am I going to join in to try to make it happen? Hell yes. I love this stuff. Grassrootsy, hella ambitious, and hella creative all in one package.
They've had some great buzz, including a sweet hit in the NY Times..
I'm in. Who's with me?
[UPDATE: Wow, rec list already? Thanks folks, that's great, and a great sign for this effort]
[UPDATE # 2: Can't make it at 1pm? Go here to donate now, & have it credited to this effort.]
[UPDATE # 3: Got a blog? Blog the HELL out of this. Get the word out]
I'm a Barack Obama supporter. I have been since the DraftObama.org days of 2006. I want him to be the next president. And that's exactly why I want Hillary Clinton to stay in this race.
Let me be clear -- I realize it's a painful race. I realize we're losing the chance to go after McCain. And I'm frankly beside myself that Democrats are raising $90 million a month -- and using it to go after each other. I mean, that's a whole other level of pain. It's like getting a wisdom tooth pulled... by a proctologist (sorry).
And realistically, if I were Hillary, I would drop out at this point. She's got virtually no chance of beating Obama in pledged delegates, nor in the popular vote. And even the long-shot scenario -- superdelegates voting to give her the nomination anyway -- has become a really long shot. At this point, she'd need 2/3 of superdelegates to overturn the popular will, and that's a tall order.
Okay, so how about this as a compromise, to help prevent a torturous battle until the end of the summer...
Both candidates agree to a revote in Michigan and Florida, but with the following stipulation -- whoever ends up with the most pledged delegates is the nominee.
Period.
Whoever leads in pledged delegates as of early June (when the PR primary is held), the other one drops out. No waiting to the convention.
Of course, you'd also need to get the superdelegates to agree to this -- or at least a big enough chunk of them to make the difference (i.e., to agree to immediately promise to back the early June leader)
Now, it puts Senator Clinton at a disadvantage, since she's well behind in pledged delegates, but... well, that doesn't seem unreasonable, since he's got that lead by winning. And frankly, while Obama would very likely win in this scenario. But he'd also very likely win if things played out from now to the convention. And hey, at least this gives her a chance.
This would end it earlier, it would solve the MI/FL problem, and allow us all to move on to more important topics, like whether Britney is pregnant again.
Checked the diaries, and didn't see this yet, so just in case, here's the latest from Rasumussen:
Barack Obama has moved ahead of Hillary Clinton in Texas.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows Obama attracting 48% of the vote while Clinton earns 44%. Eight percent (8%) remain undecided and another 12% say it’s possible they could change their mind. That latter figure includes 3% who say there’s a good chance they could change their mind.
Obama leads by sixteen points among men, but trails by nine among women. Clinton’s lead among Hispanic voters is down to seven percentage points.
For those of us political junkies deeply steeped in campaign news on a 24/7 basis, it sometimes helps to take a step back, and use "the Google" to see what most folks are actually focused on.
Now, granted, the Obama campaign has taken America by storm, but just to put things in perspective:
"Barack Obama" = 6,210,000 search results
"Britney Spears" = 79,800,000
And yes, some issues are hot in our world, but....
"FISA" = 463,000 results
"Girl on girl action" = 604,000
The nomination process might be captivating us junkies, but...
"Superdelegates" = 3,280,000
"Superbowl" = 18,500,000
And we might be digging deeply into policy specifics, but...
"Hillary Clinton" AND "health care" = 508,000
"Paris Hilton" AND "sex tape" = 955,000
The point of all this? Well, number one, that I am happy to finally have a "research" excuse to Google things like "girl on girl action." But more importantly, perhaps it should give us some perspective as we move (hopefully soon) into the general election.
It's 50% social experiment, 50% outright bribe, and maybe... $50 in your pocket if you can come up with the best comment.
As many of you know from my shameless DK text ad, I recently started a new blog, BareNaked Pundits. Nothing too ambitious, just a fun way to vent at the end of the day.
So far, the traffic has been nice (and thanks to all who've sent advice and kind words), and I've been having fun. But I want more comments. Specifically, I want more fun, creative, provocative comments... It makes it more fun for me, and more fun for the readers. And frankly, I kind of like the idea of figuring a way to compensate those who contribute creativity via comments.
So here's the deal -- on March 1st, BareNaked Pundits will officially award $50 to the "best" comment made on that site during the month of February.
Oh, and I'd welcome any thoughts people have on this. If it goes well, we might continue and expand this in the months ahead. And if it's a dumb-ass idea and a failure... well, we won't. :)
Well folks, it's time for another "let's psychoanalyze the Daily Kos community" poll. In the past, we've asked about "wine vs beer", about "favorite number from 1 to 10," and today...
What's your favorite day of the week?
Will Saturday win by a landslide? Or will Monday surge from the underdog vote? And what about Sunday vs Friday? Is it better to work, but have the weekend in front of you, or... to be off and have the week in front? And where the hell do Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday fit in?
Go ahead, make your selection. And remember, whateve you choose... EVERY day is a good day for pie.
Well, as some folks here know, I had the pleasure of helping lead DraftObama.org back before the campaign began.
And... it just occurred to me that the TV ad we put out was actually launched 14 months ago. I've got nothing profound to say about that, just a "holy crap" realization that time really does fly.
So, for your viewing (and nostalgia) pleasure, I've included that TV ad right here. Enjoy it, but don't get too nostalgic until this thing is actually done.
Big, big, big thanks to all the people who worked so hard on this and other draft movements, and big, big, big thanks to all the people working like crazy on the actual campaign.
So hey, as you might've seen from my shameless text ad, I've recently started a blog, BareNaked Pundits. Mostly, it's just for fun, but I would like to have the ability to expand it, include other authors, functionality, etc.
And that's where I need advice -- what would people recommend using? Right now, I'm using Blogger. I like it because it's fairly easy to use, and low hassle. But there's a few other things I'd like to have that it doesn't provide:
Treed comment structure, as opposed to a long list (a la DK).
Ability to have user diaries (again, a la DK)
More choice with templates (or at least easy ability to change the look and feel.
Most important, easy to maintain, from a tech standpoint. I'd really like to avoid something that requires me getting into the code on a regular basis. I'm not code-a-phobic, but I don't want to spend my time there.
FYI, cost is not a big constraint, within reason. I'd rather pay $20, $30, $50 a month or more for something that is functional and slick than get a half assed one for free.
Okay, so to clarify, this is not Leon Panetta, but... another Panetta who's still pretty damned important around here in Washington, DC. (figured I'd clarify that after the "Edwards" brouhaha yesterday)
Mike Panetta, the elected Shadow Representative to Congress for DC, has officially announced his endorsement of Senator Obama. And with the DC primary coming up in just a few days, the timing couldn't be better. Here's his statement:
U.S "SHADOW" REPRESENTATIVE MIKE PANETTA (D-DC) ENDORSES BARACK OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT
Contact: Mike Panetta
(202) 253-6534
press@mikepanetta.com
(WASHINGTON, DC February 8, 2008): Mike Panetta, the elected U.S. "Shadow" Representative for the District of Columbia, today announced his endorsement of Barack Obama for President.
"The torch has been passed to Senator Obama as the vanguard of a new generation of leadership, and I know he’ll use that torch to light the fires of democracy here in the District of Columbia," said Representative Panetta. "It’s clear to me that Senator Obama can bring hope to our nation, and hope to those fighting for full citizenship right here in America’s capital."
It's time for another "largest group hug" attempt. The current DK record is 230. Here's the deal:
There's a pitched battle going on in the primaries, but we're all going to come together behind the nominee in the end... right? So it's time to start the healing now. To feel the love. To end the hurting.
To create the largest virtual group hug in DK history.
Here's how:
Leave a comment -- any comment -- with "hug" in the subject line
Respond to someone else's comment with "hug" in the subject line
Recommend this diary to keep the hug train going.
Go to 1, lather, rinse, repeat.
You can add other words in the subject, and say what you want in the body of it, but... just include "hug."
We can go back to debating in the days to come. After all, there's still a spirited battle to be fought for the nomination. But for just a few minutes, take a break, give a hug, and think thoughts of "kumbaya" in your head.
Let the group hugging commence. Let's have "record turnout" for this one. Let's make history. Go on... hug it out.
It's Super Tuesday, and I admit it... I'm dying for some exit polls.
In the past, we've usually seen some start to leak before the polls closed. Often as early as 1pm. But as we call know, ever since the 2004 debacle, when exit polls showed Kerry winning, it's become pretty much impossible to get early ones, even crappy ones.
Apparently, there's a much tighter rein on them these days.
But if you're into reading tea leaves, then you might want to check out Intrade. For those not familiar, it's a market where you can bet on the outcome of elections. For the first time in the entire election cycle, Intrade traders are now giving Barack Obama a higher chance of winning than Hillary Clinton. Just slightly higher -- 52.9% vs 47.9% as of 5:26 pm -- but higher nonetheless.
This switcheroo just happened about 2 hours ago. Maybe evidence of betting by some who really did get early evidence of exit polls? Perhaps. Or perhaps just a coincidence.
Folks, I've mentioned a few times in diaries how I'd become intrigued by watching T-shirt sales on CafePress.com as an indicator of how "hot" or "not " a candidate was. (full details why below the fold).
And I mentioned how, CafePress has set up a CafePress "Election Meter where you can track sales and product creations by candidate, over time. Well, here's a fascinating nugget from this past week:
After being nearly tied two weeks ago in weekly candidate sales (Obama at 28% of all sales, Hillary at 26%), Obama surged last week to 48%, while Hillary fell to 19%.
This is the biggest single change we've seen since we started geekily monitoring these numbers (my company has been doing some work for CafePress, which is how we first came across this data).
Is it scientific? Hell no. But... seems to me it's a hell of an interesting tea leaf to read when gauging grassroots enthusiasm or trying to figure if a candidate is waxing or waning.
Full explanation of why I think this matters, below the fold.
It's time for another "largest group hug" attempt -- with the current DK record of 230. Here's the deal:
There's a pitched battle going on in the primaries, but we're all going to come together behind the nominee in the end... right? So it's time to start the healing now. To feel the love. To end the hurting.
To create the largest virtual group hug in DK history.
Here's how:
Leave a comment -- any comment -- with "hug" in the subject line
Respond to someone else's comment with "hug" in the subject line
Recommend this diary to keep the hug train going.
Go to 1, lather, rinse, repeat.
You can add other words in the subject, and of course, say what you want in the body of it, but... just include "hug."
We can go back to debating in the days and weeks to come. After all, there's still a spirited battle to be fought for the nomination. But for just a few minutes, take a break, give a hug, and think thoughts of "kumbaya" in your head.
Let the group hugging commence. Let's break a record. Let's make history. Go on... hug it out.
Seems to be a lot tighter than other ones I've seen recently, but just slightly tighter than the last CA Rasmussen one -- but... that was two weeks ago.
Here's the details:
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in California shows Hillary Clinton with a very narrow three-percentage point lead over Barack Obama. The survey was conducted in the hours immediately following Florida’s Presidential Primary and before John Edwards dropped out of the race.
Two weeks ago, Clinton led Obama by five percentage points in California.
The survey found Edwards with 9% of the vote while 4% said they would vote for some other candidate and another 4% were not sure.
Obama had a narrow 43% to 41% advantage among the party’s liberal voters while Clinton held a 45% to 35% edge among moderate voters.
Obama held a three-point lead among white voters in the state while Clinton had a twenty-seven point lead among Hispanic voters.
Hot news! Even while Senator Clinton is literally on stage, claiming victory in the popular vote, we have truly stunning news on the delegate front.
Senators Obama and Edwards have tied Senator Clinton in the all-important delegate count, as has 90s icon and stand-up "comic," Carrot Top.
All have received the exact same total -- zero (out of a total of zero delagates at stake in Florida).
[Update]Breaking In a further development of stunning stunningness, the following have also received the same number of delegates tonight as has Senator Clinton:
Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Dennis Kucinich, Mean Joe Green, Alanis Morrisette, Anson Williams, you, Barry Manilow, the guy who played Joe Izuzu, Cher, the boxer guy that Rocky fought in the last movie, Burt from Burt's Bees, Ben and Jerry, Right Said Fred, Fred Armisen, the guy you last bought cold cuts from, that dude who stared a little at you a little too long at the gym, Mini Me, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Gopher... and 300 million other Americans...
