Obama: Leading the Char… Wait, What?

A presidential candidate is going to Iraq – finally!  Just when you thought the candidates had forgotten the wars in the Middle East, Obama steps up and paves the way.  He’s such a leader.

 

 

Of course, we forget that McCain went in March. 

 

 

McCain’s trip received little fanfare, and he didn’t have the bragging rights of all three network anchors in tow.   In fact, John McCain has taken three foreign trips in the last few months, and not one included a network anchor.  In March, he traveled to Britain, France and Israel.  NBC and ABC sent correspondents.  CBS sent no one. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer even managed to turn this trip into a taxpayer-funded issue.  His trip to Canada in June was not covered at all by the evening newscasts, and very little coverage was given to his trip to Colombia and Mexico a few weeks ago.

 

 

Obama has not been to Iraq since 2006 and has never been to Afghanistan.  This lack of direct knowledge of the situation has, so far, qualified him to push for an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq should he become president.  I presume Obama’s trip is as equally political as it is legitimate, but that’s no surprise at this point.

 

Media Research Center reports:

 

“During the week of March 16, McCain’s trip received only four full-length stories during the combined ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news program coverage. Three of those stories were on NBC’s “Nightly News,” one of which focused on McCain’s mistaken comment about Iran funding Al Qaeda in Iraq. ABC’s “World News” did only one full-length story on McCain’s Iraq trip, which mentioned the gaffe. The CBS “Evening News” was by far the worst, devoting only 31 words, a grand total of 10 seconds, to the Republican nominee’s Iraq visit during the entire week of evening news coverage.”

 

Even the Daily Kos acknowledges “Obamamania.”  But, get this, they say that McCain is getting less coverage because the press likes him more than Obama.  You read that correctly.  Daily Kos believes that Obama increases ratings in a way that McCain doesn’t, and that’s why he’s the media superstar.  “Media people,” they claim, “hate it.  But they follow what sells.” 

 

So it’s really the viewers who determine coverage, not network heads with a personal interest in politics.  Right.

Cyrus Krohn & GOP.com

I think the main difference between the Democrat’s online platform and the Republican’s online platform is that the Dems have done it, well, better.  They started earlier with their online endeavors.  Their constituents embraced the technological involvement of the 2008 Presidential race.  Certain Republicans did too – Ron Paul’s backers rallied tremendously online – but overall, their efforts were far less commendable.

Cyrus Krohn has a huge responsibility with GOP.com.  Where do the Republicans go technologically if McCain doesn’t win in November?  GOP.com is definitely a step in the right direction for the Republicans, one that, win or lose, needs to be continually advanced. 

But a few criticisms, if I might…

First, the site takes forever to load (as do other links when I clicked on them), which is an unnecessary frustration.  Those valuable few seconds give me the opportunity to type a different address into my browser and be on my way.  If I want to join the GOP, make a donation to the cause or read some dish about an opponent, don’t give me an excuse not to by taking too long to load the page.

At any given time, visitors might think this is an Obama Web site at first glance: 

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Give opponents their due, but chances are that people who visit this site are voting for McCain to begin with.  Obama information is absolutely necessary, but it doesn’t have to be front and center. 

Finding the donation application widget took me two days, four phone calls and an email.  Turns out that the widget isn’t even part of GOP.com – it’s part of meetbarackobama.com, one of the RNC’s other sites that’s linked-to from the GOP.com homepage.  Confused yet?  I would suggest making this much easier to find or simply posting it on the homepage.  It’s a great tool, but why is it buried?

 

The staggering amount of data about voters that is collected, cross-referenced and analyzed is overwhelming but impressive.  I assume that both parties have equally detailed databases.  People tend to feel as if their privacy has been invaded, but it should be no surprise that the bottom line of this technology is money, power and influence – on both sides. 

Of course it’s easier to point out the negatives.  Overall, the site looks great.  It’s networks – Facebook, del.icio.us and digg to name a few – are readily available. The RNC’s YouTube page is richly designed and opens with this video:

But again, all pages seem to take forever to load, which only perpetuates the impression that Republicans are old, stodgy and behind the times. 

Krohn had a right to be proud of the “Republican Platform Committee” page. 

For once in the tech realm, the Republicans had something great and they had it first.  The site is very interactive, allowing for both text and video entries.  It also was a wise call to allow (almost) everything to post.  Nothing should be hidden, especially when internet viewers are lurking in the shadows, ready at a moments notice to jump on an inaccuracy or inconsistency.  Also, the Valentines were funny and unique in their simplicity.  I’d definitely send one out!

Just a few criticisms, but overall, well-done, Republicans.

2008 Personal Democracy Forum (Fundraising Week)

 

I don’t need a president who knows the ins and outs of Twitter, Google Reader and more sophisticated programs.  There are far more important things for the President to focus on.  However, it’s dangerous and shortsighted to not have a working knowledge or basic comprehension of the internet.  The internet is not a fluke; it is not a trend or a fad with a short shelf-life.  It has, in fact, revolutionized communication, and will continue to move in new, dynamic directions.  True, there is a generational divide that separates the candidates, but that’s no excuse for McCain to not have basic knowledge of the power of the internet and the subsequent empowerment of those who use it.

 

Zephyr Teachout made a good point when, at the Personal Democracy Forum, she said the presidency is the least democratic institution and has not served as a successful check on corruption.  Technology, she states, can be used to “suck a lot of power out of Washington and the federal government” and put it back into the states.  Jeff Jarvis supported that line of thinking by noting that, “with technology, we have the opportunity to open government in new ways.” 

 

Obviously, certain decisions need to remain in the hands of informed decision-makers.  National security issues, for example, must be kept to those in the know.  The government has largely shifted away from its accountability, but the internet and new technologies are bringing that accountability around full-circle.  Voters are sharing their personal insight more than ever in the past.  It’s not that they didn’t want to before, but now they have the means to do so.  As Jay Rosen said, media has now taken the form of many producers speaking to many people.  Mass media still has tremendous impact on information dissemination, but the major outlets are not solely shaping news coverage.

 

Youth are involved in greater numbers than ever before.  Credit is due to executives at MTV Networks for their Rock the Vote efforts that have been tirelessly executed for as long as I can remember.  Though they tried, they did not impact America’s youth the way that the internet has. 

 

Barack Obama has received an overwhelming show of support from his online supporters, from blogs to videos to donations.  Traditional media may seem boring and outdated to a lot of people.  The internet allows people to actually be involved in a presidential campaign.  Obama is taking a beating for not accepting public campaign financing.  True, he made a different pledge about public financing that is causing those on the right to shout “hypocrisy.”  I don’t think the argument will sustain, nor will it have much, if any, impact on Obama supporters (or even those who may still be undecided).  I would argue that this is yet another example of how 2008 is a different presidential race than ever before.  It would be hard to find a candidate who would truthfully take public campaign financing when the alternative is so much better.   

 

The ideas and opinions expressed at the Personal Democracy Forum are things that the candidates should take seriously.  Subsequent elections will look back at this historic time and analyze and second guess and “what if” to no end.  Who knows where all of this technology leads, but it is exciting to be a part of it now, aware of the changes that are taking place.

Red Blogs & Blue Blogs – Day 4

If there were similarites over the four days of blog comparison, I sure didn’t see them…

 

Townhall.com took a look at Barack Obama today in several postings.  Two of these deal with his current struggles to find a VP vetting team.  Another article goes to great lengths to defend the Obama candidacy in the face of rumors that have plagued his campaign recently: Michelle Obama’s alleged use of the word “whitey” in a speech at their former church and the accusation that Obama is a secret Muslim intent on the destruction of America.

 

Daily Kos was another story.  I could barely get through the rants of the posts, much less the reader comments, to figure out what was being said.  From what I could gather, the general sentiments were along the lines of:  the GOP is an “embarrassing failure,” John McCain is a gozillion years old (apparently his birth certificate was found in a cave and is written in a language that, according to dailykos.com, has been dead for 1,900 years – yet somehow they managed to translate it – so witty and humorous over there at dailykos.com), and George Bush has single handedly managed to wreck the US economy.  This goes beyond the definition of “politics.”

Red Blogs & Blue Blogs – Day 3

The top item on Daily Kos discusses voters in Washington state, saying, “I don’t think they’re too gung-ho for 100 more years in Iraq, or four more years of the Bush agenda.”  A blog is understood to be a compilation of opinions, but these statements come across as facts, which is dangerous, misleading, and, at the risk of sounding trite, unfair.  When John McCain spoke about 100 more years in Iraq, he was speculating and speaking in broad terms.  Dailykos.com would have readers believe that McCain is pushing for legislation to guarantee 100 more years in Iraq. 

 

 

The main story on townhall.com boasts “Big-Mac:  The Taxpayer-Friendly Candidate.”  This leaves readers with the assumption that not only is Obama less taxpayer-friendly, but also that McCain is the only taxpayer-friendly candidate.  Last night’s post detailing Obama’s flip-flopping on the issue was the perfect lead-up for this.  But, I can only speculate that, when looked at closely, both candidates may have said things that could be misconstrued as being on both sides of most issues.  I think that’s called “politics.”

Red Blogs & Blue Blogs – Day 2

Tonight I thought I’d check out some of the reader comments/discussions on the blogs.  On Daily Kos, one word sums up a sizable majority of the responses:  angry.  Angry at Bush.  Angry at the Republican party.  Angry at Republican pundits.  Words like smug, smarmy, sexist, loathsome and extremist, to name a few.  A thread about the price of gas garnered the following responses about President Bush:  “What a dumbass,” “He can’t be gone soon enough,” “He’s such a schmuck,” “He doesn’t care because his buddies will insulate him from reality,” and on and on.  Angry?  Yes. 

 

The folks at townhall.com focused more on the upcoming election and not at all on a presidency that’s in its twilight.  The reader responses were equally one-sided, but not nearly as angry.  Two articles discussing how McCain and Obama differ on economics were answered with one post that was incredibly detailed – a breakdown of Obama campaign quotes detailing how he has flip-flopped on the issue.  Overall, the responses weren’t as angry or in-your-face at those at Daily Kos, but, dishearteningly, there were enough about the “black guy” to make me squirm in my seat.

 

But it seems the angrier the audience, the more responses a post receives.  In blogging, does silence mean consent?  I always find it more helpful to leave emotion at the door, and people will take you (and your message) more seriously.

Red Blogs & Blue Blogs – Day 1

It’s almost comical that two Web sites, presumably reporting on the same day’s events, could vary so much in their coverage.  I started with Daily Kos.  The number one posting was an excerpt from an interview with a Democratic Senate candidate from Nebraska.  The issue of the environment – clean energy, carbon emissions, the rainforests, deforestation, etc. – was the topic of discussion.  I was fairly certain this wouldn’t be detailed on the right-wing blogs, so I moved onto the next post.  Somehow this week’s flooding in the Midwest was more of a disaster because of the war in Iraq.  Specifically, and I’m paraphrasing, President Bush and his neo-con cronies are contributing to thousands of Americans losing their homes in the flooding.  The National Guard has been deployed to help these areas, but they are at roughly half capacity as the other half of their manpower and resources are in Iraq (thanks to Bush & McCain).  Another article basically states how a McCain win in November would equate to the third Bush term in office.  The book advertised on the side of the page “Goodnight Bush” is my favorite. 

 

 

On the more conservative side, townhall.com, more “newsy” in nature, had its standard articles by conservative figures such as Ann Coulter with “Obama was Selected, not Elected” and Dick Morris with “Hillary Circles Slowly Overhead.”  The site reiterates McCain’s offer/challenge to Obama to join him at a town hall meeting, an offer which Obama has so far refused.  Another article that caught my attention detailed how Obama’s race may still be an issue for voters in some states (Pennsylvania, for example).