Click here to view the embedded video.

In her campaign for Governor, billionaire Meg Whitman keeps fudging the facts.  When Meg Whitman plays fast an loose with the facts, seek out the truth from the California Accountability Project.

]]> http://www.reelpolitik.org/meg-whitman-fudging-facts/feed/ 0 http://www.reelpolitik.org/villaraigosa-fast/ http://www.reelpolitik.org/villaraigosa-fast/#comments Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:59:07 +0000 reelpolitik http://www.reelpolitik.org/?p=928 Compared to the large field of the Attorney General race, the Democratic gubernatorial race is about as lively as a coma patient.  Only one candidate – San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom – has entered the ring, with two others seriously considering running…or is it only one?  Will it be just Gavin and Jerry Brown? No [...]]]>

Compared to the large field of the Attorney General race, the Democratic gubernatorial race is about as lively as a coma patient.  Only one candidate – San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom – has entered the ring, with two others seriously considering running…or is it only one?  Will it be just Gavin and Jerry Brown?

No go Antonio: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa isn’t going to run for governor – at least not in 2010.

Our sources in L.A. say Villaraigosa has come to the conclusion that the time is just not right for him to make a state run – given that he hasn’t even been sworn in yet to a second term, and that he’s facing bloody political fights at home.  (Matier & Ross)

Between the cads at Los Angeles Magazine, the Solar 8, and Carmen Trutanich it seems everyone is taking a grinder to my Mayor’s sheen.  That is, if you believe everything you read in the paper – always a dicey proposition.  Now the Chronicle’s Matier & Ross are doing their bit, too.

But as I noted on Twitter from the launch of the Parent Revolution, there are many places where Villaraigosa is welcomed as a hero.  So it seems a little early to be writing him off as a contender.  And his folks are certainly not letting a couple of columnists in an opponenet’s hometown paper run him out of the race:

Is Villaraigosa in or out?

People close to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa this morning dismissed a report in the San Francisco Chronicle that he had decided not to run for governor in 2010.

Villaraigosa insiders said the mayor has still not made a decision.  (LA Times)

I’ve talked about this with higher-ups in the camps of Villaraigosa’s potential opponents.  Some anticipate his not entering the race.  Others only allow for it, but are looking at how it reshapes the field.

I for one am dubious about these rumors, as I’ve heard of (and actually witnessed) folks close to the Mayor propositioning operatives key to President Obama’s campaign in California (and nationally).  Maybe a surprising decision is on the way, but if it is someone better tell Antonio’s folks soon – so they’re not left hanging as late-comers, when everyone else has chosen sides!

Did the crowded field to replace Jerry Brown as California’s Attorney General just pick up yet another candidate?  Venice Beach’s own Zuma Dogg – who garnered over 9,000 votes against Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa – is hinting at a run for the state’s “top cop” position in recent tweets.

The Attorney General race on the Democratic Party side is already ridiculously crowded.  Six candidates from across the state have already announced their intention to run and are amassing cash and endorsements:

• Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo
• San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris
• Assembly Members Ted Lieu, Pedro Nava and Alberto Torrico
• Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly

So, does Zuma Dogg mean it?  Is he really considering a statewide run to follow on his surprisingly successful local campaign?

UPDATE: Apparently this is the shortest campaign ever.  Zuma Dogg is ineligible for an Attorney General run:

Video shown at the LWVC Biennial Convention in Long Beach May 2009 with keynote dinner speaker Bob Hertzberg.

In honor of Night at the Museum: battle of the Smithsonian – which I took my two boys to this weekend – check out:

Smithsonian: Call to Action – Voice Your Vision

Sole (announced) Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom is taking his Twitter followers out for a spin.

Much has been written on the success Newsom’s found on the microblogging site; amassing a huge number of followers, announcing his campaign via Tweet and doing much of the thumbwork himself.

In the next week, I’ll have a piece that’ll make you look at follower numbers a little differently (and not just Gavin’s).  But in the meantime, let’s watch as Newsom test drives these folks and sees what he can get out of them.

Because this is where the rubber meets the road.

Newsom is asking for a small contribution from his 425,563 Followers, sending them to a fundraising page with a goal of 500 donors at five bucks a pop.

In the two post-Tweet hours, 84 cointrubtors have given a total of $1,048.

I’ll update periodically with new totals, and welcome speculation in the comments about how much this ask turns into…

Twitter user @SGourley on @GavinNewsom

Twitter user @SGourley raises an interesting point about search engines, public personas, and political aspirations by offering the instructions seen to the right.

Following those instructions (running a google image search on “gavin newsom“), you’re greeted with a number of views of the honorable Mayor of San Francisco: taking the oath of office, eating a reporter’s microphone (where’s the video of that one?), lounging with his former wife, smiling with his wonderful new bride, looking goofy in a T-Shirt, looking strong behind a podium, and – shall we say – looking amused in the “3rd Result” that @SGourley is focusing on.

Making Friends and Influencing People

@SGourley assumes that Newsom would want rid of such a picture.  But with Garry South – Newsom’s campaign guru (and a guru of mine) – talking up every reporter in his speed dial about Jerry Brown’s time in office (code for “the other guy’s old!”), maybe Newsom wants pictures like this out there.

Part of the allure of a candidate like Newsom (and even stick-in-the-mud Barack Obama) is that there’s a certain brash danger that comes with a handsome young leader.  The swagger.  The knowing smirk.  It’s like Humphrey Bogart is running for office; a drink in one hand, a smoke in the other, and a remit envelop in the inside pocket of his suit.

Decades earlier, Bogart likes what he sees.

In fact, the Newsom photo actually reminded me of a famous picture of Bogart.  Out on the town with Lauren Bacall, Bogie found himself face to – ahem – face with Marilyn Monroe.

Bogart’s got a few years on Newsom, and is playing it cooler…

…but there’s that look.

The handrolling of the cigarette is certainly more than any politician could ever muster, because of California’s modern smoking laws and the fact that there will only ever be one Humphrey Bogart.

Same eyeline...totally different meaning!

But, the look is the same.

Which brings me to of another famous photo from that era (and the moral of the story).  Sophia Loren and Jayne Mansfield.

The eyeline is the same, but the meaning is completely different.  I’m guessing Lauren Bacall laid the same look on Monroe just after this photo was taken.

And while a Google image search of Jennifer Siebel Newsom turned up no similar shot, take this as a word of warning.

Female Newsom supporters: you probably won’t get the Bogie look, but the Loren look is always right there in your face – or wherever.

UPDATED:  I took the time and tracked down a short clip of Newsom eating a reporter’s microphone mentioned above – a still of which appears in the “gavin newsom” image search @SGourley is talking about.  Oh Gavin, you cad!

Organizing for America, the nationwide undertaking that picks up where the Obama campaign left off, has a video out today encouraging folks to join their Pledge Project in support of President Obama’s budget and program blueprint.

The video is in the stlye of Obama for America campaign manager David Plouffe’s frequent and popular webcam updates – right down to the compelling delivery.

Mitch Stewart, Director of the new OfA, hits all the thrilling Plouffe-ian notes:  The stoic, staid monotone.  The mind-nimbingly spartan slides.  Art direction consisting of Obama signs and maps on office walls.

Nothing like sticking to what works, eh?

So look at the video above and the one below and tell me, who’s more boring Plouffe or Stewart?  And does it matter if they continue to be so successful?

Usually, I consider myself in the loop about the comings and goings of President Obama in Los Angeles.  After all, I work for the campaign’s State Director for California, Mitchell Schwartz.  People count on me to know this stuff.

But somehow I missed the President holding an LA Town Hall with Obama.

Oh.  Wait.  Never mind.

Watching it again, I figured out that they were just cutting footage from the President’s first press conference together with footage of actors faking questions to him.  It’s really a GOTV piece from Young Progressive Majority for the Los Angeles elections taking place on Tuesday, March 3, 2009.

So, check out Jordan Carlos, Lauren Weedman, Christopher Redman, Marguerite Moreau, Marty Dusig, Enuka Okuma, and Cara Pifko in a piece produced by Raul Gasteazoro & Luke Frydenger and directed by Bryan Carmel.

If you feel like reliving the magic of the real East Room press conference, here it is…

The 2008 election cycle elicited amazing new uses of technology in politics.

It’s only February ’09, but we’ve now seen where the 2010 election cycle is heading…

San Francisco Mayor (and California Gubernatorial explorer) Gavin Newsom Tweeted his impending fatherhood.

Economy is important when you only have 140 characters to share something as special as your first baby, so let’s break down the message:

1. Going to be a father
2. Wife is pregnant
3. Very excited/proud

The first line is the news.

The second clears up a major question – imagine the field day Drudge would have if the Mayor was carrying the child!

The third shows that he’s not some out-of-touch, San Franciscan, liberal, child-hating elitist.  Nope.  He’s stoked.

And I’m stoked for him.

Congratulations, Mayor Newsom…but please don’t put @GavinNewsom on the birth certificate.

A line of differentiation is appearing in the California Gubernatorial Primary.

It’s a generational line.

Emboldened by the hip young cat who brushed off claims of inexperience and won the White House, the exploratory campaign of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (Born: 1967) is making no bones about casting their main opponent – Attorney General Jerry Brown (Born: Before the Earth cooled) – as old…

“This will no doubt be the first governor’s race in California history – if not nationally – where one candidate sat on the other candidate’s lap as a little kid,” crows Newsom political consultant Garry South…  (San Francisco Chronicle)

…or out of touch:

“The question that I think Californians will have to come to grips with is, does California need the same governor in 2011 that it had in 1975?” said Newsom strategist Garry South.  (Los Angeles Times)

Oh, that Garry South.  Such a trouble maker.

Who knows if this line of attack works?  We’re not talking about John McCain here.  This is Jerry Brown – a very different opponent to label as old or out of touch.

That didn’t stop the Chronicle from looking for age spots on Brown’s campaign techniques:

Example: the dramatic disparity between Brown and Newsom on the social networking site, Facebook, a spectacularly successful fundraising and networking tool for President Obama’s campaign.

Newsom has launched an effort to raise “30,000 supporters in 30 days,” already amassing more than 25,000 contacts on his Facebook site, with 300-400 more signing up daily. Brown, son of the late Gov. Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, has less than 700 Facebook contacts.

The San Francisco mayor has used Facebook, Twitter, his Web site and blogs (on Daily Kos and Huffington Post) – all tools that appeal to younger voters – to attract hundreds of people around the state to town hall meetings in the past month.  (San Francisco Chronicle)

Here are a few bones I have to pick with this analysis…

First, recent Pew findings deflate the “internet is for young folks” myth:

Contrary to the image of Generation Y as the “Net Generation,” internet users in their 20s do not dominate every aspect of online life. Generation X is the most likely group to bank, shop, and look for health information online. Boomers are just as likely as Generation Y to make travel reservations online. And even Silent Generation internet users are competitive when it comes to email (although teens might point out that this is proof that email is for old people).  (Pew Internet and American Life Project)

Next, all of the candidates; Newsom, Brown, Garamendi and Villaraigosa are on Facebook.  You can also find Antonio, John, Jerry and Gavin on Twitter.  I’ve seen several of them as authors on prominent blogs, and all are tapping their respective email lists.

Finally, victory isn’t as simple as merely using the tools, or amassing high friend-counts on the SocNets.  It’s about establishing bi-directional communication, speaking in the language of the web (which changes daily), and showing something authentic to the online community’s magnificently well-honed bullshit detector.

Take the Facebook numbers cited in the Chronicle…

When his campaign launched this friendraiser, Newsom already had about 23,000 supporters banked.  In the two weeks since – with active outreach on Facebook and multiple blasts to their email lists – they’ve climbed to just over 27,000.  Growth of 4,000 (about 17%) over two weeks.  Not too shabby.

On the other hand, Jerry Brown had only 400 friends and change when he dropped his 25 Random Things list at the end of last week.  In the week since, Jerry has shot up to over 1,500 friends (over 350% growth) with little extra effort.  His novelty and authenticity also earned several earned media hits in meatspace.

The raw numbers are still very much on Newsom’s side, but Brown’s tapping of the meme-of-the-moment had a dramatic effect on the reach of his online community.  For that instant, it was Brown who was more fluent in the language of the web.

Online Organizing is not unlike Field Organizing; The Grind does matter.  But catching that imaginative spark – riding that wave of the internet zeitgeist – can supercharge you in bursts.

Staying open to those memes and turning those bursts into your Grind is how you dominate.

Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti was a vocal and early supporter of President Obama.  Now he’s brining that Obama-style change to Los Angeles.  Some friends of mine are actually hosting a fundraising event for Eric on the 24th.  RSVP for An evening with Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti on Facebook.

Councilmember Wendy Greuel is running for City Controller.  From the sound of this commercial we need some better oversight over the wacky spending going on at City Hall.  Sign up for activist action on the Wendy Greuel for Los Angeles City Controller Facebook page.

In the City Attorney race, Councilman Jack Weiss talks about his push to clear a backlog of rape kits that LAPD had yet to DNA test.

You always knew there was something different about the alphabet.  Admit it.

We all had out suspicions, and now they can be put to rest.

The alphabet has come out of the closet in this new video: The Gay Alphabet.

Controversial official portrait of once (and future?) Governor Jerry Brown

California Attorney General (and gubernatorial candidate) Jerry Brown is the latest person to succumb to the 25 Random Things craze that’s sweeping across Facebook.

How did I know this?  I saw a Tweet on the JerryBrown2010 Twitter profile.

6. My official portrait as Governor was quite controversial and the legislature refused to hang it. My Father said if I didn’t get a new one, I could never run again. It is now hanging and I am still running.  (Facebook: Jerry Brown’s 25 Random Things)

Embracing the latest meme sensation and promoting it through the hot new social medium (at least among hack and flack elites) is a defiant response to those critics who wonder “does California need the same governor in 2011 that it had in 1975?” as my old boss Garry South recently put it.

Does tapping new channels to communicate with voters indicate that Brown would not be the same governor he was in the days before many of Facebook’s most fervent users were born?

Does use of young technology demonstrate a young spirit?  Does use of a fresh political medium show a mind open to fresh policy ideas?

Now, after two years as state attorney general, this Democrat who first ran for office in the era of Janis Joplin and the Beatles is remaking himself yet again. This time, Brown’s quest is to recapture the job he won 35 years ago: governor of California.

But Brown is already facing a quandary that could bedevil him in this, his 12th campaign: How does a man so closely identified with California’s past show that he is best fit to lead the troubled state into the future?  (LA Times)

If the answer to the haters isn’t in the use of such technology, maybe an answer lies within the 25 Random Things.  I’ve pulled a few out below:

I’ve seen lists of “25 Random Things About Me” that people are sending around Facebook. I thought I would share my own list with you.

3. In 1958, I took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Later, Pope John XXIII dispensed me from these obligations.

12. I worked with Mother Theresa in India at the Home for the Dying.

14. I sued Richard Nixon’s lawyer for helping the President cheat on his income tax.

18. I knocked my opponent to the canvas in a 3 round boxing match at Senior Fight Night.

Those few items show a leader of restraint and compassion; who respects the rule of law; and who will put on gloves and throw blows.  But perhaps the most salient of the 25 Things is number 24:

24. The first time I became Governor, I followed an Actor (Ronald Reagan).

The whole list is absolutely worth checking out.  Brown leads a life unlike any officeholder.  So head over to Jerry Brown’s Notes on Facebook, and see what he has to say.

Ed. Note – Jerry’s not the only one Twittering.  If you want to follow Reelpolitik’s tweets, find them at http://www.Twitter.com/Reelpolitik.  Also, I will NOT be doing 25 Random Things.

Next month, voters in Los Angeles will go to the polls and re-elect Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for a second term.

Sorry to burst your bubble, Zuma Dogg.

With all that campaigning left ahead of him, the Mayor has decided to tap these newfangled internets and do some of that online organizing that worked so well for our new President.

The bottom line is this: my site is your site. The slogan of this campaign is “bringing people together, getting things done,” and in the new world of online campaigning a website can provide just the place to make that happen. I hope you’ll join us there and get involved.  (from Villaraigosa email blast)

Check out his site: Antonio Villaraigosa for Los Angeles.

The Mayor is also encamped in the usual spots you see politicians these days:

• Antonio Villaraigosa on Facebook
• Antonio Villaraigosa on YouTube
• Antonio Villaraigosa on Flickr
• Antonio Villaraigosa on LinkedIn
• Antonio Villaraigosa on MySpace
• Antonio Villaraigosa on Twitter

Some cynics may question the utility of launching a campaign website so late in your election cycle.  Surely, it isn’t related to a certain 2010 race the Mayor is likely to enter.  This couldn’t possibly be just a warm up for a bigger campaign, right?

If you’re a reader or subscriber and are wondering why I’m posting clips from 2006 campaigns, here’s why:

At some point a while back, I decided to take YouTube up on it’s increased file size allowances and re-upload a number of clips from back in the day,  when there was a 100 MB limit.

I’m finally getting around to actually doing it.

Enjoy some oldies but (hopefully) goodies, like this piece from a Southern California tour with then-State Treasurer Phil Angelides – who is now emailing his ass off for the Apollo Alliance (which has nothing to do with Battlestar Galactica).

Here’s the latest creative effort from our good friends at the Courage Campaign Issues Committee, calling attention to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s sending Californinans IOU’s instead of much needed aid or tax refunds.

Many Californians are so overwhelmed by this paralyzing crisis that they’ve just tuned it out. As a result, Arnold is not being held accountable for his failure to lead.

That’s why we decided to try something a bit unorthodox — raise awareness by using humor to highlight the absurdity of these IOU’s, or what we are calling “Arnoldbucks.”

We asked one of our members to see what would happen if he tried to use “Arnoldbucks” as legal tender at a few businesses in the area. You won’t believe what happened. It’s all caught on camera — even a few security cams.

Know a friend who might need a laugh? Share this video with them, download your own Arnoldbucks below, then tell us your ideas.  (Courage Campaign: Arnold Bucks)

My favorite part: “The State of California would gladly pay you Tuesday for a cheeseburger today.”

Arnold can haz cheezburger?

New logo for a new Indie 103.1 - now going all web-based

Driving to work this morning I was a little surprised to hear Sinatra’s My Way on Indie 103.1 FM.  Not too terribly surprised, mind you.  Free from the usual constrained playlists, Indie was capable of anything.

What followed the last trailing strings of the Anka-penned tune was very disheartening for me.  A promo that Indie 103.1 was leaving the radio dial and becoming an internet-only broadcaster.

I don’t know how this change will effect their revenues and budget, and worry that the array of hosts won’t stick around for web only broadcasting.   WIll this be goodbye to Jonesy, Rollins, and the other great jocks Indie has had picking and spinning records since going on the air a few years back?

Aside from losing a great voice for independent, new and local music on the Los Angeles airwaves; I always take stations changing formats hard.  I grew up around the radio business.  Since he was seventeen – not too long before I was born! – my dad has been a disc jockey. A station changing formats hits a radio station like a factory closing.  People and families who work there are thrust into a very uncertain situation.

So here’s the best to Indie 103.1 in its new incarnation, and to the staff and their families who will be effected by this change.  May Marconi smile down on you from the radio heavens.

I’ll leave you with an in studio acoustic performance by The TIng Tings on Indie 103.1 (including That’s Not My Name):

In a pair of advertising-free zones within the YouTube-iverse, your United State House and Senate are embarking on an adventurous new way of communicating with the American people.

Here’s how YouTube lays it out:

So, why are your elected leaders coming to YouTube? The short answer is: you. Your use of YouTube and other online platforms to speak up on political issues and hold your leaders accountable has shown just how powerful this medium can be. You’ve shown your elected officials that in order to be in contact with you, they need to come to the platforms you use most, and engage with you directly. (YouTube Blog)

The Introductory video is suffers a little from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s performance – if this video is Valkyrie, McConnell is Tom Cruise – but Reid, Pelosi and Boehner are game and do a good (albeit stiff) job of sharing the thinking behind this project.

I took a few minutes to check out some of the other clips, and one Member’s work surprised me.  Republican Representative Howard “Buck” McKeown, from California’s 25th Congressional District.

The good folks at TechPresident also took notice of the Man From Santa Clarita:

McKeon introduces his interns, legislative staff, and the person who will answer your call should you ask for information on a congressional tour. At one point, McKeon even turns the camera on his startled “new media guy” named Robert. It’s well worth a watch to see Hill staffers in their natural habitat.  (TechPresident)

What is it about Latter Day Saints officeholders that makes them such natural YouTube stars?  MittTV was a gem in the primaries, and now Buck McKeon (of all people!) is turning in interesting product in the sphere.

I may never watch a video with any of the congressional leadership again, but I’ll be keeping an eye on that Congressman directly to my north.  Sadly, I may be the only one…McKeon’s 13 videos (dating back seven months) total up to less than a thousand views; 862 at the time of my writing this.

So, I’ve been Twittering a bit more lately.

Follow my tweets and you’ll be in good interesting company, none other than Bush’s Brain: Karl Rove.

Yesterday, my inbox was visited by the scariest email I have ever received:

Hi, Jeremy D. Thompson (Reelpolitik).

Karl Rove (KarlRove) is now following your updates on Twitter.

Check out Karl Rove’s profile here:

http://twitter.com/KarlRove

Best,
Twitter

I doubt there is much insight I can provide to Karl (there’s no denying his acumen), but maybe every so often I can put a smile on his face.

In 2010, California Democrats face two statewide contests that could require an unprecedented marshaling of resources:

1. It is likely that the Republican gubernatorial nominee will be extremely wealthy and capable of self-funding their campaign.
2. Rumors persist that Governor Schwarzenegger will mount a challenge Senator Boxer for her seat.

On their own, either of these races would present a challenging fight. In 2010 we may be called upon to respond to both.

Answering these challenges will demand a recommitment to local organizing in all 58 counties and enhancement of CDP’s use of technology for direct voter contact and messaging.

As an Assembly District Delegate to the State Central Committee, I will advocate for CDP’s better engagement in the grassroots and netroots to successfully defend Senator Boxer’s seat and take back the Capitol.

Drawing on more than a decade’s worth of campaign experience – beginning as a field organizer, and most recently as Senior New Media Advisor to the Obama campaign in California – I will bring a combination of tested techniques and willingness to experiment with evolving tools to carry out the mission of the California Democratic Party – to win elections.

The good folks at Courage Campaign Issues Committee (disclosure: I’ve done a bit of work for them) are making spirits bright…at the Governor’s expense.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Robert in Monterey talks about the piece at Calitics:

The Courage Campaign, in partnership with Donkey on the Edge and with the support of Cheri and Naren Shankar, put together this video of Arnold’s “California Carol” – Arnold is visited by the ghosts of California past, present and future, showing him the error of his ways.

Unfortunately, California’s Ebenezer Scrooge isn’t going to have a Christmas morning change of heart and suddenly decide to provide funding for schools and health care. Not unless we the people demand that he stop cutting and start saving California by signing the Democratic budget deal.  (Calitics – Arnold’s Nightmare: A California Carol)

Lest ye forget, this is not the Governor’s first foray into holiday entertainment.  As bad as the situation is in Sacramento, do we really want him going back to this…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Earlier this morning I posted a pair of videos from the Advent Conspiracy and TOMS Project Holiday.  Those are just two of the many videos looking for more meaningful giving during the holidays:

Already done your part for those less fortunate? You can help spread the joy of giving through the Vlogbrothers’ Project for Awesome. All you have to do to participate is create a video about your favorite charity or cause and encourage the YouTube community to support it. The Vlogbrothers have even have promised to donate $1000 to the charity that inspires the best video – so get to work!  (YouTube Blog)

Here’s the Project for Awesome clip mentioned at YouTube:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Have you seen any effective, moving, or powerful calls to action this season?

I usually say, “Videos = Votes” (but not today)

Click here to view the embedded video.

There’s a mantra I repeat, beating it like a drum (some would say a dead horse): Videos = Votes

Tonight I’m singing a different tune…a Christmas Carol, no less.

As we’re being urged to shop our way out of a recession, the Advent Conspiracy Promo Video above and the TOMS Project Holiday video below are reminders of how  small gestures (by American holiday standards) can make a world of difference elsewhere.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Clean water.

A pair of shoes.

Simple things that would elicit false smiles and hollow thanks here, but reflect the real spirit of the season.

YouTube – Gavin Newsom on Prop 8 – The Fight Continues.

YouTube – Inside the Transition: Energy & Environment Policy Team.

Somebody at Slate must be a Battlestar Galactica fan…



This has all happened before, and it will all happen again.

It’s John Edwards, with Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne.

Now, I’ve seen Raitt before. It actually was quite a night, as I got to meet blues legend John Lee Hooker before the show.

But, Browne I have never seen. I’ve gone through three CD copies of Running On Empty, and would love to have attended this Edwards event.

All I got was Barack Obama with Goo Goo Dolls in L.A.

…What are places where everyone is the winner, Alex?

Wait! Before you think Edwards ran away with the debate, here’s a clip saying how great Obama was:

And since everyone was the winner yesterday, here’s a clip that the Clinton campaign has put out:

So, in three clips from three campaigns – all culled from the same news segment – we have three winners. Rashomon, anyone?

BONUS!!! Here’s a clip from Fox News where Edwards is the winner!

Since he has clips from two networks, does that make Edwards the real winner here?

Another very creative video from the Gravel camp. What is it about Gravel’s supporters that gives them such a creative edge in the online video battle?

Is it that the suspension of disbelief needed to go full-throttle for a candidate who will never win sets free supporter’s creative juices?

In honor of today’s GOP CNN/YouTube Debate, Jimmy James Kotecki of Politico.com fame is serving as guest editor of YouTube’s front page.

Let us get the following out in the open: I am extremely partial to the Writers Guild of America in their strike against the AMPTP. After all, at one point I fancied myself a future member.

Now, members of the Guild are inspiring me once again, as they provide a superb example of how to vlog in support of your agenda. I saw the video below posted at United Hollywood, which is the go-to site for strike information. This video speaks with a number of WGA strike captains, who explain what the strike is about and make clear what they’re fighting for. This isn’t some abstract contract dispute between the Union and the Producers.

This is a struggle for working writers to make a living during those long stretches of time when they aren’t actively employed on a show or movie. It not only shows what is at stake for the casual viewer or outsider, it makes a strong activation case for Members to become Captains themselves.

The video above packs a ton of factual material into 3:50, laying out the case for the strike quickly and clearly. It goes through decades of Hollywood Labor history, they formulas behind residuals as they are, and the better structure the Guild is working toward.

It’s not exactly a surprise that the WGA members are putting out material of this quality. They are professional storytellers, after all. What surprises me is that these folks aren’t being pulled in to create content for the 2008 contenders. I’m guessing a lot of them are politically minded and progressive. Why aren’t they in the camps of the Democratic candidates?

Actually, I know exactly why (hint: it’s the pay). And for me, it’s for the best. I don’t want to compete with the guys behind The Office.

This is actually the second video with Whitford that the Courage Campaign has released on this topic. Here’s the first installment of Whitford taking on the Dirty Tricks Initiative:

I’d meant to post this before, as any appearance by Meathead deserves an upload. File it under better late than never. If you haven’t watched this yet, check it out! In it, Hollywood impresario Rob Reiner directs Clinton supporters in how to convey their outreach.

A friend connected to a rival campaign points out, “This is a video where they need a Hollywood director to show Hillary’s young supporters how to be enthusiastic.”

Sharp elbows, indeed – but why would a passionate supporter need a great director like Reiner to impart their heartfelt support of Hillary? It’s something to think about while you watch Reiner’s funny performance.

So…

It’s a montage of preparations for the Harkin Steak-Fry from the Biden campaign. No big deal – Right?

Wrong.

Listen to that song. Recognize it? It’s “Montage” from Team America: World Police. The wonderment of puppetry where marionette action heroes battle Kim Jung Il over…something.

For those who didn’t see Parker and Stone’s masterpiece – or need a memory-refresher – here’s the original song number:

Lyrics are after the jump…

The hours approaching, to give it your best
You’ve got to reach your prime.
That’s when you need to put yourself to the test
And show us a passage of time
Were going to need a montage (montage)
Ooh it takes a montage (montage)

Sure a lot of things happing at once,
Remind everyone what’s going on (what’s going on)
And when every shot you show a little improvement
Just show it all or it will take to long
That’s called a montage (montage)
Ooh we want montage (montage)

And anything that we want to know
From just a beginner to a pro,
You want a montage (montage)
Even rocky had a montage (montage)

(Montage…montage)

Anything that we want to know
From just a beginner to a pro,
You need a montage (montage)
Ooh it takes a montage (montage)

Always fade out in a montage,
If you fade out
It seem like more time has passed in a montage
Montage (ST Lyrics)

God bless the mid-west, land of my birth, for their lasting love of red meat.

Despite rumors of Ricky Gervais backlash, his broadcast spawn is made its way across the pond, onto NBC, and now into the lexicon of political video parodies.

You have a stake in how we talk about the ’08 Senate campaigns. Help us pick the bumper sticker slogan that sums up what the elections are all about. The winning catchphrase will be the DSCC’s nationwide slogan for our campaign to expand the majority. If you like one of our ideas, make a choice. If you have a better idea, use your voice. Vote on our four suggestions or create one of your own by midnight on August 27. Your idea could be the message stuck to bumpers and splashed across our website through 2008. (DSCC: Bump Up Our Majority)

As much as I love James Carville, he is no Steve Carell. That much is certain. The good folks at Second City Los Angeles give their water cooler vibe to the mess of a situation in Iraq.

In the wake of recent news that British chameleon Cate Blanchett will be one of three actors to portray Bob Dylan in a new picture by Todd Haynes, Senator Russ Feingold gets in on the action with his take on the famous pre-video for “Subterranean Homesick Blues” – often knocked off in the decades since.

Over at Progressive Patriots Fund (Feingold’s PAC), the Senator gives you a way to join in the action:

Since we formed the Progressive Patriots Fund, we’ve focused on supporting candidates and promoting a progressive reform agenda. As part of those efforts, today we are asking you to use a word or short phrase and tell us a quality you’d like you see in our next president.

Please take a moment to download the ‘My President Will Be…’ sign or make your own. Write down your word or phrase and upload a photo of yourself with your sign using the form below. Stay tuned to www.progressivepatriotsfund.com to see your photo featured on our website in our slideshow of Presidential qualities! Don’t have a digital camera or don’t want your photo online? Click here to send us your word without a picture. (Progressive Patriots Fund: My President Will Be…)

You too can be a music legend.

Okay. I lied. Zennie is not a friend of mine.

I haven’t even met the guy.

I’m guessing after this video, he’ll be no friend of the Clinton campaign (including my old pal Mike Trujillo, their California Field Director).

With all of this, it still pales in comparison to the hundreds of online groups and members of BarackObama.com who are in California. What HillStars is has been in place for a long time, but only recently honed by an effort called “Camp Obama” which is already in motion nationwide. With little effort, the Obama forces could clobber Hillary Clinton in California.

Oh and that Field Poll of “Democratic Voters most likely to vote” that reports Clinton’s “lead” — don’t bet on any poll that has a sample size of just 419 people and talks to a small set folks who voted in the 2004 election. There are several problems with this step, amoung them, YouTube didn’t exist in 2004. So all of these polls of “most likely to vote” Democrats — including the rigged USA Today /Gallup Poll of June 17th — totally miss the new netroots. If a person just turned 18 that year, and didn’t vote, they’re now 22 years old, ready to vote, and consume the majority of their information online.

Senator Clinton, beware! ( Zennie’s Zeitgeist: HillStars – The Detailed Playbook On Senator Clinton’s California Campaign)

Now the tracker/muck-raker/opposition researcher in me wonders where he got the documents? Did he surreptitiously infiltrate one of the many HillStars trainings held so far in California? Trainings like the one in the Clinton blog post below:

Hillary Clinton’s California campaign today drew over 150 new volunteers for a day-long training to become the elite HillStars. These volunteers have committed to work continuously from July to February 5, to identify and to get out to vote 2 million Hillary Clinton supporters in California. HillStars are responsible for holding a house party to recruit, train and manage California Hillary Corps members, who will be talking to millions of California voters. In San Francisco, HillStar volunteers came from as far away as Fresno, Milpitas and Stockton. In Los Angeles, volunteers came from as far away as Santa Barbara and Orange County. (HillaryClinton.com: California Launches Aggressive Field Program)

However he got his hands on them, I’m guessing the next HillStars training will include at least a quick pat-down – if not a body cavity search – to see if any potential moles are doing their best Sandy Berger imitation.

In a bizarre turn of events, the good folks at google have decided that they’ll try and make a little money off of YouTube, after paying almost $2 Billion for it a while back.

Imagine that. No. Wait. You don’t have to:

For now, Google will place the ads only on video clips of its content partners — the more than 1,000 small and large media companies that have licensed their videos to YouTube. By doing so, YouTube will avoid the potential liability of having ads appear on copyrighted clips it is not authorized to display. And it will also prevent ads from playing on clips generated by users whose message may not be to the liking of advertisers.

The revenue from the ads will be split between the media partner and YouTube. Ms. Naughton said Google would charge advertisers $20 for every 1,000 times the ads were displayed. Google said the ads would begin appearing today throughout the site. Ms. Naughton also said advertisers would be able to take aim at specific channels and genres, as well as demographic profiles, geography and hour of the day.

If successful, the video ads could persuade more media companies to license their content to YouTube as a way to make money from it, analysts said.

“Today, YouTube is a sunk cost for Google,” said Darren Aftahi, a securities analyst with ThinkEquity Partners. “If they can couple the proper advertising with the proper content, there is a tremendous opportunity for the company.” (New York Times: Google Aims to Make YouTube Profitable With Ads)

Sounds great for YouTube and it’s partners…but what about the viewers? According to the Gray Lady, the banners are very unobtrusive – just a little clickable banner that pops up across the bottom fifth of the screen. Viewers can click on it and be transported to the magic land of happy advertising elves, or ignore it and it will go away.

But, can they ignore it? I’m no eye doctor, but thinking back to an article on eye movements and persistence of vision from an editing course long ago…hmmm…I don’t think they can.

So, even if you ignore it – and in our ad-saturated culture, we’re getting good at it – you’re still seeing it. It’s changing the viewing experience. Will the little banners be enough to wreck the delicate balance of personal interaction we’ve come to expect from YouTube?

Or does it really matter if a little banner covers up part of this.

Last time we checked in on the documentary filmmaking of Max Blumenthal, he was cruising Take Back America, looking for Obama Girl.

Instead of lovely young ladies in “booty shorts,” Blumenthal is chatting up College Republicans at their conference in DC:

In conversations with at least twenty College Republicans about the war in Iraq, I listened as they lip-synched discredited cant about “fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them over here.” Many of the young GOP cadres I met described the so-called “war on terror” as nothing less than the cause of their time.

Yet when I asked these College Repulicans why they were not participating in this historical cause, they immediately went into contortions. Asthma. Bad knees from playing catcher in high school. “Medical reasons.” “It’s not for me.” These were some of the excuses College Republicans offered for why they could not fight them “over there.” Like the current Republican leaders who skipped out on Vietnam, the GOP’s next generation would rather cheerlead from the sidelines for the war in Iraq while other, less privileged young men and women fight and die. (MaxBlumenthal.com and HuffPo)

Note to conference, convention, and event planners…

Watch out for this Blumenthal character. He walks in with a camera and walks out with the truth.

Going through unlabeled tracks in my iTunes library, I came across “What’s Up Fatlip?” by Fatlip (formerly of The Pharcyde). It got me thinking of the song’s excellent video – directed by Spike Jonze (see below).

Around the same time he was making videos and documentaries with Fatip, Jonze created a piece for the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. It’s in the Brightcove player you see above. If I remember correctly, the video aired in the afternoon during one of the sessions early in the convention week. As such, it was relegated to that portion of the convention that only those of us in the hall and C-Span viewers witnessed. Count yourself among the few to have seen it.

Had there been a distribution channel like YouTube in 2000, this is the kind of video that could have been tremendously effective. Apart from being too long (remember it was for a the most partisan captive audience imaginable), this piece had the right stuff to spread far and chop down Gore’s wooden image – not so much by defying that image, but reveling in it.

Forget the fact that you see Al Gore shirtless and body surfing. Any candidate can take off their shirt. Gore strips off the trappings of a life in politics.

The scene of Gore Family Movie Night is great. You see all of the things people tended to not like about Gore, that he is cerebral and a bit nitpicky…but it’s about which movies to pop in the VCR – and even how they get watched! As his kids gang up on him – even mocking his voice and demeanor – you see those qualities that were off-putting in the first debate in an “everyday people” light. All of those male voters who “wanted to have a beer” with Bush could watch that scene and instantly identify with the dad getting ribbed by his wife and kids.

I know I can relate.

Watch the scenes with Tipper and think about all the contrived videos you’ve ever seen of candidates and their wives (I’m looking at you, Mitt Romney). Watch his confidence and comfort in talking about global warming (famously verboten from the campaign at large). It’s no surprise that people started to like Gore more after An Inconvenient Truth. Jonze got that same performance years earlier.

For all of Hillary Clinton’s meticulously crafted attempts at humor, her trilogy of Song Contest films pale next to the humanizing power of Jonze’s loose, disarming Gore film. Hillary’s videos are clever and well produced, but how many of the views are like gawkers at a car crash…

“Oh my God…is she dancing?” or “Is that Bill? I can’t believe it.”

It’s a shock to see the Clinton’s in that light. It’s effective, but clearly canned. Jonze escapes that with Gore. From the last scene, it is clear that Jonze has just been rolling tape after tape after tape. It’s really just Gore talking…being Gore – to fall into the cliche.

Long disappeared, this video found re-release in the inaugural issue of Wolphin, a DVD magazine of unreleased short films. This first issue also contains the great Soldier’s Pay, by David O. Russell – director of I Heart Huckabee’s, Three Kings, and indie classic Spanking the Monkey. You can subscribe to Wolphin, or buy back-issues on their website.

The page on the Gore film features an interview with Jonze:

Q: So you just spent one day with them? You started in Carthage, Tennessee?

SJ: Yeah, I went down there to Tennessee and it was supposed to be just an afternoon. I guess he had liked my movie Being John Malkovich and so from that had I don’t know why he gave me this sort of access. It was very intimate and personal in terms of letting a cameraman into your home, but I guess that after the afternoon, they felt comfortable with me, so they invited me to go on their vacation. They were leaving that day to go to North Carolina, so in the middle of the afternoon the helicopters came and landed in the Tennessee farmhouse and we went to the army base and got on Air Force Two and flew to North Carolina. (Wolphin @ McSweeney’s)

For your viewing pleasure, here is the Spike Jonze-directed video for What’s Up Fatlip:

Yesterday, as a case for using systems other than YouTube as your primary web video outlet (post to all of them), I posted a disappearing video from the Edwards campaign about their contest on Eventful.com, called Demand and Be Heard. The video has been revived, and is posted above. I’ve cast my vote, and hope to see the former Senator on his way to Los Angeles – which is now in the lead. California’s newly minted “early” status has given me great chances to see more of these candidates than I have in past elections. I savor every visit!

In that same post, I also referenced a missing Edwards video featuring a call from the candidate to his wife Elizabeth. The video had popped up long enough to appear on PrezVid.com, and greetings to those of you finding your way here via that site’s generous link.

ReelPolitik notices that the Edwards campaign has taken down the video I wrote about the other day showing the candidate asking his wife permission to go to a basketball game under the proudly snarky headline, ‘Will he ask for permission to invade Iran?‘ Click on the video now and it’s “private.” Ah, but there is no private in a presidential campaign. ReelPolitik asks: “Did Jarvis’ snark drive this video into privacy?” Well, if so, that’d be silly. The Edwards video was the first spark I saw of a candidate being just a little loose on the little camera. If someone in the campaign tries to sanitize, script, and spin that, they’re missing the point of the medium. Put the video back up. What’s the harm in looking human? (PrezVid)

I don’t find Jeff Jarvis all that scary, and doubt Joe Trippi and the Edwards team do either. Yet Jarvis’ headline RE: Iran was an example of the “Gotcha Culture” Trippi has been taking to task in recent talks on candidate web videos.

Like many others, I hope for more of the behind the curtain looks like the Edwards campaign gave – however temporarily. But, it’s important for those of us who ask for them to not turn them into an opportunity to take pot shots…lest the access disappear.

In a way, I feel lucky to have seen the “Phone Call” clip…perhaps that is a potential strategy for campaign video creators such as myself. Put things up for just a limited time. Make interesting enough that when they disappear people post about it on their blogs…hmmmm….

While we’re talking Edwards the folks at the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights gave their big award of the year to Elizabeth Edwards. Here’s video of her speech (in two parts):

Like never before, the media war of the 2008 Presidential campaign is unfolding online. Yet, for all the work of the campaigns, the one piece that broke through – at least to bloggers and the media…who knows about real people? – had its genesis in the wild, rather than from one of the campaigns.

Whole sites have popped up to both analyze the campaigns and figure out the new medium. You’ll find a few linked in the sidebar. A while back at TechPresident, David All put forth a few things he’d like to see:

It’s Friday, and it’s my birthday, so I’m going to dig deep and give away five creative ideas I’d be working on if I were working for a Presidential campaign. Would they go viral? Well, you never know unless you try. And that, my friends, is the beauty of having a free distribution service.

And one more thing, you’ll note that all of these videos are POSITIVE. Video can be used to do something other than tear down the other guy. (TechPresident: Top five Presidential viral videos I’d like to see)

As someone who makes these pieces for campaigns, I too have been watching and ruminating on the state of the “YouTube Primary” on the Democratic side. Last Friday, I promised a series on five basic principals upon which to build a campaign web video program.

Then I remembered I have this whole California Democratic Convention thing to work on.

Well – I’m not getting paid to blog…if you don’t count the two bucks from people clicking the Google ads in the sidebar!

While periodically decompressing, I’ve been jotting down some thoughts. Each day this week, I’ll lay out one of five organizing principals which I have come to think of as pillars to build a campaign web video upon. Monday we look at the foundation of all the others; frequency.