Posts Tagged ‘local’
Twitter Updates for 2009-05-05
- RT @LAist: Another Comedy Death in LA: The Onion, Reportedly: The Los Angeles (and San Francisco) edit.. http://tr.im/kyIl #
- http://tinyurl.com/dzxmvr RT @sacbee_news: Schwarzenegger says ‘time for debate’ on legal marijuana http://tinyurl.com/ca9om2 #
- RT @KQED_CapNotes: If budget ballot props fail, Schwarzenegger to propose suspension of 2004 local govt $ measure. http://bit.ly/14vfsN #
SF Chronicle: For Brown and Newsom, Age Is Just a Number (of Facebook friends)
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…Â (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.
25 Random Things About Jerry Brown
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.
Indie 103.1 is Dead. Long live Indie 103.1
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):
My Candidate Statement for California Democratic State Central Committee
In 2010, California Democrats face two statewide contests that could require an unprecedented marshaling of resources:
- It is likely that the Republican gubernatorial nominee will be extremely wealthy and capable of self-funding their campaign.
- 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.