Tribute to California Senator Alex Padilla

As a part of a fundraiser for the charitable organization MEND (Meet Each Need with Dignity), the organization honored California State Senator and former President of the Los Angeles City Council, Alex Padilla.

Alex’s friends, family and colleagues pay tribute to him in this video; including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, LAPD Chief WIlliam Bratton, Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti and Congressman Howard Berman.

Behold! It’s Your Congress on YouTube

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.

If This Race Were About Hair, We’d Elect Jonathan Antin President

The 2008 Democratic Primaries have often seemed as devoted to the hair on top of candidates’ heads as the ideas inside. In the Chris Dodd ad above, he re-enlists his white mane for humor - citing it as evidence of decades of fighting the good fight in the Senate. He also works in a poke at John Edwards in the process.

Opponents and critics have been going upside John Edwards well-coiffed head with these follicly-charged strikes for month - but I figured it’d end after the excellent (if late) rebuttal he brought along to the CNN/YouTube debate:




In a media-obsessed society like America has become, it drives me nuts that the biggest criticism many can hurl at Edwards is that he didn’t want messy hair on television. Lord only knows what people would say, had he gone on with a cowlick - God forbid!

But it doesn’t stop with Dodd and Edwards. In the two videos below, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama spend a little time with the striped-pole brigade.







There was a stretch in 2005 when I was looking for my next project. From time to time, I found myself watching a reality series on Bravo featuring uber-stylist-to-the-stars Jonathan Antin. If we’re going to spend this much time talking about hair, why not just run him? Or at least a cabinet position? Anything?

ALSO: On a more serious note, look at the video below. It’s a teaser that the Obama put out ahead of their barbershop clip. This is a great technique. The rumbling belly of the web video beast is soothed by appetizers such as these. One thing I’d add: a push at the end of the clip telling people to tune back in for the longer piece. An eye-catching glimpse of a compelling story (like the Army Ranger’s meeting with Obama) can be the hook that brings viewers with only a little time (in this case :45 seconds) back for something more substantial, if they see that it’s something with human appeal.

Dems Captive to Bloggers? Richardson Says: So What?

Thinking back, Ned Lamont - in his primary challenge to Joe Lieberman - ran an add in which Markos of DailyKos made an appearance.

Today, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson releases a long-form ad focused on his Iraq plan - a plan centered on leaving no forces (combat or otherwise) in country. The ad features bloggers from OpenLeft and firedoglake.

Coming on the heels of a Sense of the Senate resolution stemming from MoveOn.org’s “Betray Us” ad, at a time when the President says that Democrats are held captive by the left-most members of the blogosphere, Richardson answers a resounding, “So what?”

Will a Netroots fracturing between Edwards, Obama and Richardson pave the way for a Clinton romp?

“The Office” Politics

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.

Presidential Fundraising Videos, Before and After

Here are two examples of another use of online videos for campaigns.Fundraising.

In the first of these two videos you’ll see Bill Clinton asking for money on behalf of his wife’s campaign. (Hat tip to Jeff Jarvis at PrezVid)

The second video comes from Al Franken, thanking donors for contributing to his campaign. (Hat tip to…me! Saw this when I kicked a few meager bucks to Al this morning.)

Gone ‘Til November

And now I’m back.

After many months out on the campaign trail, a few things I saw today - coupled with the election season being over - have called me back from dormancy here on Dropping the Gloves.

So, now that I don’t fear getting fired by one or more of my employers for blogging (considered “going on the record” by most…something only certain staffers are allowed to do), I’d like to share two things.

First, Patrick Roy will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday…at least that’s what I read. Bully for you, St. Patrick.

Second, the California Democratic Party may be on its way to an introspective moment following the results of the race for Governor. I may have been the only person to be on both campaigns - though some Westly folks did go over to the Democratic Party. I know the teams from both camps, and the candidates as well. Admittedly, I was much closer to Westly than to Angelides, whom I think subconsciously remembered me as a Westly staffer - and thus kept a watchful eye me.

In the whirlwind of it all, I don’t know where things went wrong. Emissaries of both camps are giving their opinions:

After spending $43.7 million running for the Democratic nomination, much of it on TV ads ripping into Phil Angelides, state Controller Steve Westly donated $2,500 to Angelides, his fellow Democrat … four days before Tuesday’s election. Angelides’ staffers said today they were astonished at the meager donation from multimillionaire Westly, especially after he inflicted so much damage on Angelides and then promised to unite the California Democratic party. (LA Times’ Political Muscle)

“When it was all said and done, in this year alone my primary opponent and Gov. Schwarzenegger’s team spent upwards of $120 million, most of it on media telling people a story about me…. Look, $120 million was just an avalanche of money.
—Phil Angelides (LA Times’ Political Muscle)

Angelides political consultant Bill Carrick, who joined the campaign after the primary, said his client never recovered from a brutal contest for the nomination against Controller Steve Westly that tarnished his image and depleted his campaign cash.

“Phil came banged up out of the primary and didn’t have any money,” Carrick said. In focus groups, he said, Democratic voters were “repeating Westly’s ads.” (Sacramento Bee)

Looks like somebody passed out talking points in the Angelides campaign. Blame Westly’s money.

The Westly team was given notes by our former ringleader:

Autopsies are never pleasant or pretty. But sometimes they’re necessary to find out just how someone met their demise — and post-mortems are equally appropriate for failed political candidates.

Take Phil Angelides. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger demolished the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in yesterday’s election, despite a national trend that put more Democrats in office. Even a cursory dissection of his campaign reveals Angelides violated some of the most basic do’s and don’ts of politics — mainly the don’ts. (San Francisco Chronicle)

The points Garry lists in the Chronicle piece (and in “Phil, the unlovable loser” in the Times) will be well known to the readers of the comments section at Bill Bradley’s New West Notes or in the California Majority Report.

• Don’t assume voters know a single thing about you
• Don’t think voters hate your opponent as much as you do
• Don’t fight the last war
• Don’t make a tax increase the centerpiece of your candidacy
• Don’t run your own campaign

One thing is for certain. The Democratic party needs to look at this race very seriously, with talk of Schwarzenegger running for Senate in 2010. I personally don’t see the Governor as someone who’d seek to be one of one hundred. But, with 2006 a day behind us it’s apparently time to prognosticate!

Now that the election is over, the talk of the town has quickly turned to the post-Arnold era 2010 gubernatorial election.

On the Republican side, newly minted Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner already is the early favorite by virtue of an unlimited bankroll to fund his campaign. But the GOP’s conservative wing will surely have their say about challenging him at some point. With who is not clear, particularly given the blowout of the weak Republican bench in statewide contests last night.

Here’s our early line on the 2010 Governor’s race: (California Majority Report)

All told, my 2006 record…not too good. From when I joined the Westly campaign in December through election day I had a finger in eleven pies.

• My main gigs; Westly (primary) and Proposition 87 (general) lost.
• Angelides lost.
• My good friend, Van Tamom lost his Assembly race.
• David Roth lost in his challenge to Mary Bono in the 45th Congressional district.
• The five Republican House incumbents I made web ads about for Majority Action held their seats (though barely)

My saving grace, John Chiang will follow Steve Westly as California’s next State Controller. One for eleven ain’t bad…is it?

Toodles!