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, [...]

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.

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.

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 [...]

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 [...]

“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 [...]

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 [...]

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.