Posts Tagged ‘White House’
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.
Watch This: GOOD Magazine Breaks Down Fundraising for the First Billion Dollar Race for the White House
Fundraising flunkies and compliance junkies:
Check out this great motion piece breaking down the who’s got the bucks and where the cash comes from in the first $1,000,000,000 campaign.
Brought to you by the great folks at GOOD Magazine.
Dodd in Syndication
Because I like this idea, and because he gave me a few minutes of his time at the California Convention, I’m going to go ahead and reprint an email I just received from the Chris Dodd campaign.
In a few minutes they’ll be doing a live stream from Iowa, the beginning of D-Span – an effort to stream large amounts of Senator Dodd’s campaign live.
So, I get this email and follow the link. The video page has a place to sign-up for programming updates. But what I really like is the box of code to embed the live feed on your own site.
Dodd is in syndication!
Maybe I haven’t been paying attention, but I don’t remember seeing other candidates syndicating live video feeds.
|
|||||||||
This Never-Before-Seen Footage…
The Third Pillar: Exclusivity
In the First Pillar: Frequency, I discussed the need to shoot a lot and release a lot – providing you with the two things that make your program work: footage and viewers.
In the Second Pillar: Interactivity, I tackled what to put into your pieces – namely, two-way conversation via video. I looked at the need to join existing conversations and to start them – to both ask and answer questions – being sure to listen all the while. This may call for specific shooting with the candidate, or recycling of event footage…with brief reply clips a better use of policy footage than one long speech.
Better use of event footage leads to the Third Pillar: Exclusivity.
So, you’re shooting all the time. What does that mean? That you go to every event and film? Of course. You should certainly film every event. But, know that you won’t be the only one shooting.
Events are for the benefit of the media, who you hope will be shooting and putting it out there. They are for the benefit of voters, more and more of whom are carrying cameras of their own.
Cruise YouTube for videos of campaign events and you’ll find them. Alongside official campaign videos will be shaky cell phone footage of what some audience member found to be the most important or interesting part of the speech.
Don’t be surprised if your opponents have cameras there as well, and they’re not there to make your guy look good.
Therefore – like any work of art – once an event is public, it’s community property.
However, campaign cameras should not stop rolling when the event ends. In fact, what happens away from the event gives you your most powerful advantage. Access.
When the candidate leaves the stage, and the news crews and supporters head home, the campaign camera is still there.
In the hold.
In the car.
Everywhere but in the bathroom, and at fundraisers…two places nobody wants to see a candidate in action.
The campaign camera can give viewers things they will never get anywhere else. The campaign controls the footage. Events shouldn’t be faked or staged. You’re just looking for your candidate in their best light.
Think of it as an anti-tracker; who instead of looking for a gaffe – is waiting for that moment when the candidate gets their brilliant plan out there with such simple clarity and heartfelt passion that the other campaigns hope nobody ever sees the clip – and that the candidate never hits it that squarely again.
Think of it as an anti-paparazzo; who instead of waiting in the bushes to catch someone with their pants down – is looking for that unguarded moment away from the bright lights of candidacy, where the human being shows through, pushing to the top of the “have a beer with them†polls.
As a part of the team, a campaign videographer should become a familiar and welcome face to the candidate. They should build a rapport, and let the candidate know that they are a true believer; that only shining moments will see the light of day. A safety net will develop. The candidate will relax. They’ll stop being polite and start getting real.
Once that happens, you’ve hit a mother lode.
Your campaign will have what people want to see. The race for President is about the person and about personality. With its unparalleled access, the campaign camera can show that to the voters. People love to peek behind curtains, the campaign camera can give them that look.
Moreover, they’ll have to come to you to get it. No one else will have it.
There is a place for event films. There is a place for posting clips of floor speeches and news clips. But, people can get these things on their own. More and more people can create these things on their own. If they really want to watch a rally, they can tune in to C-Span and watch Road to the White House!
The unique position of a camera embedded with the candidate will create clips that funnel viewers through the campaign – and a venue to tell the story of the campaign like no other outlet can.
This brings me to an important point…that happens to be the Fourth Pillar. You’re telling a story.
A campaign is a natural heroes’ journey. Posting one speech after another has no arc. Shooting that way thumbs your nose at an underlying dramatic structure. The narrative of a campaign will take those people trained to check in by posting frequently, and hook them. So, when I return tomorrow I’ll try to tackle to most difficult of the Pillars for me to wrap my head around – continuity.