Politics 2.0: 3Trillion.org

Who needs the lame tax stimulus check, when I got a $3 Trillion gift certificate to spend?




3trillion.org, is a web site that gives you 3 trillion dollars - the money American tax-payers are projected to spend on the Iraq war - and use it in a virtual shopping spree for your friends and family. Lets go shopping!

I picked up a few tchotckes including a space vacation, a Wii, the Yankees, the Beatles catalog, and a lil' somethin'-somethin' for New Orleans.

Politics 2.0: Yes, We Can

Will I Am (and friends) recorded a song/video inspired by Barack Obama's "Yes, We Can" speech. Obama clearly inspires folks in a way that many candidates can't really match. This is an interesting phenomenon to watch.



...and well, from the profound to, uh, ObamaGirl is back with another hit at 1.9Million views already.

Taking It To The Streets: Obey Endorses Obama

Well known (and previously mentioned) street artist, Obey/Shepard Fairey, has made a recent endorsement of Barack Obama - and has done so in a quite intriguing way. He created 350 limited edition screen-printed posters (image above), to be sold to fund a larger street poster campaign. The profits are being used to produce stickers and large posters that will be sent to those who are willing to throw down for Obama in the streets. See communication from the Obey team below:

"Thanks for reaching out and wanting to get involved with OBEY's effort to support the OBAMA Campaign. Shepard made this image for the purpose of making pasters to be put on the street, with the money coming from prints sales to help fund the effort. For those interested, we will be sending out a care-package of the OBAMA Paster plus some OBEY stickers to be put up on the street. These pasters will be folded, not tubed, and are STRICTLY for street use. We do not expect to see them for sale on EBAY or anywhere else, so we ask that only the seriously dedicated get involved!"

There will also be non-partisan posters pushing everyone to vote:


Remember, Obey is the guy who over the past 10-15 years has decorated most major U.S. cities with the iconic Andre the Giant imagery:



Look familiar?

Honestly, I see this as a significant endorsement because street artists, in general, tend to be anti-helping-the-man. They are known for being anti-this and anti-that, but rarely, if ever do we see them promoting a politician, or a presidential candidate for that matter. Not to mention Obey has quite the following. Equally, if not more significant, is that the Obama camp appears to be embracing the endorsement.

Wonder if we will end up seeing any of these posters around?

Hello from Iowa

As a very recent addition to the Fallon gang, I am returning to my home state of Iowa to do what Iowans do best, caucus.

Over the last few months, my family and I have braced ourselves against the onslaught of political ads, political rhetoric, people playing politics, political mud slinging, political polls, political reporting, and most of all, a seemingly never-ending stream of politicians. Exhausting? You begin to understand what it is to be an Iowan before the caucus.

I believe the political ad that packed the most punch in our neighborhood was the Huckabee ad that declared a cease-fire for the holidays. For those of you that missed it, this was the ad the mass media focused on due to the fact that there was a cross in the background… I didn’t hear many Iowans complaining. I am not sure if this type of gesture will move votes, but it does produce goodwill, even in my house, and lets just say, we’re NPR, not Fox News.

The most beautiful thing about the Iowa caucus is that those that wish to be engaged have a real chance to make a difference. Many of my friends and family have talked face-to-face with candidates. Seeing as in Iowa right now, politicians are as ubiquitous as corn, you can take the car for a test drive so to speak… kick the tires, look under the hood, all that. I’ll be here tomorrow to give all of you outside the great state, an Iowan’s look at the caucus. Under the hood…

And so, we caucus.

Commercial Interruption: Daisy

Ad Age rightly recommends Conelrad's history of DDB's (in)famous "Daisy" election campaign ad and ties all the fasinating threads together.

Politics 2.0: Barack 2.0, Again

Sen. Barack Obama is now on LinkedIn. And not with lame banner ads. Obama has been making the most of Web 2.0, launching his own social network, gaining a larger-than-life presence on MySpace, YouTube, and even Twitter.

Politics 2.0: More Obama Girl

UPDATE: the full clip hot off the presses. Some real heated debate for you:



The hotly anticipated trailer to her new song...ahh, yeah! Servin' up politics b-boy style.

Avin dug up the info and tracked down more on Obama Girl here, and here. I'm seein' opportunity...live televised political debates between "Hot For Hill" and "Obama Girl". Bring it! "You 'bout ta git served, Hillary!"

Politics 2.0: Hot for Hill

Eh, Obama Girl is hotter...

Politics 2.0: Hillary Soprano

Hillary gets jiggy with the Web2.0ness. Check the "8 Things You Can Do" social/share features on this site, plus all the social net share buttons throughout. Beats headshots and a lame resume.



Though ObamaGirl is better.

Politics 2.0: SiCKO Seeks Your Stories

Michael Moore gets jiggy with the Web2.0ness.

Politics 2.0:CNN/YouTube Debates

Anderson Cooper and CNN get jiggy with the Web2.0ness.

Politics 2.0: "I Got a Crush On Obama"

Politics 2.0: YouTube to the People

US Generals are unhappy about Presidential calls made on Iraq. And they are going to the people to be heard.

Politics 2.0: UK Labour Party Gets YouTube Channel

Mashable reports

British PM Tony Blair launched a YouTube channel, which he says will allow the Labour Party to talk directly to the public, rather than being filtered by the media.



Blair’s intro clip has been viewed almost 10,000 times in the 3 days it's been live and received more than 116 comments such as "I wont vote till Tony Blair Does a Numa Numa video", and "He looks uncomfortable, shifty, untrustworthy." and "Someone straighten the man's tie, for God's sake", "Does he really think "talking to the kids" like this comes across as anything other than a Dad trying to be cool at a teenagers party.", and "Could you stop taxing us to death please? Yours gratefully, Everyone.", and "marry me tony".

Who needs opinion polls when citizens can make their gripes and praises directly to the man (supposing he actually reads his comments and checks his view counts every morning?).

Politics 2.0: MySpace Will Hold Presidential Primary

If MySpace were a country, it would be the 11th largest in the world.

So while it may be only be a marketing event for MySpace to say it’s holding a presidential primary next January, you can be sure the candidates will take it seriously.

The MySpace primary will be held on January 1 & 2, 2008, before any of the official state primaries. Every user will be asked to vote for their favorite candidate.

Most of the candidates already have MySpace pages.
Barack Obama 89947 friends
John Edwards 17071 friends
Hillary Clinton 7685 friends
John McCain 3697 friends
Rudy Guiliani (Private Profile-booo!)



via TechCrunch

Politics 2.0: "Vote Different/1984" Ad

San Francisco Chronicle says it "represents a watershed moment in 21st century media and political advertising."



This Pro-Obama/Anti-Hillary video recently introduced on YouTube represents "a new era, a new wave of politics ... because it's not about Obama," says Peter Leyden, director of the New Politics Institute, a San Francisco-based think tank on politics and new media. "It's about the end of the broadcast era."

So far - 3million views and counting on YouTube since its early March debut!

This user-created mashup has "changed the zone" between political campaigns, their followers and the Internet, says Simon Rosenberg, president of the Washington-based New Democrat Network, an influential party advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.

With presidential campaigns now poised to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising that will blanket television before November 2008, this seemingly home-produced video -- created with software and a laptop, and likely without the benefit of a team of expensive political consultants -- opens a new window, Rosenberg said. It has dramatized a brave new world in which passionate activists outside the structure of traditional campaigns have the power to shape the message -- even for a presidential candidate.

The ad is proof that "anybody can do powerful emotional ads ... and the campaigns are no longer in control," Rosenberg said. "It will no longer be a top-down candidate message; that's a 20th century broadcast model."

It also dramatizes that today, political activists with the Internet as their ammunition have gone from being "just donors to the cause," he said, "to being partners in the fight. And they don't have to wait for permission."

via WSJ, SF Chronicle, NYTimes

Politics 2.0: James Kotecki

We've had many a debate around here about the new wave of citizen journalists and their "lack of experience".

One side says these are just loudmouths with technological access to millions and no basis or experience to intelligently inform what they say.

The other side says, well, true, but A) what truly "qualifies" the professionals to speak on matters of state?, B) at least these citizen journalists are speaking in tones and terms that most of us can relate to, and C) quit yer whining and embrace it...or get trampled over.

Here is an enterprising Georgetown student, who is giving campaign advice for free on YouTube and his website. James Kotecki, 21, is building a name for himself as he dissects the candidates’ online vids. His message: “The web isn’t TV.” Just because you’re a politician who is “on the web” doesn’t mean you’re using the web well. So as candidates for the 2008 election increasingly put video online, Kotecki critiques.






The candidates and traditional media seem to be noticing - and some are even responding to him.

Could a 21 year old with a web camera and a DSL line actually affect the direction of America's elections? I hope so.

Politics 2.0: Dreampolitik

Re-imagining progressive politics?

Aroused by a mix of jealousy and excitement, author Stephen Duncombe formulates a colorful curriculum that calls for an injection of imagination into the politics of the Left.

To quote from a review on Boldtype:
"Progressives, Duncombe maintains, currently operate within a political model founded on the admirable yet outdated Enlightenment-era principles of reason and rationalism. If their purpose is to effect meaningful political change, then it's time for a new strategy. Duncombe's solution? Dream. By envisioning and enacting a political spectacle that heeds fantasy more than fact, progressives might capture the popular imagination and, possibly, the popular vote."

This includes lessons from such disparate source materials as Grand Theft Auto , the Billionaires for Bush network, Madison Avenue-crafted McDonald's commercials, and Las Vegas' urban planners. The focus of this fluent narrative is what he calls "dreampolitik" — realpolitik's creative counterpoint.

Throughout Dream, the author deftly explores American pop culture and political symbolism. With humility and humor, he explains why his political nemeses are more effective at motivating the masses than his comrades. He offers a re-imagined brand of progressivism, suggesting that his readers play politics a bit more like a video game.

at Amazon

Politics 2.0: YouTube YouChoose

YouTube has launched You Choose '08, where voters can find the official Web videos from Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, Barack Obama et al., all listed on one page. You know, the ones that the candidates want you to see, as opposed to the unofficial videos that are some of the most watched on the site.

Savvier by the minute to the power of video sharing and social networking to reach potential voters, most of the presidential candidates had put their videos on the site on their own "channels." Now YouTube has pulled them all together, free of charge. On You Choose '08, viewers are encouraged to post text comments and video responses and rate candidate-created videos.

But Adam Paul, an online strategist at ID Society Inc., an interactive design and marketing agency, has a warning: "Candidates have to remember that the more content they put out there, the more content there is for people to change and try to control."




via Washington Post

Politics 2.0: Peta's Naked State of the Union

Dunno how I missed this one in our collection of Web 2.0 State of Union '07 notes last month (flashback, +, +)

Here’s PETA’s latest site, hocking a State of the Union Address that is sure to get your attention. Standing in front of an American flag and interlaced with scenes of a cheering Congress, this cute brunette goes through PETA’s version of the annual speech, all while getting naked…. completely, buck-naked.


via Brentter