Garrett M. Graff

Neither one is true.  There is no one magic formula for winning.  Running a political campaign is like setting up a medium sized business for a short time, hoping to make a profit (winning) and closing it after the election ends.  It’s the campaign that makes the fewest mistakes that wins.

Campaign tools/ electronic gadgets are available to all sides.  You only have to go down to the corner pub on Capitol Hill to find out what your opponent is doing. 

What wins – organization and implementing your plan?  At 5:45 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2008, at a grade school in Ladue, Mo, an affluent suburb of St. Louis which votes heavily Republican, three Obama workers were already there with yard signs in place handing out literature.  Republicans had one worker and no yard signs.  Although McCain ended up barely winning Missouri after a two-week recount, Obama won in heavily Republican areas of St. Louis County.

As Michael Silberman writes in “Welcome to the New Media campaign of 2012,” the Obama campaign was very good at mobilizing and communicating with their volunteers through text messaging as well as online messages to recruit and funnel volunteers. 

Social media served them well, but in the end it was the old fashioned person-to-person, standing at the polls, going door-to-door that grassroots “get-out-the-vote” that wins.  Those poll workers in Missouri were part of the campaign’s “Project Houdini,” described by Silberman.

So how will globalization and technology change the landscape of future campaigns?

Dick Morris talks about the “Electronic Precinct” where any individual can influence an election. In his new book, “2010-Take Back America,” Morris writes that each person should be their own campaign media guru, strategist and manager.  “Make a list of your constituents and go talk to each of them by e-mail, by Twitter, by YouTube, by Facebook and by phone.   Craft a strategy for each person on your list. Send a video about a candidate or one of his speeches. Be your own publisher and spread the word. To win in 2010, we need to have hundreds of thousands of electronic precincts across the U. S.”  Already the Democratic National Committee has released a campaign video of President Obama urging his supporters to vote for Democrats in November.

 What about the “gotcha” politics online?  Daniel Henninger of the Wall Street Journal writes about how, “the veil was ripped from the true cost of government” by the internet.  “Before the Internet in Washington, California, New York, New Jersey—who knew what the pols were spending? The Democrats (and their Republican pilot fish) could get away with this. Not now. Email lists, 24/7 newspapers, blogs, TV and talk radio—the spending beast is running naked.”

A new kind of political campaign

It’s pretty obvious that the new technologies, Facebook, YouTube, e-mail, Twitter, will play a big part in the 2012 election.  But in the end, it takes people showing up at the polls, just like the Obama campaign of 2008 proved.  The electronic tools communicated to the volunteers and voters to show up. When they got to the polls, it’s that gut feeling people have about a candidate that translates into a yes vote. The image of Obama, young, energetic and using the latest technology was a powerful image of change. As Garrett Graff wrote for a cover story in Infonomics.  “Even the candidate himself was a techie: Obama famously cherishes his BlackBerry, and on the campaign trail he regularly zoned out with his iPod

Michael Lind talks about “The Boring Age” in Time Magazine’s March 22, 2010 claiming the “times they aren’t a-changin’ and though we want to believe technological innovation is proceeding at a rate with no parallel in all of human history, the truth is we are living in a period of stagnation.”  He asks, “Is the combination of a phone, video screen and keyboard really as revolutionary as the original telephone, the original television set or the original typewriter was?”

In the end, will people be too busy running their lives to know what’s going on?  Or, will social media cure that?

Anna Wintour

Wintour seemed not as dismissive recently on her opinion of bloggers when she said:  “We love as much coverage of fashion as possible. We don’t care at all where it comes from, and we embrace bloggers and video and social networking, and anyone that’s talking about fashion is a good thing. And we now have our own website that incorporates all of that. But I think what’s interesting to us with this new phenomenon that ‘everyone’s a fashion editor, everyone’s a fashion writer’ is that all of that actually helps Vogue, because we have access and the understanding of fashion that, forgive me, but maybe some bloggers and some of the newcomers to this world have a little bit less experience of, but as I said, the more the merrier. We embrace it.“

Is “The Cluetrain Manifesto” lost on Wintour?  ”Markets are conversations” – “people are sharing information at blinding speed,” and there’s a reshaping of power.    Her comment “we have the understanding of fashion,” implies that fashion bloggers do not.  It’s clear that she hasn’t read the tea leaves.  Anna Wintour believes that she and Vogue still rule.  Even one of her assistant editors admits “not being that wild about fashion bloggers such as teen fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson.”

On April 22, 2010, Wintour was inducted into the American Society of National Magazine Editors Hall of Fame - it’s called the Ellies and is the Oscars for magazines.  At the same ceremony, Wired Magazine was honored as well as Glamour Magazine for the best use of both print and digital media.   

At the gala, the Wall Street Journal asked Wintour about her plans for the Ipad. Her response was vague, something about “plans on the drawing board,” but she did say Vogue was in the process of redoing its Website, making part of it interactive, which would launch in August.  

 Maybe the subject (or villain) of “The Devil Wears Prada” can still get on board.  In the May 2010 issue of Vogue she features Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, in a glowing article.  As a prognosticator for fashion, who tells us what to wear 10 months ahead of time, Wintour ought to be looking to the future (technology) instead of the past (print).  Her future and that of Vogue’s might depend on it.

The “Metal Magnet” is one of the top artifacts at the Newseum in Washington D.C.   An armor-reinforced Chevrolet truck, it kept Time Magazine photographers/correspondents safe while covering the violent conflict of the 1990s in the former Yugoslavia.  Repeatedly struck by bullets the 7,000 pound vehicle was dubbed the “Metal Magnet.”   Christopher Morris, Time’s chief photographer in the region, and two others were pinned down for three hours in the truck and escaped without injury. 

Metal Magnet at the Newseum

Seeing this bullet-ridden truck is not as dramatic or shocking as compared to seeing and hearing the gunfire of the War in Iraq on YouTube.  For someone who has never been to war or had any connection with the military except to be grateful for their service to our Country, the sound of gunfire is unbelievably loud.  It’s the way YouTube allows us in the war zone.

Although YouTube and the other Web 2.0 tools give us these unique looks at the War, this idea of transparency and coverage of War began in March 2003, when reporters were embedded with U. S. troops at the start of the War in Iraq   The Pentagon allowed reporters to travel and report alongside the military.  Both the military and journalists have given the effort high marks.

Since 2003, the rapidly expanding digital revolution has enabled every person in the War zone to become a potential reporter – teller of the truth of what’s really going on there. Prior to 2004, the Web 2.0 communication sharing communities existed on a very limited level.  Most social-networking and video sites simply did not exist. 

Blogging and solo video journalism have allowed people like Kevin Sites to cover the war and file their stories.  Even if they are first-hand accounts in the War zone, they could be no more accurate or informative than the traditional news media coverage.   As the first news correspondent for yahoo.com and then a video journalist, Sites says his impact can be greater on the internet – a potential audience of 400 million every month, compared to his old job as correspondent on NBC Nightly News with 10 million viewers.

Whatever tools are used to communicate the cruel realities of War, the information is there for all to see and hear.  Reading the blog of “Baghdad Burning” gives us a view of one family in Iraq and the slow destruction of daily life in a War zone.

The Web 2.0 tools have been used very successfully by the U. S. Army in their recruiting efforts.  On the GoArmy.com Website, where future soldiers can get first-hand accounts of Army life, Army recruitment is up because of real-life stories for parents and future soldiers such as, “What’s it like to be a soldier.”  The daily routine of a soldier is explained in “At work and during free time.”  The site also provides games and downloads.   Because of these games and efforts on line, recruits are more likely to join and remain in the Army.  Recruiting goals are up as well as Americans have a more favorable opinion of the Army.

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He included in his hand-written note the congratulatory note I had sent the family, dated Feb. 14, 2000, saying “it would bring a tear to my eye.”  Indeed it did.  My note read: 

Dear Charles and Beth:

Last night, Darby Wade Grant scored the winning free throws for the 8th grade Girls Basketball Team at MICDS.  What a great game.  I tell you this because when Darby came along, Jim and I enjoyed every second –every stage–every moment.  Any career “high” can never match last night’s game or a thousand other priceless moments.   I am so happy for you both and wish you and the baby good health and much happiness.

Sincerely,

 Pam

Receiving these hand-written notes all these years later was so inspiring.  It was a blessing that everything had been hand-written on stationery and not e-mailed.  It would never have been retrieved when my friend cleaned out his desk.  As an e-mail, it would have been easily deleted and lost forever.  In the Wall Street Journal’s Juggle blog, the “Buy Stamps or Hit Send,” reminded me that as people juggle their busy, daily lives, it’s definitely easier and faster to “hit send.”

Oh, the memories that are lost.  The feel and smell of the Crane paper and the cursive writing cannot be duplicated by e-mail.  It’s unlikely anyone would carry around an e-mail like they do a letter and re-read it.  It’s important not to succumb to technology.  A hand-written note is always more gracious and a more heartfelt expression.

Earlier this year the Wall Street Journal Juggle blog on “Do you Still Send Handwritten Thank-You Notes?” said that Geoffrey Parker, an executive of Parker Pen Company and grandson of the company’s founder, does both.  He phones,   e-mails or uses a text message for an immediate thank you but always follows up with a hand-written message. 
“As these modern electronic devices become more common and overused, they become cheap.” he says.                                                               

If for some reason, you don’t  like your hand-writing, then you can go to salesquill. com and they will write out your notes or letters and send them for you in two days time.  After job interviews, a thank-you-note in writing is recommended.

Don’t let e-mail or social media serve as your way of saying thank you.  Don’t give in to the cold efficiency of technology. Keep the warmth and humanness alive through hand-written correspondence.

Perhaps this post on “Global Voices Online” sums it up best:  [...] want to feel alone” or “I want to know how others are feeling.” The post “Poland: R.I.P. Black Saturday” from GlobalVoices solves these problems by gathering a wide range of feedback, emotional reactions, [...]

Before Saturday’s tragedy, three posts on the GlobalVoices Web site included one about a sign, made by Polish prisoners, that had been stolen from Auschwitz (posted Dec. 22, 2009); a post dated  (March 15, 2010), describing an inspiring volunteer effort to “to put a smile on a child’s face” by sending sick children cards from around the world; and a final posting recognizing women in technology and transparency worldwide,(March 25, 2010).  

Although all were interesting and inspiring, the immediacy of social media was apparent with reactions from people around the world when the Polish nation lost its top officials and 95 others. Global Voices became a place to share your sorrow, express your sympathy and rally the patriotic spirit of the Poles. Photographs of people gathering to express their sympathy and Facebook gatherings were displayed on this Web site.

On RIP Blachttpk Saturday people questioned the condition of the plane, the demand to land the plane in bad weather, the tremendous loss of life, the irony that the group was going to Russia to attend a memorial tribute to those killed in the 1940 Katyn Forest massacre.

Another interesting report after the tragedy was that all news portals and social media Web sites and government Web sites in Poland changed their colors to gray, black and white

Even Google put a black ribbon on its Polish Web site with the words:

In memory of the President of the Republic of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, and all the victims

Video reactions to the tragedy are also posted such as this one on YouTube:

Global Voices Online with its citizen journalists following what is going on in the blogosphere around the world was expertly implemented by regional editor for Poland, Sylwia Presley

It’s a grand idea founded at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School. 

In the coverage of these events, Global Voices showed its value.

Developer of National Harbor Milton Peterson with

National Harbor, the massive $2 billion development on the Potomac, is a real boom to tourism and the economy of Maryland, as well as the surrounding Washington D.C. area.  Located about a mile from the District of Columbia, this 300 acre development with shops, restaurants, hotels, offices, condominiums and convention center, has not always received high marks from local citizens.

Take Liz’s Rialto Blog from March 3, well researched and humorous, after a winter time visit, she calls National Harbor “contrived and creepy.”

National Harbor may be a little contrived as these developments often are but it can be fun for locals if you know where to go.  How can you find fault with a development that has received the Disney stamp of approval?

When it was announced last May that Walt Disney Co. had bought a 15 acre parcel at the development to build a 500 room resort, the Washington Post called it a “a shot in the arm to National Harbor”

“The addition of Disney as a partner to the National Harbor mix validates and fulfills the shared vision that we will be a world-class waterfront destination resort,” said Milton V. Peterson, chairman of Peterson Cos., who has staked hundreds of millions of dollars on the harbor venture.

Local television reports such as NBC4 applauded the announcement  

In January 2010, the Wyndham Vacation Resorts opened a time-share development at National Harbor and says it has already sold 77 percent of its ownership stakes.

Washington City Paper’s “2010 Best of DC” says the best reason to visit National Harbor is Bobby McKey’s dueling piano bars. 

Another must see is the18 story l.65-acre multi-level atrium with great views of the Potomac River.

One of the fun ways to enter National Harbor is to take the water taxi ride from the Alexandria waterfront.  You can enjoy dinner, or shopping or take in one of the concerts or festivals. 

What about all of the water activities offered on the recreation pier about six months out of the year including bass fishing, boating, canoeing, kayaks and hobie cats.

Seasonal water taxi rides provide transportation to the National Baseball games, Mt. Vernon and Georgetown. 

Art lovers are in for a treat. The Awakening, a sculpture by J. Seward Johnson resembling a giant man coming out of the ground, was moved in the summer of 2008 from its original location at Hains Point in Washington DC to the National Harbor .

The two-year-old National Harbor is a work in progress.  Just take the bus or water taxi to avoid the parking meters.

To begin the comparison, I checked the coverage of the April 5, 2010, West Virginia mine explosion and was immediately surprised that Wikipedia had an extensive amount of information on this Massey Energy Disaster. Wikipedia provided information on the explosion, rescue, safety violations and allegations of corruption, reactions and references without bylines of reporters or legitimate news organizations.

Drudge, on the other hand, posted three articles from two newspapers and one online Web site.  One article by three reporters ran in the Charleston, West Virginia Gazette newspaper.  Drudge also linked to The Wall Street Journal which had a major feature, cand a Reuter’s wire service story was posted on Yahoo.com

 Both Wikipedia and Drudge had an exhaustive amount of information on this disaster. As far as I could tell both had reliable information but Wikipedia had no journalist’s bylines on its writings. You had to take it at face value. Drudge information was bylined in every media source.

Dan Gillmor, a noted American technology writer, who teaches and writes about the future of journalism, believes in citizen journalists and democratization of the media.

Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, said at a media summit in the United Kingdom last month professional journalists face change due to citizen journalism but “Everyone tells jokes but we still have professional comedians.”
Wales says that” Wikipedia has an advantage over news organizations because it tells the whole story, updated, whereas news organizations tell of the latest developments. People want broader summaries and context to their news. His key quote on what newspapers do: ‘Selling stale bread while giving fresh bread away free.”

Thirty years ago when breaking news occurred we turned on the radio to find out the latest updates. Today, we immediately click on the internet and Drudge. For most people, Wikipedia still has some catching up to do.

That song – “One Shining Moment” – has been called the “anthem of college basketball.” This year Oscar and Grammy winner Jennifer Hudson is singing the song written by David Barrett who said he wrote it after Indiana beat Syracuse in the 1979 tournament. Barrett gave it to a friend in 1986. CBS used it in 1987. It has been featured every year since.

CBS analyst Jim Nantz says it’s as much a part of the tournament as the Duke Blue Devils.

To quote some of the all-inspiring lyrics:
“The ball is tipped, and there you are, you’re running for your life, you’re a shooting star. And all the years, no one knows, just how hard you worked but now it shows. In One Shining Moment it’s all on the line, One Shining Moment, there frozen in time.”

What a shining moment it has been for the cities where the tournament is played. The just concluded Midwest Regional Basketball tournament in St. Louis had an estimated economic impact on the bi-state (Missouri-Illinois) area of $16 million. For the final four tournament in Indianapolis April 3 and 5th, it’s even higher, an estimated $50 million impact on the local economy.

Mike Kryzsewski, long-time coach at Duke who has one of the highest graduation rates of his players of any college coach, notes in his book Five Point Play, “Every year, at the Final Four, CBS puts clips of the championship team’s performance to the song “One Shining Moment’ — and shows it to conclude their television broadcast.”
Kryzsewski coached the American Olympic Basketball team in 2008 to win the Gold Medal in Beijing. He said the shining moment for him – his family arriving in Beijing – “when a career is truly shared, a family never feels like it has to compete.” He describes the moment they won – “it was a time of pure joy, knowing we had accomplished our goal.”

Even the President of U. S., who fills out tournament brackets guessing who will win, shares in the shining moment when he welcomes the winning team to the South Lawn of the White House where they are honored with a ceremony. The team, in return, usually presents the President with a team jersey.

No matter if the Butler Bulldogs win or not in the final game, its tale has been uplifting and inspiring. Butler, the long shot and underdog, has had this incredible journey to the national championship game, while all along making the little guy in America feel good. It’s as if we all count for something, as if we are all champions. Our hearts will be beating, we’ll feel so alive. The sky’s the limit. We can reach for the stars.
“One Shining Moment you reached deep inside. One Shining Moment you knew you were alive.”

The New York Times says Wikipedia operates under the philosophy that anyone can be an editor, and that all information should be public. But the magic of Wikipedia is its quick and easy access to information. Why worry about research or reading, or accuracy when Wikipedia will be able to provide you with half truths, fuzzy research? In today’s world, who cares about the truth. It’s all truthiness.

I remember my parents buying me a complete set of World Book Encyclopedia in elementary school. I used it to write reports through upper elementary, middle and high school. Each year we paid for a one-volume update. These beautiful books, whose pages smelled so good and felt slick to the touch, were a prized position. Displaying World Book on our bookshelf provided us with a certain “educated status.” It meant we were going places, were serious about learning and headed on to college. Many years later my daughter received the gold edition of Encyclopedia Britannica from an older friend who, although well meaning with such a generous gift, was certainly not up with the times. It was already too late. I can never remember her using these books even one time but they looked classy on the bookshelf.

Forget the editors, fact checkers and all that work that went into the old-fashioned encyclopedia books. As Microsoft said “people were beginning to get their information in other ways.”

Is Wikipedia reckless and unworthy of our attention? Why else would comedian Stephen Colbert tell his viewers to edit the elephant entry on Wikipedia saying that the population of elephants had tripled recently? It’s all fun and games. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has said Wikipedia is ” self-policing and self-cleaning which ensures its articles are accurate.” However, many contributors to Wikipedia say they don’t recognize their articles after about a week because of changes, edits by others. As the old saying goes, “People believe what they want to believe.” Thinking in these terms plays into the success of Wikipedia.

A democratic society depends on the truth, not half truths or “truthiness.” Call me old-fashioned but I vote for a published encyclopedia.

Entering this imaginary place was exciting for about 20 seconds. Right away things went sour. As my Avatar walked around this virtual world, she was immediately asked to chat. Being new to the game, she didn’t respond. That’s when the foul language began. I couldn’t believe it. When the question was asked “I wish you would say something” that should have been the end of it. One assumes that the questioner knew she was a first-time participant but the R rated language continued. So my Avatar quickly learned how to fly away. The R-rated language in the freewheeling Second Life needs to be cleaned up.

When my Avatar came down to the imaginary earth, she was chased by a character who looked like Casper the Ghost. Running away for a second time, I taught my Avatar to chuckle, shrug, say thank you, etc. We purchased clothes which turned out to be all white. (Not certain why other colors were not available.) After about one hour of playing in this virtual world, my eyes were watering so much that I needed to close the program. On a subsequent visit to Second Life, my Avatar visited Spain. Since she couldn’t understand the language it was much more enjoyable. This world seemed calm and friendly.

I also tried WorldofWarcraft.com but after downloading the free demonstration program, I was never able to enter that world. As part of the research, I also visited Farm ville on Facebook. Here there was no vulgar language but it was a much slower paced game. Farm Ville only welcomes invited guests.

Online games can be important for people who want to escape to a fantasy world for a time. It’s a marvelous training tool for the U. S. Army and its online war games or a global company could use it to strategize about new products.So what’s the point or message of all this? Online gaming is an escape, entertaining and fun but the real world is a much more unbelievable place.