VasGk | Κοινωνικό Νερό

I really like the new calling tool by Organising for America. Straightforward tools like this can really help in organising grassroot supporters to take action in a structured and targeted way. This technology serves not only as a phone bank tool, but also as a structured polling questionnaire. So, grassroot supporters are being utilised for a phone-bank GOTV campaign. At the same time, the campaign gets valuable, individual targeted data, as to what are the intentions and beliefs of people being targeted by the campaign.  Definitely a model for future canvassing campaigns and valuable data gathering. I was also impressed by the detail of the guidelines for every call. By the way, at the end of each and every call the message is: Wonderful - Thanks again for being active in 2008. We look forward to voting with you again on November 2nd so we can continue moving America forward. Have a nice day! [Hang up] It's time to hit the phones.

Browsing facebook, I came across an update from Barack Obama : We have a choice as a nation. We can return to the failed economic policies of the past, or we can keep building a stronger future. We can go backward, or we can keep moving forward. I want to move forward, and I think America wants to as well. These remarks were made during a speech at Carnegie Mellon University concerning the Economy, on June 02, 2010. It is astonishing that a forward looking politician like Obama, will end up using a cliché pseudo-dilemma as a campaign message. I suppose that with the 2010 mid-term elections coming up, partisan politics will start to re-appear in political speeches. In a recent article on Politico " Obama must match rhetoric, reality " Danielle Pletka, who served on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and is vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, argues that: It doesn’t matter what the president and his...

Sarah Palin has generated a remarkable political credit. She is endorsing John McCain for the Senate seat in Arizona. She is now playing a major role in Republican and Tea Party politics, and definitely someone to look out for in elections to come.  Below you can watch a video from the McCain campaign where Sarah Palin reunites with John McCain in Tucson and Mesa to rally Arizonans and endorse his re-election to the United States Senate. You can also read an Op-Ed article by the Governor in the Arizona Republic, arguing "A desire to serve defines McCain".  Browsing through the coverage of Palin and McCain I came across this very interesting video from the Daily Show. You can see the approach that Jon Stewart takes and see the differences in these two videos. Same footage, different angles. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Lady and the Gramps www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform You can also look at...

The Presidential Citizens Medal recognizes Americans who have performed exemplary for their country or their fellow citizens. This year President Obama is inviting citizens to nominate candidates. The White House website asks: who has inspired you? Who's selfless dedication to service has touched your life or the lives of others? See the Full Criteria for Nomination . Watch the video message After the recent Senate election, Scott Brown  can deserve a Republican citizen medal as the new Republican Senator from Massachusetts! He has managed to shock the Democrats and succeed Senator Kennedy, in a seat held by a Democrat since 1952. It is truly remarkable that he won on the day Pres Obama was sworn in a year ago. Scott Brown won the election on the issue of healthcare. As he writes : I believe that all Americans deserve health care coverage, but I am opposed to the health care legislation that is under consideration in Congress and will vote against it. It might have been a sing...

Yesterday the townhall: "Ask The Chairman: A Virtual Town Hall" ended. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen received 16 video questions . Have a look at the teaser: And just when the pentagon virtual town-hall ended, another defense and security online event began! It's President Obama now, with the "Troop Town Hall". Were these two events coordinated? It doesn't seem so. Why flood the online town-halls with defense and security issues now? If people already directed their questions to Admiral Mullen, does the Whitehouse expect them to direct more (and different) questions to President Obama? I must say that this might be a communications overkill on the outreach to enlisted personnel and their families.

I came across Rand Paul's campaign for the US Senate , the son of Congressman Ron Paul after watching him on the Glenn Beck show yesterday. He seems to follow the republican values of his father, while showcasing a clear view of his own beliefs and the actions that he will take while on the US Senate . The Ron Paul campaign has been remarkable is gaining attention online and continuing the "Revolution" well beyond the Presidential campaign. The Ron Paul revolution is an ongoing campaign that has steered off the " Extended Campaign Syndrome " of President Obama, as Karl Rove explains in a recent article on the Wall Street Journal. I consider this as truly "grassroots politics", a term that has been misused on a number of political movements. Ron Paul is supporting an online fundraising campaign " The Rand Paul for Senate Money Bomb – August 20th, 2009 ", which is a dedicated website that has a target to raise Rand Paul $1,000,000 in one day ...

Alexi Giannoulias, currently the Illinois State treasurer , has announced his nomination for the US Senate. Browsing through his campaign website AlexiforIllinois ; a strait-forward political site that has all the basic features ( Contribute and Volunteer being the most prominent) and links to Alexi Giannoulias presence on major social media like twitter , facebook , flickr , MySpace , and YouTube . I expect that he will boost his online communication tools, and be more active in social media when the election closes in. Also, given that he does not receive lobbying, 527 or PAC money, online fund-raising should play a very crucial part in his campaign, real lessons to be learned from the DNC and Organizing for America online fund-raising strategies, but I am sure he already knows that. Now, while on the theme of backstage video clips, (from my previous post: " Behind the Scenes Multimedia - Dora & Hillary ") here is the "Behind The Scenes: The Alexi For Illinois Ch...

I really like this tool by " Organizing for America " as a user, by entering a zip code, you will be re-directed to Twitter (you need to be logged in) where you will be prompted to tweet your senator with a pre-written text Example: "To Sen. Charles Schumer: Please pass health insurance reform this year http://bit.ly/j 63 je #hc 09 #NY #10010" . Note the hashtags that are added automatically and watch your tweet on the interactive map. Great tool! but why only Senators and not all members of Congress? And What about Senators that use twitter? the site could cross reference those that are active on twitter and mention @theirusername. You can find a list of Congressmen and Senators on tweeter by clicking through TweetCongress . Some of the extra features of the site are maybe the most important ones. It is good to tweet out to your Senators but if you want to follow through, you can call your senators with a good set of tools provided, including Calling Tips and Exa...

Far from formal structured political campaigns in most developed or developing countries, there are other examples of people that start a political campaign from zero, with little or no help (financial or otherwise); more importantly it is excellent when this happens in Afghanistan ; a country at war, with democracy just creeping in to the political system. The upcoming Afghan Presidential election is scheduled for August 20th 2009. I came across this video of an Afghan candidate for President, campaigning on a bicycle. What I really appreciated is the simplicity of his decision to campaign, even if he does not stand a chance to win. But this is a success story that explains how democratic transition can give all citizens the opportunity to stand as candidates and communicate directly with people that will hopefully vote for them. I suppose that web 2.0 technologies and the Internet have nothing to do with this campaign since most people do not have access to the net; the inten...

The Republicans have really started to go after Pres Obama on the jobs front, unemployment in the US is 9.5% now ; and there are studies that show that unemployment will approach 10% in 2010, see the OECD Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs . The first video is from the House Republican Conference and asks: Where are the jobs? I also came across this clip by House Republican Leader John Boehner . In the video job-sniffing bloodhounds follow the stimulus money trail across the nation in search of the millions of jobs from the Obama Administration. This is a lighthearted web video, but the underlying point is no laughing matter, Boehner said. It reminded me of the Southpark episode of Goobacks , where the "Republicans" complained "dey turk errr jeobs!" . Although some have expressed their concerns on the Shortcomings of the Stimulus Plan , Republicans need to understand that this is a long-term plan to save and create more than 3.5 million jo...

So, I came across this video by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius , where she: "invites our talented and creative citizens to create and share your PSA about flu prevention and good health", and you could win a grand prize of $2,500 cash from the Goverment! You can find more details about the flu competition at the 2009 Flu Prevention PSA Contest . Now, I believe that the Department of Health is not an organization that should give out cash prizes to get people to create videos. I see a big public relations campaign being underway, with President Obama talking about Healthcare reform , but not talking specifics. Have a look at the recent remarks on Healthcare reform . What I do not like is that there are no specifics, just rhetoric and ideas about universal healthcare that are copied from the Hillary Clinton Presidential campaign . Have a look at this Q&A video of Hillary on Healthcare and see how similar President's Obama talking points are. ...

I truly believe that most people want to be involved and vote in the upcoming European elections, although I clearly disagree with the communication policy of the European Parliament on GOTV . The major European Parties (which are a result of transnational party collaborations) do not have pan-European campaigns, EU citizens will vote for a national and not a pan-European party. The problem is that individual country issues and local politics play a bigger role than European issues in the upcoming elections . This is what this new party the Newropeans is trying to accomplish. According to an interview by Bart Kruitwagen in EurActiv " Only with the proliferation of trans-European parties can we build the "strong and stable democracy needed to see the EU achieve its potential as a "world power". Also have a look at their magazine . However they are in need of a sound communication strategy, especially online! When we also start to explore the role of youth enga...

You might think that a pan-European "Get out the vote" campaign will be an opportunity to embrace and promote the upcoming EU elections . Well, after watching this video clip I must say that I feel disturbed and surely not motivated to go and vote. I cannot believe that the EU Parliament has not put more research into it. As I commented to the European Parliament facebook page "Who does these commercials?! did you ever thought of consulting a Marketing or Political Communications consultant? This is amateur stuff!!! Plus it is repulsive to look at; do you honestly believe that screaming women and Friday the 13th figures will make EU citizens go to the polls? Really?..."

So, I traveled to Thessaloniki for the Greek Easter, and you can imagine my surprise when at the tolls just outside Athens I saw these flags by the Greek Communist Party please note the hammer and sickle symbol at the top of the flags. Now, my first reaction was total surprise! I asked myself whether this photo would be possible on any other European highway; I am now back in Vienna, Austria and it really strikes me as impossible. Also, along with the flags, there were volunteers covering all lanes, with fryers explaining the values of the communist party with the slogan "Trust the KKE in the upcoming EU elections". I must say that this is one of the first campaign moves from a Greek Political party for the upcoming European elections, scheduled between 4 and 7 of June 2009. The message was clear enough: even if you don't agree with the Communists, vote for them in the European elections to send a "message"... whatever that means... Also in the same fryers the...

Just a quick note on why the U.S. citizens vote on a Tuesday. Curtsey of whytuesday.org In 1845, before Florida, California, and Texas were states or slavery had been abolished, Congress needed to pick a time for Americans to vote. We were an agrarian society. We traveled by horse and buggy. Farmers needed a day to get to the county seat, a day to vote, and a day to get back, without interfering with the three days of worship. So that left Tuesday and Wednesday, but Wednesday was market day. So, Tuesday it was. In 1875 Congress extended the Tuesday date for national House elections and in 1914 for federal Senate elections. Today, we are an urban society, and we all know how hard it is to commute to our jobs, take care of the children, and get our work done, let alone stand on lines to vote. Indeed, Census data over the last decade clearly indicates that the inconvenience of voting is the primary reason Americans are not participating in our elections. If we can move Columbus Day, Pres...

Now Ralph Nader wants to share his mother's Apple Cake recipe... Seriously, he is in need of some sound campaigning advice, and not from his mother... Read the Email... October 20, 2008 www.votenader.org www.officialnaderstore.com It's that time of year again. Apple harvest time. I love apples. As a child, to help with the harvest in orchards, I picked lots of apples. And in New England, where I grew up, there were so many great varieties. Baldwin, Cortland, Golden Russet, Honey Crisp, Macintosh, Red Delicious, Rome, Shamrock. Honey Crisp was -- and still is -- my favorite. During apple harvest time, my mom would make a spectacular apple cake. It had lemons, and apples and cinnamon and butter. It remains to this day my favorite cake. And it got me to thinking -- with only two weeks left ...

The Republicans Abroad in Greece, invited the Democrats Abroad , Hard Rock Cafe provided the venue … and it was ON. The debate was played again and the crowd cheered for the President to be. United States Ambassador to Greece, Daniel V. Speckhard was there as well. I really enjoyed the whole atmosphere, it was an opportunity to catch up with old friends and meet new people interested in the U.S. Elections. Debate wise, I want to say that the first debate didn’t really lived up to hype. Both candidates were well prepared, in a controlled setting. My opinion: No one won the 1st debate, Obama didn’t make the difference, McCain needed to do better. Looking forward to the town hall type debate. Thank you to Katerina and Ioanna for the coffee and brownies!

On the subject of flip flops I came across http://www.obamaflipflops.org/ . I would have expected to see merchandising like this from the official McCain campaign; but hey, I'm sure that they will end up as a great memorabilia campaign item at eBay. Both candidates are rather busy of late, my take is that Obama needs to get back on message, energize people and focus on policy - themes that have brought him so far. P.S. Hope to Blog more often during the last days of the election.

The Republican attack machine at it again. I must say I have really enjoyed the exchanges of negative ads between the two campaigns. One distinct difference though, and one that you wouldn’t expect, the ads from the McCain campaign are better! exposing Obama in attacking his strong points (fame, popularity, celebrity status). The McCain campaign compared Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears , in response the Obama campaign compared McCain to President George W. Bush . The McCain campaign attacked Obama’s values, the Obama campaign attacked the President. A daring move from the McCain camp, that worked! Now everyone is talking how the elections would be a referendum on Obama, and if he is fit to become President, while McCain is ready to be President!

Again, it seems that Hillary and Chelsea Clinton really need the money... on a recent email update they ask people to attend Mother's day celebration in NYC, depending on the amount you pay, a photo op awaits you... Check it out...