Political Gastronomica : October 2006

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Final Florida Governors Debate

Well - very interesting - all I can say is that I am glad Chris Matthews made it a better debate that the sterile debates I have seen in the past. His presence and persistence in getting answers form the candidates (Attorney General Charlie Crist and Congressman Jim Davis), handling the surprise appearance of Reform Party candidate Mark Linn, and managing the meandering of the political rhetoric was a breath of fresh air. A quick run down of some of the better reporting:

• Mark Hollis gives a terrific run-thru of the debate for the Sun-Sentinel (and thanks for the video feed!)
• Laura Fiorilli from TBO has a terrific spin on the debate - including a much meater way of looking at what was said.
• Adam Smith of the St. Pete Times also talks about the impact the debate had on Crist.

I also just went reading the blog posts suggested by Laura but was kind of underwhelmed by the commentary (except for Interstate4Jamming's.

As I have in the past, I will give a blow by blow on each of the issues questioned by Matthews to the candidates. In truth, this is as best as I could glean from watching the debate. IMHO, I think Matthews relished clamming on the pols for their squishy answers, and in particular seemed to get Crist when he could.

• Issue: Iraq War - was it worth it? Are we safer?
  TOSSUP - Davis voted for war (based on faulty intelligence) and has been fighting to get it to a positive resolution and voting for body armor. Crist believes we are safer - took the war to them, not on our shores. Linn has always been against the war. Wonders where the government official's kids are in this war - they are not fighting in this war.
• Issue: Gay Rights - NJ passes law, what is your opinion?
  TOSSUP - Crist says marriage is a sacred institution, supports civil unions. When pressed for a specific definition to clarify the differences between marriage and civil unions, goes into political rhetoric. Linn supporters gay adoption, civil unions but not gay marriages because the country is not ready for it. Davis believes marriage is a religious sacrament, couples in civil unions should have the same rights, would support gay adoption and supports judges being able to decide if gay adoption should occur. When asked, Crist says he does not support gay adoption, traditional family is the best way to raise a child.
• Question: Clean campaign, so are you a Libertarian Conservative (small govt, low taxes) or Values Conservative (abortion rulings, strictures)?
  CRIST - Crist says he is a common sense conservative - which seems to be like libertarian. Davis asked if he is a liberal (90% Democratic Action rating) - he goes into platform issues on FCAT and is asked again, where he then replies he can not be placed into a simple label. Linn (later) answers saying he is a (my interpretation) a libertarian conservative.
• Diversion: property tax issue
  TOSSUP - Davis will "find a way" to roll back 5% of the $20B in tax giveaways to "special interests". Crist points out that this is removing tax breaks and increasing "your" taxes ("backs of seniors") and Davis hopes that the legislature will return the money to you. Matthews asks for a clear itemizing of the homestead exemption numbers - Crist can not make simple numbers, Davis seems unable to (outside of 5% of the $20B set of tax giveaways). Davis points out that Crist's idea will be on the backs of first time home owners, renters and small businesses. Linn points out that doubling the homestead exemption will bankrupt many small towns in Florida for the loss of revenue to their local budgets.
• Diversion: did you take donations from companies/lobbyists for this campaign?
  DAVIS - Crist: yes (from insurance companies) but does not know the exact numbers. Davis knows the numbers (and tells us later that it was $2M), and is asked if he takes money from the teachers lobby. He answers yes, but "teachers don't have much money".
• Schivo Case - are you happy the way it was handled in the State Legislature/Congress?
  DAVIS - Crist says he disagreed with Gov. Bush, which is why he stayed out of it. Asked if he disagreed with it - he says he did. Davis responds that "he did not" and points out how he fought in Congress and did to stay out, but stood up. Linn was appalled in the government's action on the case and believes in a strict separation of church and state.
• Mark Foley case: did you see this coming? Any strange signals?
  DAVIS - Crist says he saw nothing - and the office of AG offered to help in the investigation. Davis says that it was a failure of leadership - that the Republicans were more concerned over party issues than the issues of the children - and then drifts into the insurance issue. Linn says that people are tired of the Republican and the Democratic parties.
• Issue: Election 2000 - do you think the matter was handled well?
  DAVIS - Matthews is trying to get at the issue of paper trails and if the process is broken. Crist says US Supreme Court did what was right and that the process is not broken. Davis launches against this - no paper trail, no automatic restoration and then uses the dreaded H word (Harris).
• Segway: paper trail - are you advocating a receipt with your vote on it?
  TOSSUP - Davis does not answer well, Crist is against it for fear people would be paid for their vote, and Linn is for paper trail, but does not answer the receipt question. [Ed Note: I think what should happen is a paper transcript with encoded ID and votes hashed should be recorded on paper and then sent to a location. This is what we do in databases as a matter of course.]
• Question: Grade Governor Bush
  TOSSUP - Davis gives him an overall grade of C, but for education a D- and port security and A. Crist gives him a strong A and believes in education, Bush has been strong. Linn gives him an overall C, but upgrades him to a B for a smile and the pen (Bush just signed to get him into the debate).
• Question: Grade President Bush
  DAVIS - Crist gives GWB an overall grade of B, especially high grades for being principled. Commends the Bush family for its contribution to the country. Davis gives GWB an overall grade of an F since he broke his promise not to drill off the coast of FL (and Crist did not join the fight) and that GWB wanted to privatize social security. Uses his line "...fixing to send a message..." Linn gives GWB an overall grade of an F. Then comments on Crist's answer by bringing up $25K a plate dinners and the $5M given to his campaign by developers.
• Question: does Florida have a big crime problem?
  DAVIS - Crist says we are at a 35 year low - and reels off a number of his efforts. Davis comments that violent crime is up 30% in the past six months (specifically murder). Davis wants to get more cops, gear, etcera to enforce the current laws on the books. Matthews then grills Crist on his statement - trying to get clarity on the difference between violent crime and murder - and Crist admits murder is up, but violent crime is down. Matthews gives him a scathing retort sounding like DC mayor Marion Barry for the "technicality" issue - most people think murder is a violent crime. Linn wants more cops. Davis finalizes with "focus on your job, not on technicalities"
• Issue: Homeowners Insurance - how can you help the common person?
  DAVIS - Crist returns to his talking points ("stop the cherry picking", "stop the shell game", Davis attendence record). Davis slams with his points ("up to 40% reduction", "eliminate Citizens", "stand up to insurance lobby") and then comments on Crist's "cherry picking" plan as Gov. Bush saying it would not work. Linn says insure homes worth $500K and below. Florida does not belong in the insurance business.
• Digression: why did you run for Congressman when you knew you were going to run for Governor? (to Davis)
  Davis answers with his point "I do not sit down, I stand up" line. And then hammers that "Charlie" got $2M from the insurance companies for his campaign.

So?
I would traditionally end with their closings, but this is the same old stuff in the closing statements (with the exception of the questions posed by Linn: "Are you truly happy and satisfied with current system and do you believe the current system needs new direction and fresh ideas?"). The best line of the night, as commented on by others, was Linn's "All I found was an empty suit" when he looked in Tallahassee for Crist.

My take - Davis did well for his public speaking skill set. He must have worked on his attack - and kept "Charlie" down with the use of the diminutive over and over again. For some reason, when he spoke, "Charlie" sounded like an insult instead of his name. Linn was sort of the Al Sharpton of this debate - coming up with lines, and I wish he had been better prepared. And Crist - well, not very interesting - very much like the politician he seems. All I can say is I think Davis did well, but I am still fearful of having another Davis as my governor - I hope he is better than Gray. But I will say - great job Jim, go out and win this election!

Tags: Florida Governor Debate, Jim Davis, Charlie Crist, Chris Matthews, Mark Linn, Florida Governors 2006,

Posted by Sanford Dickert at 10:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Finally - Florida Governor's Debate at Nova

Wow. I spent last night and this morning watching and rewatching the Florida Governors debate between Attorney General Charlie Crist and Congressman Jim Davis. I was equally flummoxed and amused over the course of the debate. In some ways, it was almost a rerun of the Davis/Smith debate - just with a taller opponent against Davis and no Big Sugar references. From the debate - if you read the papers - you'll hear:

Crist: Empty chair. People's governor. You have the worst record. Rhetoric has to stand up to your record. You can see it on my website.
Davis: 40% reduction in insurance premium. Not just show up, you have to stand up. Stay the course or change course. $1B down payment. Special interests have to pay their fair share.

My favorite moment was Davis' showing his insurance premium statement to Crist - totally surprising, but Davis looked kind of stiff, where Crist looked fluid. The laugh was well needed.

My biggest disappointment regarding this debate was that there was lots of political policy talk, and little in the way of explaining nuance or reasons. Both candidates could say whatever they wanted - and, for most viewers, looking into the details is almost impossible to do so. So, you are left with believing the messenger versus the content. Given the format of the debate - and the content - I am not surprised that anyone was able to "stay the course".

As I did the last time with the Smith/Davis debate, I will try to summarize what each said with each question and give my opinion on success of the candidates. Understand, your mileage may vary since I am not a talking head for any major television network...

• Opening
  TOSSUP - Davis issues the first "Crist is for staying the course - I am for changing course" statement. Uses the five paragraph essay rule - state the premise in the beginning - "as a parent, will fight to improve our schools, reduce property taxes and reduce insurance premiums". Crist responds with "responsible plans for lowering insurance, property taxes, homestead exemption, protect the children, improve education". Very congenial in his thanks - and comments on the fact he is the last candidate in the race who graduated from a FL high school.
• FCAT: if elected, would you end the use of FCAT?
  TOSSUP - Davis wants to end the punative aspects of FCAT testing, use it as a supportive tool. Evokes Lawton Chiles - FCAT is a measure of what is going on the education. Useful for identifying problem schools. Crist feels the measurement is more important ("should students pay for the shortcomings of schools?") and that A thru F is good for identifying problem schools - take a look at his website for more. Schools should be accountable - the FCAT should not punish, rather help improve the education. Davis responds with Crist "staying the course because teachers will be paid according to the students scores. Ed note: to me, it feels like Crist is trying to say we need to police the schools and the teachers, whereas Davis is saying putting a measure on teachers constrains their creativity by focusing on passing a test.
• Taxes and Schools: how could Florida schools get more money into their program if Floridians do not want to raise taxes?
  DAVIS - he answers the question (would stop the tax giveaways to special interests) which would not raise taxes, just divert money. Has plan to increase teachers salaries by $4K. Crist gives a "mushy" answer, rather harps on Davis wanting to bring back the intangibles tax.Ed note: not sure, but could be that Davis wants to get money from both pots - special interests and intangibles.
• Insurance Rates: how can you impact private businesses?
  TOSSUP - Crist suggests overcoming the "shell game" from insurance companies - "stop the cherry picking". Moderator asks how can the Governor enforce private companies to do what he wants (meaning insurance companies). Crist answer: "Governor is not king" and then turns it into a slam on Davis and his poor voting record in the past 18 months. Davis turns it around with the "not just showing up, but standing up" retort. Responds with Crist just "stood around". Reiterates the 40% reduction in premiums and that he will say something no one else has said in Tallahassee to the insurance companies - "No". Ed note: amused at the harping on Davis's record in the past 18 months, but if you look at his record before running for Congress, you would see his voting/attendance record is stellar.
• Save Our Homes: will you support making the home insurance cap portable?
  CRIST (for style) - Davis responds with going to make four points, but only gives two. Says yes to portability, but explains how Crist will wait four years. Crist does not answer the portability question, rather he responds with the fact that while his plan might say four years, he can work on it for next year - if they put an amendment into place. Then, he paryies with "I am the People's Attorney General. If you want someone to be the Government's Governor, chose Davis. If you want the People's Governor, choose me."
• Doubling the Homestead Exemption
  DAVIS - at this point, my opinion, people are confused. Both want to double the homestead exemption - Crist says Davis is protecting government, Davis says Crist is staying the course and allowing special interests to not pay their fair share. Davis repeats the 40% pledge and also describes how Crist's plan will reduce the burden on homeowners while increasing the burden on renters and small business owners.
• Upcoming health care costs: Florida growing with boomers, elderly and low wage earners. How will we address the issue?
  TOSSUP - Davis and Crist will negotiate to get prices down and allow for importing drugs. Crist accuses Davis of doing nothing ("empty chair"), Davis accuses Crist of not "standing up". Davis will put small business aggregation into place for pools insurance costs. Crist offers a perscription drug discount card plan like WalMart and Target. Both counter the inaction arguments. Crist lands a punch by converting the topic to the Pitts/civil rights issue. Ed note: I did not think they answered the heart of the question - how will they handle the low wage staffers and the increasing cost of infrastructure for supporting the growth
• Schivo case: was it handled correctly? How would you do it differently?
  DAVIS - lands the "standup, not just showing up" line - and comments that Crist did not even show up. Crist counters with "I stayed out because government should not be involved". "Some decisions should be for G-d and family." And then returns to the "you missed 300 votes" theme. "You violated a public trust". Ed note: this time, Davis is right, and Crist uses his inactivity to prove he keeps govt out of the way. Davis fought to keep government out of the way in Congress - tough fight at that time.
• Abortion: do you favor the current laws? How would your office stand?
  CRIST - Crist has the most nuanced answer "it is not about changing laws, about changing hearts" and says he favors pro-life (check out his website for his adoption plan). He says he will not change Florida law, but Davis counters with Crist statement on his support for a South Dakota law that removes a woman's life to choose and that Davis would not. Davis fights the earlier comments on voting record with 93% lifetime voting record in Congress and that he will "stand up". Crist delivers the line "I am a happy warrior". Davis responds with "change is coming" and that he will "stand up". Ed note: at this point, it seems as though the candidates are using the time to push their negative points on the other candidate and push their positives, at times avoiding the question. Davis does not answer directly, rather indirectly.
• Florida growth: do we continue with the same urban planning/infrastructure plans or???
  DAVIS (by a hair) - neither really answers the question. Davis talks about "managing our growth and protecting the environment (plug for Sierra Club here). Then goes back to special interests not paying their fair share. Little people pay, need to give everyone a chance to live out the American Dream. Crist evokes Ronald Reagan and how we need to make sure our infrastructure is ready (but does not answer the question). Then uses a Smith slam about how the US government has not paid it's fair share in the Everglades cleanup.
• Illegal immigration: how will we handle the increased costs? What will you tell the President and others on how to handle the issue?
  CRIST (by a hair) - Crist answers on securing the borders, path to citizenship, supports Martinez's plan and evokes his father's journey to America ("he shined shoes", "good honest work"). Ends with needing to make this work because the "promise of America keeps hope alive - and in Cuba tonight". Davis agrees with Senator Martinez's plan, but slams Crist on giving drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. "I want a strict, fair path". Ed note: roles have switched since Crist is being soft and Davis is being the policeman.
• Question - Davis to Crist: why did you pick your running mate who is against stem cell research?
  CRIST - not only does Crist turn around the question (both running mates are good men, but what matters is at the top of the ticket) but makes it a double slam "Need someone who is positive, someone who shows up, listens and learns."
• Question - Crist to Davis: why did it take a Governor's race to make you admit your mistake from 1990 (Pitts case)?
  DAVIS - again, turnabout is fair play. Not only turns it into the most poignant part of the debate ("I made a mistake") but also shows that Pitts not only forgives, but also endorses Davis. Then turns the question into a Crist/Harris connection by discussing Crist lack of defending voter rights for blacks when he had the chance to stand for free and fair elections.
• Question - Davis to Crist: Four year for tax breaks?
  CRIST - Crist says that he is advocating for next year, not four years from now. And then he evokes the Mondale word - "you want to bring back the intangibles tax".
• Question - Crist to Davis: Cubans are troubled. Jews are troubled. Blacks were troubled. Are you going to also apologize to the Cubans and Jews now?
  DAVIS (slightly) - slam by Crist almost works, but Davis explains and handles the question with aplumb by supporting the embargo six times, going to see what was happening in Cuba to get an even greater understanding of the issue. Israel trip was with Congressman Robert Wexler where they both went to pressure Arafat for peace. And then lands the "standing up" and "fighting the fight".
• Middle class: how will the government help stop the hollowing out of the middle class?
  DAVIS- neither really answer the question. Crist talks about savings he accomplished via FPL and telephone companies. Davis counters with his insurance premium statement and slam on Crist getting millions from insurers for his campaign.
• Campaign Finance: most expensive campaign in Florida history. How can we change this?
  DAVIS (by Crist mistake) - Davis kid of answers since it is a slam against special interest financing of other campaigns ("$2M campaign against me"). Crist does not answer the question - moderator has to reask the question. Instead offers a "you did not show up" line against Davis. On reask - answers with "accountability" and the fact he did not take money from FPL.
• Closing
  CRIST - Davis starts with slamming Crist, not offering vision until the end "I will fight for change". Crist offers positive message, then adds cut to Davis, then ends positive.

Sad to say - not much to hold onto
After the debate - there was not much said - and very little that you could see where one slipped up or said anything different. I wish candidates would understand that people want to understand that they mean and spell it out simply. Davis is saddled with being a Congressman - he has a small staff (no more than six staffers, most under 30) and can only do so much. Running for public office across the state of Florida is a lot different than running across a district. Crist has a much larger, more professional staff, so he could campaign and amass a record without having the attendance "hit". The shame of it all - all I got out of the debates was that Crist is a great public speaker and that Davis is the thoughtful, albeit stiff, Democratic candidate. Jim - please get more media training - and learn to emote more.

Tags: Jim Davis, Charlie Crist, Florida Governors Debate, Florida Governors Race 2006

Posted by Sanford Dickert at 5:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Congressional email delivery - abmissmal

Happen to be discussing with Colin over at e.politics about blogrolls, and he points out an excellent blog called Dr. Digipol, of which I have not seen before. I begin reading it, and alight upon this post about CapWiz's testing of email advocacy tools in communicating with members of Congress. In reading his post, I came upon the following passage:

... But the important issue here is not which software vendor is better at jumping through Congress’s hoops. It is that Congress is creating hoops in the first place.

If Congress is flooded with more constituent email than it can handle, it should increase its resources to handle it, not figure out ways to block constituent email. Efforts to block email will only give advantage to the larger, better resourced advocacy software vendors over the smaller ones. In essence, Congress is perpetrating anti-trust behavior by creating uneven market advantages for some vendors.

Worse, the barriers erected by Congress are obstructing real constituents from petitioning Congress via email. Consider that one office implementing the Logic Puzzle saw an 80% drop in email coming in through their servers. There is absolutely no way that all 80% of those emails were SPAM. Even the most generous estimates are that about 10% of emails flowing into Congressional offices are SPAM. The rest of the blocked email represent citizens denied their First Amendment rights.

The problems that need fixing are clear, and they are not the responsibility of the software vendors or the advocacy community. They are Congress’s responsibility. First, Congress must provide itself with the necessary resources to handle constituent email. In the last 5 years, constituent communication to Congress has increased 4-fold. In the past 25 years, Congress has not increased its staff or administrative budget. Further, instead of having a Congress-wide standard for email, each office is flying solo, free to choose its own system, its own subject headings for incoming email, etc.

If Congress is committed to constituent services, then it would create an environment that welcomes constituent communications and effectively processes them when they arrive. When that happens, there will no longer be any issue about which grassroots advocacy system is better at delivering email to Congress.

Here, here.

And what was even more surprising was the backlash it begat at Democracy in Action (where the testing methodology was not effective in handling DiA's processes, and getActive's request for the effectiveness numbers that Colin posted from the study to be taken down.

Interesting to see something like this performed, and amusing to see CapWiz be the leader of the bunch. Personal amusement was Convio and Kintera's numbers, if only for the fact that they did not make a stink about the test themselves.

tags: Email Advocacy Tools, Email Campaign Tools, CapWiz, Democracy in Action, getActive

Posted by Sanford Dickert at 1:56 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

A Marine's letter in the din of Iraq

Been doing my normal trolling of the blogs, I came upon this letter at the Fighting 29th (this is a blog based in Rochester, NY focusing on the NY-29 seat). In reading this letter, I was surprised and intrigued by the content, honesty and bravery I read within. I have never been a supporter of the war in Iraq - prior to the invasion, I used to argue with my Israeli family members about the "domino effect" if could have in terms of building up further anti-American resentment. I have watched the talking heads and read the blogs, but this was a letter that spoke with a poignancy and honesty that reminded me of why should stand by the fighting men and women of the US Military.

Some particular quotes in the letter had me:

Most Profound Man in Iraq — an unidentified farmer in a fairly remote area who, after being asked by Reconnaissance Marines if he had seen any foreign fighters in the area replied "Yes, you."

Bravest Guy in al-Anbar Province — Any Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician (EOD Tech). How'd you like a job that required you to defuse bombs in a hole in the middle of the road that very likely are booby-trapped or connected by wire to a bad guy who's just waiting for you to get close to the bomb before he clicks the detonator? Every day. Sanitation workers in New York City get paid more than these guys. Talk about courage and commitment.

Second Bravest Guy in al-Anbar Province — It's a 20,000-way tie among all these Marines and Soldiers who venture out on the highways and through the towns of al-Anbar every day, not knowing if it will be their last — and for a couple of them, it will be.

Biggest Surprise — Iraqi Police. All local guys. I never figured that we'd get a police force established in the cities in al-Anbar. I estimated that insurgents would kill the first few, scaring off the rest. Well, insurgents did kill the first few, but the cops kept on coming. The insurgents continue to target the police, killing them in their homes and on the streets, but the cops won't give up. Absolutely incredible tenacity. The insurgents know that the police are far better at finding them than we are — and they are finding them. Now, if we could just get them out of the habit of beating prisoners to a pulp...

Highest Unit Re-enlistment Rate — Any outfit that has been in Iraq recently. All the danger, all the hardship, all the time away from home, all the horror, all the frustrations with the fight here — all are outweighed by the desire for young men to be part of a band of brothers who will die for one another. They found what they were looking for when they enlisted out of high school. Man for man, they now have more combat experience than any Marines in the history of our Corps.

and he ends it almost poeticly:

Most Common Thought — Home. Always thinking of home, of my great wife and the kids. Wondering how everyone else is getting along. Regretting that I don't write more. Yep, always thinking of home.

I hope you all are doing well. If you want to do something for me, kiss a cop, flush a toilet, and drink a beer. I'll try to write again before too long — I promise.

While I may not agree with the reasons or actions of the Iraq war, I can only respect the men and women who work to make it right. To the unnamed author, thank you for the glimpse.

NOTE: I make the assumption this is a true letter based on Time magazine's Sally B. Donnelly efforts to authenticate it. If proven otherwise, I would find this a cruel statement of the PR tactics of the Bush Administration.

Tags: Iraq war, A Marine's Letter, Life in Iraq

Posted by Sanford Dickert at 3:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Watching the Florida Governor race with a disappointed yawn...

Prior to the primary, the Florida Governor's race was an exciting time on the Democratic side - two campaigns fighting it out - discussing issues and accusations of poor judgement and being in the pocket of some big industry PAC - and the television was filled with discourse on who would be the better candidate on the Democratic side. After the fighting was done and the votes were tallied, Rod went back to Alachua and Jim went back to determine who would be his running mate.

What's happened since? Davis selected a terrific running mate for Lt. Governor, Daryl Jones and then went into fundraising mode. As reported in the St Pete Times, Davis has lagged in all of the metrics most political operatives discuss in terms of fundraising, field offices, television, and public appearances. I could have also given the same measure, simply by noting the Internet effort that occurred soon after the election. Much like the failed Betty Castor campaign in 2004, the Davis campaign has lost its online engagement strategy and the momentum is waning. Based on this measure, and previous experiences with other Florida campaigns - I worry that the Davis Campaign is in a hole - and, unless a heroic effort is undertaken, we will be discussing Governor Crist.

Web reflects confidence
This might sound silly to most of the old hat people in the political industry, but the appearance on the web often has an impact on the campaign. It is not readily measured, but a good web presence and a strong email campaign often demonstrates efficiency, strength in operation and bolsters supporters confidence in the campaign. Take the following facts in stride:

• Davis' emails - give me $$$
  Davis's emails overwhelmingly cry out for fundraising - four of the last nine ask for money and, most recently, they are discussing the $50, $100, etcera line in the first paragraph. In addition, of the other emails, three are event booster emails (bring out supporters to events) and two are "momentum" emails. None of the emails - with the exception of the most recent one, tries to engage volunteers, and even in this one, it is a post-script request.
• Crist's emails - ho, hum
  Crist is even worse in the fact that his emails either read like policy documents refuting the Davis policies or are simplistic "reach-outs" to constituencies they feel are vunerable to acquisition (e.g. a Rosh Hasahana email to the Jewish community was a nice touch). But no where does the campaign even engage the readers to "get involved". Oh, I can say that the button is on the email header, but that is not an engagement practice, rather it is a "checkbox" in the email ("Do you have the Volunteer link?" "Yep?" sound of pencil checking a box
• Crist's website - I am ready for the presidency, Mr. Bush
  Crist's newly revamped website looks like a Presidential site - leveraging all of the right visuals and navigation tools designed for understanding the candidate. But, what is sorely lacking: a real Action Center. And, as everyone already knows, there is no blog on the site - why risk the potential downside of a public forum on the website when your candidate is double digits in the polls.
• Davis' site - ugghh, can someone redesign this for most of Florida?
  Davis' site - I can not really comment on it without explaining that two facts: I originally designed the Rod Smith website (here is one of the earlier versions of the site) and I am not a fan of the software platform they use. But, what surprises me is that the Davis campaign had the chance to revamp the website to reflect the new monetum and a combination of both the candidate AND the new Lt. Governor and make it a centerpiece of the campaign. Instead, the photos show a greyhound dog wearing a shirt, the blog seems to have reverted to a press release channel, and I get to see the video ads on the site once again. And there is little to no energy on the site at all. How does an enthusiastic Democrat supposed to get energized by that?

Make the Internet work for you!
My simple comment to Davis - get Greg Wahl (yes, I know Greg from another Broward campaign) and any other volunteer coordinator to get off their a**es and start sending out volunteer coordination emails to the Florida supporters. Who cares if you are down double digits in the polls, now? It is about the GOTV, and the Internet is supposed to be the channel that Democrats know to make things happen cost-effectively and efficiently. Greg has done things like this before - and, I assume other staffers have as well. While you may not have the monies for lawn signs and TV saturation - you have raw human talent that can get out the vote - and start the canvass. Make it happen. Please.

Tags: Jim Davis, Charlie Crist, Florida Governor, GOTV, Campaign 2006, eCampaigning

Posted by Sanford Dickert at 3:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Announcing PoliticalWarez.com

For the past two years, I have been banging around an idea of building a blog that would help political campaigns get advice on technology solutions without having to rely on consultant's connections - or basically borrow mine. Well, after a couple of abortive attempts (Britt Blaser had a terrific idea back in June 2004 of offering a Consumer Reports version of this), I finally began work on PoliticalWarez - an homage to the TechCrunch collection of sites focused specifically for political campaigns. (I am not affiliated with Michael or TechCrunch in any way)

The goal of PoliticalWarez is to discuss the technology and impact on campaigns - including some of the consultants who offer servicess - to help the consumers of these services get a leg up on understanding what options are out there. After three years of political campaigns and dealing with the technical infrastructure and the business processes that need to be addressed, I hope to convey basic English to a maze of technical jargon and help to overcome the complexity in making the important buying decisions for campaigns.

I will talk about some of the majors (e.g. Akamai, Convio, getActive, NGP, Aristotle) but I will also bring up some of the DIY solutions (e.g. OrchidForChange, civicspace, CacheFly, VivaDemocracy) that offer less functionality or service guarantees for a lower price. An old friend of mine once said, "better to be forwarned and forearmed, than not to know at all". Consider this an opportunity to help the community as a whole.

I do ask for any and all feedback - especially from people using the platforms and tools. I have already begun talks with some vendors I know very well and will be publishing articles on a regular basis. If you have stories or comments that you would like published, feel free to send them along. The email is on the site - and I appreciate the feedback.

Tags: Political Technology, PoliticalWarez, Political Tech, Campaign Technology

Posted by Sanford Dickert at 3:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack