Fighting the Winter "Blahs"

As I look out at the snow coming down outside and I rest my aching back from the shoveling of my driveway I have come to realize that I have a really big bad case of the Winter Woes.

Of course, it could be that I'm in PhD recovery (I hear that it's a transition from those who have done it before), planning on selling my house (so I have to actually keep it kinda clean, and get it ready for the selling), just taken on another class due to adjunct interuptus (33 students in a severe case of major confusion and starting again at square one when we are already into week 5!), struggling to deal with an 11-yr-old and 6th grade homework issues...

Who knows.

What I do know is that my motivation is hanging out in a sunny warm space on vacation.

Edwards gets thanks from Clinton and Obama...really!

Check this out:

Wow! and he even didn't endorse anyone. Hmm....I wonder...is this a thank you because you are such a great guy or is it a thank you for getting out of the campaign (grin)?

The campaign site has done an update and the speech the candidate made earlier today is on the blog too.

Since Edwards has a fairly vibrant community it will be interesting to observe what happens on the campaign site. This is the one candidate (if you recall from an earlier post) who had an online community BEFORE he ran and if you notice in his speech today he talked a lot about "One America" which is the organization (the OneAmerica Committee) he formed after 2004. We'll see what happens at the campaign site now, which if you look carefully through Google still shows "One America" (the blog actually links to it directly). This, my friends, will be one to watch.

And the field gets smaller and smaller

Been a bit since I've posted. In that time...

Kucinich dropped out on Jan. 25th leaving a nice little message on his website, but hardly any ripples in the news media.

Obama won S. Carolina and gained "momentum" (more on that later).

and yesterday McCain won the Republican primary in Florida (check out the Huffington Post for a great recap of that one!).

This morning we hear that John Edwards is dropping from the race now as well as Giuliani. Let's see what their websites have to offer ...

As of 9:20 a.m. nothing at the Edwards site. Remember he had a bunch of the social networking things including Twitter -- my Twitter has not gone off, but my CNN alert sure has.

As of 9:20 a.m. nothing for Giuliani on his site either.

I'll check back after class. See if there is a difference/change.

It's Twitter-ific!

Today (Tuesday, January 22nd) I received yet another Twitter from the Fred Thompson Campaign. I've been getting them fairly regularly along with Twitters from the Obama Campaign.

However, today was a first.

At 2:40 BEFORE I got the alert from CNN (also on my cellphone), the Thompson campaign Twittered the following:

"Sadly, It's official. Fred says: "Today I have withdrawn my candidacy for President of the United States" Thanks for all of your support."

Over at the website there is a thank you image AND a post about the end of the canidacy. Well done. As a "supporter" who signed up for Twitter, I found out quickly which is the point of something like Twitter, isn't it?


























Better than what happened over at the Hunter site, which by now does have the posting that "Congressman Hunter has dropped out of the race" (quite unfriendly, by the way).

Richardson is out...just don't check his website...

So as noted in my post from the other day, Gov. Bill Richardson has dropped out of the presidential race.

I confirmed that through major news reports in the New York Times, and Fox News.

At least we find out about it through the media because his website sure isn't talking. The only evidence that he has dropped out is that there is still Iowa Caucus information on it. There isn't even a mention on his blog. The only other indication are several posts from supporters saying thank you.

Hmmmm....

Ok...scratch that. The real-time nature of the web and all...(grin). I just went back to check and there it is ... the thank you and I'm out of here announcement right on the site index page. Now if you've bookmarked the main page of the site..you won't see it.

Splash/Index page:

Main page:

And still no mention on the blog (hopefully that will change soon too).

At what point will politicians "announce" important information from their websites -- and that is where both the media and the constituents will get the news? So here's another case (as we watch them go by the wayside) where the website and social media they set up for the campaign don't fully and truly reflect the ending of the campaign in any meaningful way. It takes a full 48 hours or more -- when it should be the place that provides the information FIRST.

So a final goodbye to Presidential Candidate Bill Richardson...see you on the VP ticket (smile).

Thanks New Hampshire, Hello Michigan and Nevada and South Carolina, Goodbye Bill Richardson

New Hampshire is now over and the lessons learned are probably more important for the media than for anyone else. Um Polling...well...accurate...yeah. That's it...within +4/-4 points unless it's Tuesday in New Hampshire and then, well all bets are off. Consider it political fisbin!

What's more exciting than a "coronation"? (Don't really like that term -- we are a democracy not a monarchy!) A knock-down, drag-out may the best PERSON win, neck and neck dramatic story. Gets people excited. Makes them feel like their vote matters. De facto = low voter turn out. Any body's guess = high voter turn out. Weather, not a factor! (grin).

So far the results are (not delegate numbers):

Clinton (D): New Hampshire
Huckabee (R): Iowa
McCain (R): New Hampshire
Obama (D): Iowa
Romney (R): Wyoming (yeah...remember them??)

Total delegate numbers are (remember, it's really not about the popular vote folks!):

Clinton 183
Edwards 44
Giuliani 0
Gravel 0
Hucakbee 31
Hunter 1
Kucinich 1
McCain 7
Obama 115
Richardson 20
Romney 19
Thompson 3

So now we move to:

• Michigan - Jan. 15th
• Nevada (Caucus) - Jan. 19th
• South Carolina (GOP) - Jan. 19th
• South Carolina (DEM) - Jan. 26th
• Florida - Jan. 29th.

How many times do you think the political pundits and media commentators will "declare" this a "done deal" for someone? I'm sure it will be more than once!

And as we move on to Michigan and leave New Hampshire behind, the AP is reporting that one more has dropped out on the Democratic side: Gov. Bill Richardson. However, this article at MSNBC tells a different story. So it would seem that the MOST EXPERIENCED candidate (really...check out his record) will, at the very least be focusing in on New Mexico work (he is Gov. after all), and backing off on the campaign. Reports stated that he would announce on Thursday.

Hmmm....

I'd assume that if the candidate was dropping out, he'd know that, wouldn't he? Perhaps it is on the campaign website -- which isn't loading. Wonder if he is getting a spike in traffic, or if it's just "comcastic"?

Nothing new at MySpace. (website still trying to load...perhaps its the wind?) Over at Facebook there is much support:

Noooo!! I'm still a devoted Richardson fan till the end!!!!

PLEASE DONT DO IT!! DONT DO IT RICHARDSON!!please, keep your hope up!!
AMERICA NEEDS YOU!!!

Please Bill, Don't Leave Us

I am so disappointed. Bill, please keep your voice LOUD, our country needs
your ideas and experience. Are you endorsing another Democratic candidate? You
will always be my #1.

So I wonder if he has any staffers to get in there to provide some information...that's that engagement factor!

The site will barely load -- and it doesn't look like much has been updated. If that is any indication, I'd say we'll hear more tomorrow, if the candidate doesn't do something tonight.

Emotional Women...here we go again...

By now you've probably already seen the "emotional" Hillary Clinton piece. It's been on all the news channels this evening -- even the BBC ran it.

Reacting to a question about "how she does it" (in other words, gets through all of the grind), she seemed to answer honestly...and...OMG...showed....

EMOTION.

Yep.

There it is folks.

EMOTION.

Actually, my take on it is that she showed how deeply she cares about all of this.

But...

Rival John Edwards saw it differently. Mr. "I care about you, and your family and am the one who will get you health care" responded with the following statement:

I think what we need in a commander-in-chief is strength and resolve, and presidential campaigns are tough business, but being president of the United States is also tough business,"

Of course the media isn't helping either. Here we go...

ABC News: Clinton Gets Emotional on Campaign Trail and
Can Clinton's Emotions Get the Best of Her? N.Y. Senator's Recent Displays of Emotion Have Political Analysts Buzzing
CBS News: The Woman Who Elicited Clinton's Emotion
NBC News: Hillary shows her soft side (Andrea Mitchell noted that Clinton "was clearly showing the strain and was right on the edge")
FOX News: Clinton Dismisses Claims of Being Too Emotional
NYTimes: Clinton Talks about Strains of Campaign

Many thanks to the folks over at Think Progress who point out the interesting fact that when Romney chokes up it's "a genuine moment" or when Pres. Bush chokes up it's "an extraordinary display of emotion" or when Robert Gates, Sec. of Defense choked up he was bringing a "human side".

But when a women chokes up ... she's too emotional to be president or she is just calculating.

God I hope this doesn't turn into a Howard Dean "Scream" moment -- you would have thought the media would have learned from that.

And frankly as an "overly emotional" woman myself, I cringe at this coverage. For heavens sake, when did being emotional mean a woman isn't able to lead? Being emotional means you CARE.

Good luck Hillary. It certainly will be interesting to see how this one pans out. I've got some tissues if you need 'em.

And the delegates go to Romney, Thompson and Hunter!

It took a good 10 minutes for me to fully understand the results of the Wyoming caucus. First, I got confused when I tried to match up the numbers, given the fact that YESTERDAY the NYT had listed Wyoming didn't get penalized by the RNC for moving their caucus up so they got 28 delegates...and what HO! this morning, the NYT and others show that indeed the RNC DID penalize Wyoming so they only had 12 delegates.

Once I figured THAT out, I visited several different news sites (USA Today, ABC News, The Seattle Times and the Wyoming Tribune) to get clearer information and the result is that Romney gets 8 delegates, Thompson gets 3 and Hunter gets 1.

Let's see what their websites reveal (not bothering with the social networking sites, as they are lagging behind on updates anyway)...

Romney: After some digging I found a reference on the BLOG! And that's a quick post from son Craig with a picture of the party in Casper, WY. Nothing anywhere else.

Hunter: Well, nothing has changed at this website -- the Iowa countdown is still going...um...it's negative...but it's still going. So, no word of Wyoming at all.

Thompson: Nope. Nothing. Big focus on the debates from last night.

WEll Wyoming -- in the article from the Wyoming Tribune it's clear you feel pretty good about the fact that you actually had several candidates VISIT your state before the caucus -- and that this is a step up for you from the past. The article actually talks about 2012 putting Wyoming more in the spotlight. Yeah. Good luck on that! Was it worth losing the 12 delegates? You know, for all the media and candidate attention you received? [insert cricket chirping sound effect here].

On to New Hampshire!

Where's Wyoming?

Today is the Republican Caucus in Wyoming. Yep. Big news. Um...didn't even make a "blip" on CNN Headline news this morning as they talked about politics and showed footage from New Hampshire.

This news item from CBSNews Online tells the story...sort of: GOP Ignores Jan. 5 Wyoming Conventions. In the story it is clear that the candidates aren't paying much attention to Wyoming and its 28 delegates [UPDATE 1/6/08 -- its 14! NYTimes had 28 yesterday and has upsted to 14 so they did get penalized for moving the primary forward] (out of 2,500 approx total). Poor Wyoming. What happens when a state party moves it's primary/caucus up to get more attention and they are STILL overshadowed by Iowa and New Hampshire? Tsk tsk...Poor Wyoming...

Here's today's schedule for Wyoming and here is where the results are supposed to be posted (it's an excel file -- not super high tech, but it works if they update it). Looks like the earliest one starts at 8:00 a.m. and the latest at 5:30 p.m.

Let's see who cares....

• Giuliani: Clearly doesn't care. Not a mention on the website or the blog.
• Huckabee: Really cares...about New Hampshire. Sorry Wyoming..no mention there either.
• Hunter: Well I can load the site today. Um...still has an Iowa countdown. No mention of Wyoming...or New Hampshire for that matter. Hello?? Anyone Home??
• Keyes: Hey -- Wyoming is actually on the Calendar on the home page! Wow! This of course from a candidate who is struggling to get anyone to report his results in Iowa.
• McCain: Um...nope. Doesn't care. Even in the state listings there is NO Wyoming. And no Wyoming on the blog either.
• Paul: Nope. Doesn't care. Care's about New Hampshire for sure...but not Wyoming.
• Romney: Don't feel the love here either. Under upcoming events NH, SC and MI get billing...but no Wyoming.
• Thompson: OMG! on the "Fred File" there is actually a post that says, "Help Fred in Wyoming!" And it's on the Home page of the site! Wow! That's it.

So while I like to think that I'm not naive when it comes to politics I admit to being surprised at the total lack of media coverage and news about this caucus. Explain to me how this shows the candidates are inclusive and care about the country as a whole? Seems almost like Vermont! I guess I shouldn't be surprised really. So...sorry Wyoming.

From one small state to another, look at it this way, at least the President has visited YOUR state (grin).

Final Biden and Dodd

So it's been a few days since the Iowa Caucus and the announcement from both the Biden and Dodd campaigns that they were ending their bids for the Presidency.

Biden: No change to the home page, but the blog has the following entry as of today:

Jan. 5 - Final entry, and thank you ALL for your courageous support of Senator Biden’s presidential candidacy. If only the Iowa Caucusgoers had heard Sen. Biden’s speech delivered in March, 2007 on the Senate floor:

“It’s about time we have the courage to stand up and say to the president ‘Mr. President, you have not only put us in harm’s way you have harmed us. I’m so tired of hearing on this floor about courage. Have the courage to tell the Administration, ’stop this ridiculous policy you have.’”

“So as long as the president keeps us on this ridiculous path, taking us off a cliff — I ask my colleagues, does anybody think they’re going to be able to sustain keeping American forces in Iraq, at 160,000, for another year and a half? How many times are we going to ask those 175,000 to rotate, three, four, five, six, seven times?”

“Mr. President, you’re leading us off a cliff. Stop!”

For updates on Senator Biden’s Senate legislation, please visit his Web site at:
http://biden.senate.gov/. Bye for now!

Over at the Facebook site there is no mention from the campaign or anyone that the campaign has ended. Comments on the wall from supporters show support for the candidate and are wondering if he'll be Sec. of State, and who he will endorse. But no message from the candidate or campaign. 9,207 supporters left.

Over at MySpace it's a similar situation -- only the blog import with the above message indicates that he has dropped out and supporters are posting their thoughts and well wishes. 15,253 left.

Dodd: No change here either -- the message that was posted right after the announcement is still on the home page, but the "live update" ticker is still running -- hmmmm...not sure how "live" it is anymore though. At the blog page there's no reference at all to the end of the campaign save for the "Post Caucus" speech ported in from YouTube. No text at all.

Facebook has no reference save for the supporters who are thanking the candidate. 2,414 supporters left.

Myspace similar results. Supporters want to know who he will endorse and are hoping that he will be Sen. Majority Leader. 9,095 friends left.

Final thoughts on Biden/Dodd

The question for the supporters/friends left behind is "what now?" and for the campaigns -- what do we do with all of our social networking sites such as Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube plus the blog and the website? I imagine that there is a lot that happens when a campaign folds -- but the online legacy is lurking there in a way that we have never had before. Folding a campaign is tough. However, in this day of social media, walking away from the many sites you have launched without posting notifications on every one is like being the star of the party and leaving without saying goodbye and hoping that everyone in the ballroom will find out about it some how.

Lessons learned for second-tier candidates -- capitalize on the social media, but have a strategy to fold them if you don't succeed. Actually that should be a lesson for all the candidates. If we aren't careful the information superhighway is going to be full of political litter at the end of the campaign season.