Newt Gingrich's American Solutions blog has an article on the Employee Free Choice Act which would overhaul the current process that workers use to choose whether or not to unionize.

Right now, the National Labor Relations Board handles unionization elections, which take place under a secret ballot. The Employee Free Choice Act, a political hot button this Congress, would change to a "card signing" system where instead of a formal vote, if enough workers simply sign cards saying "I want a union," than *poof* there is a Union.

This reminds me of the complaints about the Caucus system, where supporters of one candidate complain of intimidation and some outright believe that it is against the principle of a secret ballot.

First I'll give my opinion, then offer a suggestion to both that could even help make General Elections more open and transparent, while keeping the secret ballot.

Speakers are Alan Rosenblatt from CAP,  Tracy Russo from the DNC and Mindy Finn, Director of eCampaign Strategies for Mitt Romney  Live coverage is below:


The rest of my photos are here.

Harold M. Ickes is as close to Democratic Party royalty as they get. The son of FDR's Interior Secretary, he was a Deputy Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton, and now serves as an adviser to Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) in her own White House bid.

Catalist is transforming the way progressive organizations communicate and campaign by creating a comprehensive, well-maintained national database of all voting-age individuals in the United States, along with the tools and expertise needed to make this database broadly accessible, at an affordable price.

No, it's not an endorsement. Trust me, folks. On the other hand,  David All, GOP New Media guru has pointed me towards an article in the The Washington Times, a publication which I normal ignore but for some reason has a really good take on how Senator McCain doesn't just dismiss bloggers as "bloggers," as in HRC's "The Blogs were going crazy" video.

"It gave him a microphone when others had already left the building," said David All, one of the Republicans' Web pioneers who runs Slate Card.com and who said Mr. McCain has benefited from Mr. Hynes' ties to bloggers. "That very much symbolizes the role of bloggers: We don't have editors to report to, and there isn't a big meeting with editors every morning. What that comes down to is personal relationships."

This panel (a good one) is about how much tech policy will influence the next President. Panelists include:

Campaigns, like many things, are about supply and demand. There is one candidate, and the candidate goes where the demand (and hopefully the votes) are.

Social Networking sites have been a force for this campaign. Howard Dean's campaign was boosted by the rise of MeetUp groups, and since 2004, Facebook has tried to make themselves a player in the Political arena.

However, joining a "One Million Strong for Barack" doesn't really mean much when it's a Facebook-wide group.

Eventful Politics takes the level of online support for a candidate and channels it into a demand: show up here. One of the heaviest users of this service has been Barack Obama, who has actually made campaign stops based on Eventful demand numbers. 

On Tuesday, I spoke with Tim Breidigan, VP of Business Development at Eventful on how they are really changing the game of how online support can translate into real life boots on the ground.

 

 

George Washington University is sometimes known as an oasis of popped collars and dockers, a haven for young Republicans, like one of the volunteers at Politics Online that I met today. Not scripted. I simply had my recorder on at the right time.

I hear more and more of this every day. It ain't over yet.

What can I say?  Barack Obama just photographs well, I guess.




Just like the last one of these, it's from the reuters.com editor's choice picture gallery.  If you check out http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures for all of their galleries, including the daily editor's choice.

Andrew Sullivan pointed us to a Sunday Times article on Obama's journey across Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island.

Obama believes he will be able to neutralise McCain by drawing on the expertise of independent Republicans such as Hagel and Lugar, who is regarded by Obama as a potential secretary of state.

Larry Korb, a defence official under President Ronald Reagan who is backing Obama, said: "By putting a Republican in the Pentagon and the State Department you send a signal to Congress and the American people that issues of national security are above politics."

Korb recalled that President John F Kennedy appointed Robert McNamara, a Republican, as defence secretary in 1961. "Hagel is not only a Republican but a military veteran who would reassure the troops that there was somebody in the Pentagon who understood their hopes, concerns and fears," he said.

Not to be flip about this, but there is Hope in the air.

With the Democratic-led House leading a shaky blockade against the Bush administration's plan (well, Bush and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-AT&T)) for telecommunications companies to receive retroactive immunity against lawsuits for their participation in any illegal warrantless wiretapping, many Republican lawmakers and candidates are wondering why there isn't more campaign cash flowing in from those same companies. Roll Call elaborates:

Like most corporate interests with a heavy stake in Congressional action, the major phone companies significantly boosted their contributions to Democrats last year after the party surged back into the majority.

But giving by that sector is getting special attention from Republicans now that the debate over the surveillance program is front and center -- and focused on the phone companies' role in aiding the Bush administration after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"It's quite discouraging," said one GOP leadership aide, referring to the disparity in giving from the telecommunications industry in light of the FISA debate, but also the broader lack of support for Republicans from the business community in general.

"These companies just won't do anything," the aide said. "Even when you have the Democrats working against their bottom line."

Of the four major phone companies, only Sprint is now favoring Democrats overall, giving the majority party about 57 percent of their PAC contributions, according to CQ MoneyLine.

The other three companies, AT&T, Verizon and Qwest, still give a majority to Republicans but by slimmer margins than in years past.

AT&T gave Democrats 38 percent of their PAC dollars last year, up 8 percentage points from the 2006 cycle; Verizon gave them 47 percent, up 10 percentage points from the last cycle; and Qwest gave them 49 percent, a 22 percentage-point boost over 2006, according to records from the FEC and CQ MoneyLine.

So, really the problem isn't that they're not donating, it's that they're donating more equally than they were before the 2006 elections, when there was a GOP lockdown on both chambers. While it's sexy to talk about wiretapping and immunity, the real battle is, as always, over "open access" and fees. Ed Markey (D-MA), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, held a hearing on this subject last fall, and after the conclusion of the 700mhz auction, I would bet on more hearings being held over the question of wireless "open access" fees.

When Barbara Bush did it, however, she was sledding at Camp David.  Hillary Clinton's downhill adventure is a metaphorical one, but may take longer to get over than a broken leg.

From The New York Times

By FRANK RICH

Published: February 24, 2008

WHEN people one day look back at the remarkable implosion of the Hillary Clinton campaign, they may notice that it both began and ended in the long dark shadow of Iraq.

It's not just that her candidacy's central premise -- the priceless value of "experience" -- was fatally poisoned from the start by her still ill-explained vote to authorize the fiasco. Senator Clinton then compounded that 2002 misjudgment by pursuing a 2008 campaign strategy that uncannily mimicked the disastrous Bush Iraq war plan. After promising a cakewalk to the nomination -- "It will be me," Mrs. Clinton told Katie Couric in November -- she was routed by an insurgency.

Let's take a break right there.  Both Clinton and Obama have sponsored local initiatives in Arkansas and illinois, respectively.  Something to take note of is that although H.R.C. took office in the U.S. Senate in 2001 while Barack Obama didn't make it to the U.S. senate until 2005 he was a member of the Illinois State Senate since 1997.  So if we do the math, Barack has 11 years of experience as an elected official compared to Mrs. Clinton's 7.  I also think that it's worth remembering that Hillary thinks that being First Lady for 8 years counts as experience. 

Hillary's supporters (according to Frank Rich's article) would have us believe that their candidate's assumed position as Democratic Nominee for President was usurped by a slick hustler riding a wave of undeserved popularity.  If you want to talk about "undeserved" why not mention that her position that led to all this great executive experience was only granted to her by virtue of the fact that she was married to the President.  She wasn't elected or even appointed to the position based on merit or competence.  She just happened to be married to the  latest  person elected to the office of President.

Moving on to the humor of  the situation is that PR powerhouse Mark Penn doesn't, apparently, take H.R.C.'s bid for the Democratic nomination seriously enough to take time off from his day job, where his biggest client is Microsoft.  He's even recycling strategy.  Just like it was assumed that Window's Vista would be welcomed with open arms because it has the Misrosoft name it looks like he was counting on Hillary's last name (well, the latter half of it) to carry her into office.

PR woes aside just remember that if you really want to place as much importance on experience as Hillary that Barack has 50% more of it than she does as an elected official.

Professor Lessig,

The FCC meets this Monday, in Cambridge, MA. They plan to do nothing.

Straight from the meeting agenda:

The Commission will hear from expert panelists regarding broadband network
management practices.  The hearing is open to the public, and seating will be available on a first- come, first-served basis.

There will be two panels and a technology demonstration.  Additionally, there will be a
technology fair.

Let me get this straight. They have multiple pleas from different parties about network management, which is a de facto net neutrality proceeding, and they're...going to do nothing? No votes? They're going to listen to some executives from Comcast and Verizon, and Tim Wu from Columbia (gotta be fair, I guess) among other people, and after lunch they'll hear from some technical people, including Eric Klinker from BitTorrent. No vote? This question has been up for over a year now...can we get some kind of decision on what's ok? Please?

Oh, and don't forget about the technology fair! Will there be a moon bounce? I want a moon bounce? Pleaaaase, Kevin, can I play on the net neutrality moon bounce? I promise I'll let all the other kids jump just as high. I swear.

Fine. I'll settle for some cotton candy. Delicious.

By the way, we can still send them comments by going to http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi and entering proceeding numbers 07-52 and 08-7.  Speak up, eh?

Also, NYT picks up on Draft Lessig. Good times. Oh, by the way,we've raised $20,000 in 48 hours. Bring it.

Ann Althouse chews on a Macbook Air...and talks about who she is voting for, and why.

...to give money to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, it's just John McCain's insurance policy...

While Andrew Sullivan is on vacation, one of his fantastic guest-bloggers has picked up on the Draft Lessig movement.

Call him a crazed egomanic, but there's something really remarkable about the way Lessig takes a manifest failure of our constitutional system personally. He's not in public life because he was charming and popular in high school, or to find some lobbying sinecure or because he is convinced the other side constitutes an American Taliban that must be shamed and then destroyed. Rather, Lessig is most concerned with preserving the immune system, the organic intellectual defenses, of a free and open society, something conservatives and liberals alike ought to care about very much.

Of course there are many avenues through which to effect political change, perhaps the most important of which is raising awareness of the issues at stake. Lessig has brilliantly pursued that course. In leaving behind questions surrounding copyright, though, he's recognized that there are deeper problems with the body politic, and deeper questions concerning the vitality and indeed the viability of representative democracy in a society like our own. The time may now have come for Lessig to bring his considerable rhetorical skills and intellectual prowess to the legislative branch.

I'm not a liberal and I'm not a Democrat. I'll bet I disagree with Lessig on Iraq and S-CHIP and possibly even net neutrality. Yet I think Lessig, who is very firmly a liberal and very firmly a Democrat, can, in some small but significant way, deliver some of that "change" we've been hearing so much about.

An ActBlue account has been set up for the Draft Lessig movement. The more money that gets pledged, the stronger the change that Professor Lessig will run. If not, the donations will go to Creative Commons. I've already put in some cash myself. Here's the deal. If this is to really work, we have to convince the Professor that there is enough support for him to jump in and have an organization ready to go. Call it a "turnkey campaign."

Please join us in convincing Larry Lessig that to advance the public good and those causes to which he has dedicated his life's work he should run for Congress and fight for change from within. By showing your support here with your donation, you can let Lessig know that you believe he can raise the bar for policy discussions among our public leaders.

This site is created by a group of us involved in the Free Culture movement -- both inside and outside of his district -- who think that Lawrence Lessig ought to consider running for the US Congress from the Bay Area. This effort is completely unofficial and unrelated to Prof. Lessig's work. It is not authorized or approved by Prof. Lessig.

Give, please.

Kurt Cobain said that he knew he'd "made it" when Weird Al Yankovic covered Nirvana's "Smells like Teen Spirit." It's much easier to do that with technology these days, even as a simple mash-up. The great thing that I've seen about the Obama campaign is people have been creating their own ads and hyping the Senator even since last year.  You know that "Yes, We Can" video floating around? Here's the "Weird Al" GOP version:



Too Funny. Featuring a look-alike of Senator Obama's "cousin" too! 

about calling this out a week ago, even before Tom Lantos tragically passed away. Sadly, there is a vacancy to be filled early. Now is the time to strike.

Draft Lawrence Lessig for Congress

Following up on Alex's totally decent commentary on the WashPost's warrantless wiretapping piece, I thought I'd reprint the Valentine's Day card that House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, sent to President Bush regarding the expiration of the "Protect America Act" and Bush's fearmongering about FISA (the law, not the International Rowing Federation), telecom immunity and whining about his rubber stamp being out of ink:

President George W. Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

The Preamble to our Constitution states that one of our highest duties as
public officials is to "provide for the common defence."  As
an elected Member of Congress, a senior Member of the House Armed
Services Committee, and Chairman of the House Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence, I work everyday to ensure that our defense
and intelligence capabilities remain strong in the face of serious
threats to our national security.

(the rest of the letter after the jump)

M E M O R A N D U M

To: Senator Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton

From: Senator Daniel Ken Inouye

Senator Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens

          Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr.

          Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee OM KBE FRS FREng FRSA

Vint Cerf

          Steve Shih Chen

          Chad Meredith Hurley

          Jawed Karim

       

Subject: Online campaign videos 

---

It has come to our attention that your Presidential Campaign Staff has been making been making substantial attempts at using a Series of Tubes known as the Internet to attract young people to support you and your husband's your bid for a third term in the White House. We, as the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee and as the respective inventors of the Internet, World Wide Web, and Youtube, request that you immediately order your subordinates to cease and desist in their attempts to misrepresent you as "cool," "hip," or even "relevant" to young people, who among the most active users of these Tubes.

Youtube videos are heavy consumers of space inside the Tubes, causing them to be clogged and also causing it to become difficult for more relevant and interesting material to be made available to users. While many of these videos are placed onto the Internet by users who create the videos for the benefit of other users, your staff has caused many boring, cringe-worthy and awkward videos to be made, set to music, and placed on Youtube, only to clog up the entire series. 

Contrary to what your strategists have told you, the mere presence of these videos on Youtube does not cause young voters to view you in any different way. In fact, the heavy-handedness of their production causes them to view you as lame, behind the times, and not in touch with their generation in any way whatsoever. We have received the following example of your staff's work and have attached it here as an example of how lame you are:

Please refrain from clogging the Series of Tubes with such material as to allow its use by younger, relevant candidates who can inspire people. 

In the Chesapeake Rout, according to exit polls in Maryland, Obama won: 
Latino Voters By Six Points: 53-47 
All Religions (Including Catholics) 
All Age Groups (Including Seniors) 
All Regions 
All Education Levels
And Women by TWENTY ONE POINTS...