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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.
Posted to Election | Technology
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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.
Posted to Election
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.

You would think that Ickes wouldn't be too crazy about doing business with the Obama campaign, right? 

Wrong.

As the New York Times reports, Ickes is president of Catalist, formerly known as "Data Warehouse"  which has one of the most frightening mission statements I've ever seen:

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.


(more after the jump)

Posted to Election | Politics
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.

Although David and I don't agree eye-to-eye on many things (while I'm issue-oriented towards tech, he's very much a total political animal on the GOP side and I respect that) he makes a very important point about the changing nature of media that technology allows for:

"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."

Can someone enlighten to me when reporting news ceased to be about personal relationships? If anything, the rise of social media, blogs (god I hate that term) and independent journalism has boosted the necessity of maintaining relationships and *gasp* networking, not just telling someone who you write for and hoping they'll think you're important. These days, everyone is important and you can't afford to give people who want to talk to you the brush-off.

Sure, I could be described as a "liberal blogger" although I prefer to focus on issues and not ideology (remember when I supported Utah's plan for opt-in 'net censorship?) and politicians relationship with the tech industry/new media and the other way around.

David has hit it right on the head. I'll sit down with you and hit "record" and I'll put your words out there for all to hear. Not just one "macaca" moment to be re-played over and over again, but I'll put the whole thing out there. I explain how I do things before I interview people. How do you think I get people to talk to me? They trust me, whether they agree with me or not (The CTO of the MPAA who I questioned earlier in the day thursday sat down for 25 minutes with me to talk because I let him know that I wanted his side totally on the record, not some sound bite) and in turn I give them the respect of reporting their words, not spinning them, not editing them to death, just being honest.

Honestly is the best policy, and that's how you maintain a relationship, and a legacy.

Thanks for the tip off, David.
Posted to Election | Politics
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This panel (a good one) is about how much tech policy will influence the next President. Panelists include:

Tony Perkins - AlwaysOn
Andrew Rasiej, Personal Democracy Forum
Alec Ross, former editor of Red Herring.
Rick White, former Congressman and now of the Wood Bay Group


Rick White noted that tech policy does not drive public policy. 

The Red Herring rep noted that then Governor Bush said that 1/3rd of startups in the Valley are started by immigrants, and that President Bush was in favor of immigration helping to foster innovation. #1 Tech Issue is Innovation and that McCain and Bush have been unfairly attacked, but better policy is necessary for a "tech president."

Another interesting note: Broadband is classified as an "entertainment service" and therefore cannot be brought into public housing using public funds, and that there has not been any ear in the White House to fix this. The three remaining '08 candidates understand that Broadband policy is quite important for our economic future.

Andrew Rasiej from PDF asked if we'd solved the digital divide. He noted that the definition of "wired" has changed, and that 10 years ago a business card w/o an email address would not be unusual. He also noted that the "digital divide" goes beyond simply connecting people, it means empowering people to use it. 

Rick White asked if the money would be better spent on school lunches. Interesting for a panel on Tech Policy. 

The moderator, Sarah Lai Stirland asked what the role of Lobbyists would be for a "Tech President" and noted that Sen. McCain and Clinton have massive amounts of telecom lobbyists on their campaigns. While acknowledging their legitimate role, she asked about the proper role.

Alec Ross would (rightly) not say anything that damns them (lobbyists), saying that they do play an important role. The question for him is "what is the balance?" and called for transparency in communication between legislators, regulators, and lobbyists. He noted that Senator McCain had sent letters on behalf of Paxon Communications (now ION Media Networks) to all five FCC Commissioners regarding the DTV Transition, and wondered if those letters could be made automatically public (since right now they are available, but only after a FOIA request).  Congressman White noted that he didn't see a reason why these types of communications between public officials should be public.

I challenged him on this and got no valid answer, especially when I pointed out that McCain was acting on behalf of a donor, not a constituent (ION does not operate any Arizona stations) and that the delay in the DTV transition has harmed the ability of first responders to have interoperable communications. 


Posted to Congress | DTV | Election | Lobbying | Politics

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.

 

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I was initially skeptical of talking to someone about Yet Another Social Networking Site, but the more I learned, the more excited I got. These guys are anything but. I learned that for every person who wants a candidate to appear, they bring on average, 3 friends.
 
Eventful has been used by rock stars to plan tours. When a politician is like a rock star, why not go where the fans are? Sometimes the market does work best.
Posted to Election | Internet | Podcasts | Politics Online 2008 | Technology | Web 2.0
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.

Until he said this:



I hear more and more of this every day. It ain't over yet.
Posted to Election | Obama
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.


Posted to All | Election | Obama | Politics | Quickies
Andrew Sullivan pointed us to a Sunday Times article on Obama's journey across Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island.

It seems that Obama has been reading some history, possibly Doris Kearns Goodwin's excellent Team of Rivals, an excellent biography of Abraham Lincoln, an Illinois legislator who rose from humble beginnings to become President during a troubled time. He's planning on taking some pages from Lincoln's book:

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.


My mother, an ardent Hillary hater (like many educated women of Senator Clinton's age) is a firm believer in the "Bradley Effect" where voters will publicly support a black candidate, but alone with their inner prejudices in the booth, pull the lever for the white guy. After reading this quote, I have to question that:

Richard Reardon, 64, a security officer and veteran, said: "I'll be honest. Maybe 20 years ago, I'd never have voted for a black man, but after the Bushes and the Clintons, give the man a chance."

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

Posted to Election | Obama | Politics
See Senator Clinton's "Red Phone" ad:


Now, watch this ad from Walter Mondale's 1984 Primary campaign against Gary Hart:



I mean, is she seriously ripping off a man who is known for being on the losing end of one of the biggest landslides in American politics? 

Not only that, but Mondale was channeling the famous Lyndon Johnson "Daisy" ad which LBJ only aired once, but successfully used the controversy over it to defeat Barry Goldwater in 1964, another landslide. Here it is: 
 



Keep in mind that Hillary admits to being a "Goldwater Girl." 

When you think you've seen it all...

(hat tip to Andrew Sullivan)

Posted to Election | Politics

Days to DTV transition

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