A Peek Inside Politics And The Internet

I started a subscription to Politics, the magazine arm of campaignsandelections.com. Or perhaps it is the other way around. I am a political junkie, and one of the reasons I started the sub was to get a look inside how political campaigns are using and viewing the web.

The first first conclusion I reached, and I could do this without cracking open the pub, is TV TV TV. Take a look:



The mag and site are for campaign professionals and consultants, and by saying TV TV TV I am not making a criticism that is also not valid for many brands in that most consultants, like most old school marketers, would prefer to conduct campaigns by TV rather than in participatory environments online because:

1. As we all know, it's a lot easier to make money off TV buying.

2. TV ads are 100% controllable. By contrast, remember the macaca story that brought down George Allen with taped evidence of the not-even-veiled racist message. One of the positive and constructive messages Allen promised in this clip. When he welcomes a citizen of the US to America.



3. TV is better understood in DC, by consultants and of course candidates, who tend not to have an intuitive understanding of the YouTubes.

4. Did I mention you can make more money on TV ads?

So much of the content is about TV -- ads, how to be a pundit, that sort of stuff. But there are a couple of articles on the Internets, and I am struck by how similar are the challenges facing campaigns to those that face brands.

There is a big article about how The Twitter and the Tubes and the FaceBooks and the MySpaces are going to transform both the speed and the range of opinions out there about the goings on at the conventions. This poses challenges for both parties:

For Dems, it'll make it tough to put that unity veneer on a party that LOOOOVES to squabble and argue over issues both large and minuscule. And fringier bloggers and attendees disrupting the effort to appear more centrist that it did in the Primaries.

For Repubs, I think the big risk is in unfriendly bloggers exposing the rather monochrome and male and elderly composition of attendees. And friendly bloggers deviating from the party's message of centrism when sitting among a group of singularly pro-life, pro Iraq war party footsoldiers. On the plus side, I am expecting lots of good viral photos of those elephant hats GOP women make.

For candidates, the challenge is that one cannot do the ole "I never said that" when someone with a Chocolate or an iPhone is there taping their messages to the hard core bases. Or the danger of embellishing one's record when it's all out there on tape. Remember this?



And if I may get on my soapbox for a moment, what is all this "I am saddened" crap. Sad: I am sad. Not saddened. I now see people-on-the-street in interviews on the news saying it. YOU are responsible for this, Washington! But anyway.

Well, I'm glad Twitterers and Bloggers and Camera Phoners are asking for some truth from both orgs and from both sets of candidates.

There are also bright spots in that article -- the opp for attendees to the conventions to give their citizen journalism coverage a focus on issues that matter to people in states, counties, and towns back home.

The mag also talks about a new multicandidate donor destination app. Choose all the campaigns you want to support and with one click the money goes out. Orgs like Emily's List, which supports campaigns of female and female-issue-friendly candidates, is just one of the orgs using it. So there it is, Open ID of a sort in the world of yard signs and :30s.

Another piece focuses on a hand held printer, which reveals both the arrival of advanced technologies geared to campaigns and the continued focus on printing despite the increasingly digital world.

The other major story is about brand - err, candidate -- reputation online. They do a piece in consultation with a company called International Reputation Management that focuses in part on keeping unwanted negativity off the first page or two of Google search results for a candidates or issue.

Phase one of their strategy consists of creating multiple web sites in a candidate's name. "Having one official campaign site is no longer enough, according to the experts. Candidates need to own their own name. That means registering for as many blogging and social networking sites as possible and filling them with useful content - before someone takes them first."

Truer words were never spoken.

The next step, according to the piece, is driving traffic to all these web presences so they are the ones that appear on top in search. They point out that the results for Obama include the official campaign site, his Twitter page, his Linked In profile, and his MySpace page. That's four slots on page one checked off the list. Actually, when I checked the page, the other slots were news of his Afghanistan trip, a YouTube channel controlled by the campaign, a WaPo campaign profile, and an MSNBC profile. Nothing unfriendly or ranty there. If you are the Obama campaign that means that there is nothing nasty on page one.

Blogger outreach is the third strategy. And they wisely point out that this is a long term effort, not a one time full court press. They also point out that bloggers don't want the same nonstories that the mainstream outlets want. Seen the below:



They want tailored info, and more specifics. They also state that threatening legal action against negative blog entries will only begat more.

Creating and maintaining your own Wikipedia entries is also on the checklist. Another wise move brands would be smart to follow.

So now onto the ads I found in the pub. Most are for Republican consultants, with several promising to "bag donkeys." One from The Traz Group even features donkey heads as animal trophies -- I suppose there are relatively few Repub candidates that are also PETA activists, so Traz is probably safe there. ;-)

Direct mail houses abound, with some also offering email lists of people with high giving propensities.

In sum, it appears as if there are a few orgs that "get" and embrace digital, and a lot being dragged kicking and screaming into it by...consumer eyeballs and dollars. Just like the brand world!!!

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.