Given our likely victories ... (0.00 / 0)

All around scumbag Democrat Tim Mahoney may not seek reelection.

I say good riddance .. he wasn't a Democrat anyway .. another example of Rahmbo's genius .. a real Democrat should be pretty competitive in that district anyway .. so we can always try again in 2010

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by: Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle @ Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 15:07:25 PM UTC

Joe the plumber (0.00 / 0)

Joe the plumber scares me. People are talking about it at work. These idiots all of course think that this shows Democrats are bad for business. I realize Joe said some crazy things today, but Obama has to get out ahead of this before it defines the race. I'm annoyed so far that the blogosphere is not taking this seriously.

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by: Semblance @ Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 15:10:50 PM UTC

But how representative is that? (0.00 / 0)

The reaction of your coworkers, that is.  The instant polling and focus groups all showed decisive wins for Obama and open contempt for McCain's obsession with Joe the Plumber.

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by: Haggai @ Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 15:17:48 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Media (0.00 / 0)

My concern is about the corporate media using this as a reason to launch into 19 days of asking, "Will Joe the plumber save the McCain campaign?", wherein all the pundits will constantly tell us that Obama is bad for business.

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by: Semblance @ Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 15:21:57 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Sounds like you never watch CNBC ... (0.00 / 0)

as they rant on that alot .. and it isn't just Kudlow

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by: Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle @ Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 15:45:29 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Concern, concern, concern... (0.00 / 0)

We have all been so traumatized by the 2000 and 2004 elections that we can't get out of the habit of worrying that the sky is going to fall on our candidate.

But this time we have a candidate who is not just smart, but sympathetic and telegenic -- who also has organized both a ground game and a fundraising machine like no one has ever seen. Meanwhile, the GOP has done everything possible to run the country into the ground and destroy their brand, and McCain is possibly the worst Presidential campaigner in my lifetime.

Don't be a victim of the idiot pundits or past electoral traumas. Keep working for Obama -- but stop worrying so much, I urge and implore you.

"Liberals feel unworthy of their possessions. Conservatives feel they deserve everything they’ve stolen." -- Mort Sahl

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by: Sam @ Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 15:51:36 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Bill the Cat (4.00 / 3)

McCain seems to be channeling Berk Breathed in the photo at the top of the diary:

"Aaaaack! Pffftththffft!"

Worst. Campaigner. Ever.

"Liberals feel unworthy of their possessions. Conservatives feel they deserve everything they’ve stolen." -- Mort Sahl

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by: Sam @ Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 15:47:01 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I feel like the netroots (0.00 / 0)

should be giving the cell-tower scandal bigger play. Hard cold corruption. The Commerce Committee, on which McCain sits, oversees the telecom industry and at least seven people on his campaign have lobbying ties to ATT and Verizon:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his campaign have close ties to Verizon and AT&T. Five campaign officials, including manager Rick Davis, have worked as lobbyists for Verizon. Former McCain staff member Robert Fisher is an in-house lobbyist for Verizon and is volunteering for the campaign. Fisher, Verizon chief executive Ivan G. Seidenberg and company lobbyists have raised more than $1.3 million for McCain's presidential effort, and Verizon employees are among the top 20 corporate donors over McCain's political career, giving his campaigns more than $155,000.

McCain's Senate chief of staff Mark Buse, senior strategist Charles R. Black Jr. and several other campaign staff members have registered as AT&T lobbyists in the past. AT&T Executive Vice President Timothy McKone and AT&T lobbyists have raised more than $2.3 million for McCain. AT&T employees have donated more than $325,000 to the Republican's campaigns, putting the company in the No. 3 spot for career donations to McCain, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Or is McCain such an rage-addled, unappealing piece of shit that we don't have to focus on his corporatized corruption?

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by: david mizner @ Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 15:14:34 PM UTC

On Effective -- and Ineffective Ways -- to use celebrities (0.00 / 0)

I think the Creative Coalition is a good organization, and I think celebrities can be effective advocates...but I think that "Vote" video is, um, lame.

It's 3 minutes of famous people saying "Vote," and mixing in platitudes about how voting matters, such as "Your vote counts," and "Nobody else will do it for you."  It uses the same Margaret Mead TWICE.

I watched it in an office and the two folks who could hear it didn't say, "Ooh, I want to see Samuel L. Jackson, forward it to me."  They said, "That sounds sugary and far too long."

I applaud the creators for getting a line-up of heavy hitters on an important message (and the platitudes ARE true -- your vote DOES matter).

But I'd love it to be a video I wanted to forward.

A couple notes of advice on what might have made the video more effective.

1. Make it shorter.  If it's going to be a montage of the word "Vote," platitudes and playful dancing, keep it to a minute.

2. Make it personal.  What if Samuel L. Jackson said, "I vote because I went to a public school," then Susan Sarandon says, "I vote because I want America to be a leader in the world."  I mean, I'd prefer them to be even more specific (e.g. "Because I want more funding for public schools like the one I went to"), but I recognize that too often celebrity-driven non-profits try to stay away from taking particular opinions.

However, you have talented surrogates here.  Let's hear something about what they care about.  They are professionals at emoting -- give us some emotion.

3. Make it more connected to the world.  Think of Van Halen's "Right Now."  The messages interspersed throughout the music video aren't explicitly political, but they are provocative and clearly are connected to our role in a larger society.  That type of messaging -- either voiced by these celebs, or interspersed among them -- makes it more important than Susan Sarandon saying, "It's important."  Give us context about poverty, global climate change, the opportunities of technology...issues that we all understand to be challenges faced by all candidates.

4. Make it more absurd.  If you don't want to get into personal perspectives, or have the connection to the larger world, then make it absurd enough that people want to forward it.  Have Toby Ziegler deliver his message while posing like Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial, or John Leguizamo look up from registering to vote at a post office in bustling Times Square -- anything that would make me say, "Hey, pal, check out this funny video...and use humor to slip a message to a friend."

My two cents.  The creators of this are on the right issue; and the celebs are commendable for caring enough to take the time (I hope all these LA-based folks are also tackling "No On 8" -- http://www/noonprop8.com -- the push to protect marriage equality in California).  I just wish it were more entertaining and effective.

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by: Justin Krebs @ Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 15:23:12 PM UTC

two things (0.00 / 0)

It is awesome that every four years hot celebrities make little ads that tell me to vote. They don't tell me who to vote for, but I know, and you know, that if I don't vote for the Democrat, Gwyneth Paltrow is never going to make out with me.

This is why young Republicans are so angry. They know it too. They have, like, some washed up TBS star. Great. Go make out with Chuck Norris. Maybe you can have a threesome with that woman who called John Edwards a faggot. That sounds great.

The other thing is that JP agrees with me.

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by: sdedeo @ Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 19:17:02 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Shorter Lessig (0.00 / 0)

The country needs more accountability in Presidential debates.  Warrantless wiretapping?  Not so much.

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by: space @ Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 17:12:18 PM UTC

Is the photo authentic??? (0.00 / 0)

If yes - wtf is McCain doing there???
:D

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by: Gray @ Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 17:36:13 PM UTC

Even tho (0.00 / 0)

the coal belt would sooner invite russians over for a latte party than vote for a black guy, Obama can't help shilling for the totally Orwellian notion of "clean coal".

sigh, how did the youth who are doing so much volunteering for this guy get so suckered into really buying into Obama as some utopian change agent? is it all just about college tuition?

Michael Bloomberg, prince of corporate welfare

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by: Will @ Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 19:44:01 PM UTC