Hi folks, apologies for being awol for so long. After the book party, I was burned out and needed a break. Unfortunately, that turned into a spiral of procrastination, angst, wailing, moaning, gnashing of teeth and other fun times. Last week, I broke through the barrier and cranked out a Campaigns & Elections piece laying out some of the new rules of digital politics revealed this election cycle. This morning, it went online, so let’s preview what you’ll find when you click that link.
Do donations equal endorsements? Can candidates profit from admitting weakness? Will any of us survive the blizzard of emails, ads, tweets, posts and texts certain to fill every venue we access, particularly when it’s our job to pay attention?
Meanwhile, citizens are launching bot-nets, an activist runs for governor just to run lies on Facebook and “local news” sites are popping up to pump propaganda. Even worse, the kids are actually voting! Fortunately, Republicans are doing everything they can to save them from their youthful enthusiasm. But some things stay the same, as Joe Biden found out when he tried to talk to Latino voters. Buy those URLs, folks!
For more, including some positive signs of voter engagement and activism, plus some smart campaign strategies and tactics, check out the full article. After all, if you don’t know the rules, how can you break them?
– cpd