Obama 2012 - Cope And Strange

Obamatrons are already pumping out slogans such as "Together we thrive", but I don't think they're going to buy much. This time voters know who Obama is or, more importantly, who Obama isn't so instead of slogans, social media and such, Obama's handlers should follow the successful Democrat tradition. Buy votes. They seem to be on this path as they tout a billion dollar campaign budget for Obama's reelection.

Another tactic might be honesty. Yes, I am aware this is a little used device in campaigning, but the shock value might be enough to get him reelected by an electorate that has been obviously willing to try anything like, say, an unknown community organizer with questionable academic credentials, degrees and background.

The whole Hope and Change thing hasn't exactly worked out, but we, as nonpartisans, should all lend a hand to our president in his quest help all of us to maintain a mantle of low expectations as an odd reason to keep him around. For my part I say spend more, a lot more, than a billion dollars and find a catchier campaign slogan like "Cope and Strange."

Specter Knifes Republicans In The Back

Democrats will have to learn if they can work with a person of such low moral character and traitorous behavior. It will help that they have leaders that have shown that they will do whatever it takes to win which is exactly how Specter obviously works. That a person would show such devious selfishness at such as time demonstrates a disloyalty that will, no doubt, warm the hearts of the Obama Administration.

Specter says he's switching from GOP to Democrats
"I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate," he said in the statement.

"I don't have to say anything to them. They said it to me," Specter said, when asked in a Capitol corridor about abandoning the GOP.

A senior White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because no announcement has yet been made, said at 10:25 a.m. EDT Tuesday President Barack Obama was handed a note while in the Oval Office during his daily economic briefing. The note said: "Specter is announcing he is changing parties." At 10:32, Obama reached Specter by phone and told him "you have my full support" and that the Democratic Party is "thrilled to have you."

This victory for the Democrats has Rahm Emanual written all over it just as the strategy and tactics do in the Minnesota recount. Specter and Franken will make fine additions to their members in Congress and will give Obama 60 vote margin necessary to ride roughshod over the Constitution and the American public.

I will do everything possible to make it as difficult as possible for Specter to retain his seat.
Specter, what an unprincipled low-life.

McCain/Palin Campaigning In Ohio

John McCain and Sarah Palin campaigned in Lebanon, Ohio Tuesday and wowed the crowd reported to be more than 5,000. I estimated the crowd much larger. Inside security the downtown street was jam packed and there were thousands more outside security listening from afar.

The crowd was diverse with some that were obviously not what would normally be considered Republicans, a large number of veterans proudly wearing hats, jackets, etc identifying themselves as veterans and a ton of women chanting, "Sa-Rah."

Anthony Munoz warmed up the crowd as well as Rob Portman, Mike Dewine and others. In spite of heavy rains leading up to the event the crowd was pumped and very enthusiastic. Munoz, a USC graduate took some ribbing over the upcoming OSU/USC football game and gave up when the band started playing 'Hang On Sloopy'. The entire crowd cheered and sang along. (My son would have mesmerized those surrounding us with his B-52 voice, but he was working in Columbus and studying towards his second degree at OSU.)

A rumble went through the crowd as the people in windows and on the balcony spied McCain and Palin entering the area and broke into cheers of 'Sa-Rah', John Mc-Cain' and 'USA'. It literally sent chills to see and hear people as they strained to catch a glimpse of the nominees while cheering wildly. Rumors of Ohio turning purple or blue seemed far-fetched.

Palin spoke first, commenting that 12 Presidents, numerous Senators, House members, Supreme Court members and foreign dignitaries had all walked through the doors of the 200 year old Golden Lamb Hotel asking the crowd to make John McCain the 13th President to do so. As she spoke, constantly interrupted with cheers and chants, I watched in awe as the crowd focused intently to hear and understand her words. A campaigner's dream not often realized.

As Palin finished and McCain started to speak, the crowd began chanting "John Mc-Cain" over and over. As he made each point, the crowd inched closer applauding and cheering and chanting "zero" each time Biden or Obama were mentioned. McCain brought his A game to this event and the crowd loved it.

The day was far from over as I and the people I drove down went to local events to organize grass root efforts far different from the astro-turfing efforts of the Obama team. At these events it was ironic to hear for the first time of Obama's lipstick slap down comment against Palin so soon after seeing so many signs at the rally for 'Lipstick Moms', 'Lipstick Ladies', etc. That is what happens when you have an ex-professor in charge of a national campaign. Axlerod's ivory tower mendacity is beginning to really hurt Obama.

At each event I had the pleasure of meeting past and future campaign compatriots that are doers, not just talkers. In short order networks were setup to stretch across the state to counter the union/special interest groups bringing in paid out-of-staters to undermine the electoral process in Ohio in an effort to ensure an Obama victory.

Oh, there was a person who tried to disrupt the McCain/Palin rally, but instead of people getting mad, they laughed at the poor guy who slinked away embarrassed. Kinda wraps up the two campaigns right now.

UPDATE: Gateway Pundit has the story on the pitiful rally Obama had in Ohio near the McCain Palin rally.

Pit Bull With Lipstick Has Obama Treed

Voter Registration Increase By Democrats

The dead, illegals, homeless and the nonexistent lead in new registration. ACORN even re-registered Eleanor Roosevelt and Elvis!

Dems Go Lower. Attack Palin's 16 Year Old Daughter

Lefty Bloggers Go After Palin's 16 year old Daughter...

Daily Kos: Is Trig Bristol's Baby? No - Seriously! Check this out!!!

We're going with the rumor: Sarah Palin is not Trig's mother - 236 ...

Trig Palin, Who's Yo' Mama - Sarah or Bristol BlueBloggin

Dem Underground Sarah Palin's Fifth Child rumored to be Daughter's Child ...

www.gossiponsports.com/is-sarah-palin-trigs-grandmother-or-mother/

Is Sarah Palin Trig’s mother or grandmother? Greenwich Diva ...

What's the next stop on the Democrat sewer express?

Leadership Institute Coming To Ohio

Please pass this on to everybody you can including (conservative) groups.

Morton Blackwell's Leadership Institute, the premier campaign school, is coming to Columbus, Ohio on June 10th, 2008.

This all day school is for grass root activists wanting to actively participate in the upcoming campaigns. Attendees will be encouraged to volunteer for campaigns or, if they are especially good, they may be able to find gainful employment! Placement assistance will be given.

The cost to attend is ONLY $20.00. Normally it is $125.00. This includes an all day class, lunch, material, placement assistance.

To get more info please email info@cagco.com or leave info in the comment section.

Activism Versus Punditry

via My vast Right Wing Conspiracy

The Next Right is an important step. Another excellent site is Fort Hard Knox. I don't want to shut down servers worldwide with a mere suggestion to my minion, but I'd join these to take your conservative activism to the next level.

Randi Rhodes - Hillary & Geraldine Haven't Spent Time With Eliot 'Black Socks' Spitzer and Stabenow

Left Dining On Themselves

It appears that the lovely and vivacious Randi Rhodes of Air (Err) America mugged herself this time. It hasn't been enough for her to lie about being attacked, nor was it thrilling enough to ask that President Bush be shot, now she has attacked Former First Lady Hillary Clinton and former vice presidential candidate, Geraldine Ferraro because they aren't messiah enough for her nation.

Air America Host Randi Rhodes Suspended For Calling Hillary A "Big F***ing Whore"

It's a hard task to make Hillary and Geraldine look lady-like, but Randi is just the right little girl to get that done. I love liberals and progressives eating their own. It smells like victory in November. I hope their buffet is 24/7/365.

Belief & Heart: Politics As A Non-Profit

I'd never been to Seth's site before, but I'm glad I did because we share some similar thoughts. I'm pretty sure we didn't work together to get Ronald Reagan elected, but we just may have crossed paths through charitable non-profits. In the worlds of foundations and campaigns there is a constant; if it worked before it works now. Unfortunately, as Seth's blog shows, it no longer is the reality of non-profits. It is also no longer the reality of today's campaigning.

I gave at the office
Mark Rovner has an insightful post about the current state of fundraising and non-profits.
The short version: most big charities are based on direct mail fundraising, and as you're read here before, direct mail is dying. What to do?

I'll start with the bad news: I despair for most of the top 50 non-profits in the US. These are the big guys, and they're stuck. Unlike the Fortune 100, not known for being cutting edge in themselves, the top charities rarely change... if you're big, you're used to being big and you expect to stay big. That means that generation after generation of staff has been hired to keep doing what's working. Big risks and crazy schemes are certainly frowned upon.
The good news is this: the Internet is not a replacement for direct mail fundraising. It is, in fact, something much bigger than that for just about every non-profit.

As soon as commerce started online, many non-profits discovered lots of income from their websites. This was mistakenly chalked up to brilliant conversion and smart marketing. In fact, it was just technologically advanced donors using a more convenient method to send in money they would have sent in anyway.

The big win is in changing the very nature of what it means to support a charity. The idea of "I gave at the office" and of giving money in the last week in December speaks to obligation. Many people donate to satisfy a guilty feeling, or to please a friend. This doesn't scale. Not one bit. It's super easy to ignore a direct mail solicitation when all you have to do is hit delete and no one notices.

The big win is in turning donors into patrons and activists and participants. The biggest donors are the ones who not only give, but do the work. The ones who make the soup or feed the hungry or hang the art. My mom was a volunteer for years at the Albright Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, and there's no doubt at all that we gave more money to the museum than we would have if they'd sent us a flyer once a month.

The internet allows some organizations to embrace long-distance involvement. It lets charities flip the funnel, not through some simple hand waving, but by reorganizing around the idea of engagement online. It means opening yourself up to volunteers, encouraging them to network, to connect with each other, and yes, even to mutiny. It means giving every one of your professionals a blog and the freedom to use it. It means mixing it up with volunteers, so they have something truly at stake. This is understandably scary for many non-profits, but I'm not so sure you have a choice.

Do you have to abandon the old ways today? Of course not. But responsible stewardship requires that you find and empower the mavericks and give them the flexibility to build something new, not to try to force the internet to act like direct mail with free stamps.

Fundraising is the major force behind campaigns and Ron Paul has shown, for example, how the Internet can be utilized as an easier and faster tool to not just raise funds, but get headlines. That fellow in Nigeria that keeps notifying me of the $25o Million he wants to give me is another example of raising funds over the Internet. As Seth points out this isn't new thinking, it is just new technology and a technology that all campaigns will eventually use.

Good ideas can spread into campaigns. Campaigns can domino into a larger effort capable of winning. Funding is only the start. Networking, thinking outside of the box, ignoring time and distance,and allowing volunteers to become local experts and to disseminate the message locally, statewide and nationally. These are the are ways to build a campaign. More importantly, it is a way for the campaign to retain and utilize volunteers to win.

Every campaign needs funding and every volunteer effort needs some ability to fund itself. When these ingredients are put together campaigns become viable. Just as small business is the lifeblood of the economy, volunteers are the lifeblood of winning campaigns. If the product is good.

Any thoughts?