I just ran across this video of Palin being interviewed by the media, after she apparently pardoned a turkey at a turkey farm. Here's the problem... a guy is slaughtering turkey's behind her! From what I can tell, he's turning them upside down and draining their blood, directly in the camera shot! ZOMG!!!
I've always taken pride in the camera shots I line up for my Principals. Whether it's a seated interview with a bookshelf in the background which has a well-placed logo, or an inpromptu on-camera interview for a gubernatorial candidate, or even a press conference that I organized (as a volunteer), for Mecklenburg County Commissioner Karen Bently, that I didn't start until the appropriate flags arrived AND I arranged them properly in the camera shot -- I ALWAYS make sure the shot isn't distracting, and is complimentary to the interviewee and the topic. It's just basic image management.
As a communications professional, I am offended that somebody is getting paid to do her PR. The sad thing is that all they needed to do was move 10 feet to the left, and closer to the pen, and they would've had a shot with the turkeys, and NO slaughtering. Quick and easy.
If her PR person was there, he/she should be fired immediately.
Here's the vid:
Friday, November 21, 2008
Monday, November 03, 2008
NC Congressional Race: 8th District
Last January while interviewing for the position of Campaign Manager for the Congressman Robin Hayes' re-election campaign, I did some research on his NC 8th Congressional District. Unfortunately, some of the counties listed below had just barely heard of the internet, and I wasn't able to find all the voter data I had hoped. So, sometimes I had to use my best estimate for some of the data. But, broken down from a spread sheet that has twenty columns, this is what I found and reported to the Chief of Staff....
Based upon previous elections, I was expecting the total turnout for the 8th District to reach about 228,453 voters. This means that, historically speaking, about 114,228 (50% +1) voters would be needed to win the election in this district. And based upon past elections, the total Republican voting turnout was about 121,432 voters, meaning that typically a Republican should win, but barely with only about With about 7,200 votes. But an intersting tidbit is that there are, approximately, 13,221 voters who are persuadable.... these are the guys who can, and do, switch their vote. They aren't party line voters. And with more persuadables, than the margin of victory -- things might get VERY dicey for Hayes is there is a big swell of support for a Democrat.
Now, here we are in the 2008 election. And the Democrats are making strong stands in traditional republican strongholds. Hayes' rival, Larry Kissell, lost by only 329 votes in the last election, and he didn't have much support from the Democrats in DC. Now, smelling blood, the national party and third party organizations have been trucking money down to NC, and Hayes is in trouble. Combine that with Kissel's folksy charm, and a ridiculous ammount of positive press, and honestly, I think that this time Hayes is going down.
329 votes is easy to make up when democrats are flooding to the polls.
PREDICTION: Kissell will win this election.
Based upon previous elections, I was expecting the total turnout for the 8th District to reach about 228,453 voters. This means that, historically speaking, about 114,228 (50% +1) voters would be needed to win the election in this district. And based upon past elections, the total Republican voting turnout was about 121,432 voters, meaning that typically a Republican should win, but barely with only about With about 7,200 votes. But an intersting tidbit is that there are, approximately, 13,221 voters who are persuadable.... these are the guys who can, and do, switch their vote. They aren't party line voters. And with more persuadables, than the margin of victory -- things might get VERY dicey for Hayes is there is a big swell of support for a Democrat.
Now, here we are in the 2008 election. And the Democrats are making strong stands in traditional republican strongholds. Hayes' rival, Larry Kissell, lost by only 329 votes in the last election, and he didn't have much support from the Democrats in DC. Now, smelling blood, the national party and third party organizations have been trucking money down to NC, and Hayes is in trouble. Combine that with Kissel's folksy charm, and a ridiculous ammount of positive press, and honestly, I think that this time Hayes is going down.
329 votes is easy to make up when democrats are flooding to the polls.
PREDICTION: Kissell will win this election.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
President Obama
I know we've still got about two weeks until election day, but barring any amazing revelations or gaffes, Obama will be the President of the United States of America. McCain's done -- stick a fork in him. (Zogby's numbers agree with me.)
Watching McCain's campaign has become painful. Most of his ads, the ones that I've seen at least, are very negative, and then Obama's ad comes on, and it's a completely different tone. The music and images, all positive, and almost inspirational.
Don't get me wrong, I'm voting for McCain. Quite frankly, Obama's health care and tax positions are wrong -- at least as far as I'm concerned.
But my vote will be a drop in the bucket, compared to the tsunami of popularity (and money) that Obama will be riding to victory. This will be a historic election for many reasons, and in the end, our next leader will be President Obama.
PREDICTION: After this election, the right-wing will claim that McCain couldn't win because of his moderate / liberal stances. They will embrace Palin, and expect to see Palin become the darling of conservatives. I have little doubt that she'll be a powerhouse in a few years, and possibly a presidential candidate within 8 years -- possibly 4.
Watching McCain's campaign has become painful. Most of his ads, the ones that I've seen at least, are very negative, and then Obama's ad comes on, and it's a completely different tone. The music and images, all positive, and almost inspirational.
Don't get me wrong, I'm voting for McCain. Quite frankly, Obama's health care and tax positions are wrong -- at least as far as I'm concerned.
But my vote will be a drop in the bucket, compared to the tsunami of popularity (and money) that Obama will be riding to victory. This will be a historic election for many reasons, and in the end, our next leader will be President Obama.
PREDICTION: After this election, the right-wing will claim that McCain couldn't win because of his moderate / liberal stances. They will embrace Palin, and expect to see Palin become the darling of conservatives. I have little doubt that she'll be a powerhouse in a few years, and possibly a presidential candidate within 8 years -- possibly 4.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Kay Hagan: Angry at BushDole
This post is long overdue, but a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to watch U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole and NC State Senator Kay Hagan speak at an agricultural forum in Raleigh, NC. Though they spoke in separate time slots, Hagan spoke as if she were in a debate.
Dole spoke first, choosing to focus on her experience and her senatorial record. She had a LOT to say, and routinely went over her time limit -- which resulted in the mic being cut off. That said, she is no stranger to public speaking, and even though the mic was cut-off, I could still hear her in the back of the room. That woman's got some pipes!
Dole was a little long-winded, and she should have been aware of the time limits. But, she came across as gracious, friendly, and a class act. Next it was Hagan's turn to speak, and the contrasts in personality were remarkable.
Dole's mic had barely had time to cool off, and Hagan was attacking her. (I have no doubt that Dole was still backstage once this point. I would have been FUMING if I were her. And I was a little disappointed that Dole didn't take back her podium to confront the silly attacks) Hagan was routinely going after Dole and whatever topics that Dole has in common with President Bush. It became ridiculous at one point. I'll break-down Hagan's speech to these main parts:
1) Senator E. Dole and President Bush are in bed together on every topic important to the farmers of NC. (I wonder how Bob feels about this!) :)
2) Hagan has very few suggestions for action or legislation, but at least she isn't Dole.
3) Senator Dole's last name is now BushDole.
Now, I'll have you know that I came into this with an open mind. I'd never heard Hagan, and I wasn't too sure about Dole. Heck, in NC, most of the Democrats here are more conservative than republicans on the Left Coast.
What I don't understand is why Hagan took such a shrill and aggressive stance with this crowd. These are (generally speaking) farmers, owning small / medium businesses. They tend to be conservative, and they want their Senator to be competent, and to get things done. Hagan showed no ability to match any of these points. Her speech lacked specifics, would have been much better received in San Francisco, than rural North Carolina.
Dole is running against Hagan, and Hagan is running against BushDole. Will anybody be listening to what Hagan's saying come election day? I doubt it.
Dole spoke first, choosing to focus on her experience and her senatorial record. She had a LOT to say, and routinely went over her time limit -- which resulted in the mic being cut off. That said, she is no stranger to public speaking, and even though the mic was cut-off, I could still hear her in the back of the room. That woman's got some pipes!
Dole was a little long-winded, and she should have been aware of the time limits. But, she came across as gracious, friendly, and a class act. Next it was Hagan's turn to speak, and the contrasts in personality were remarkable.
Dole's mic had barely had time to cool off, and Hagan was attacking her. (I have no doubt that Dole was still backstage once this point. I would have been FUMING if I were her. And I was a little disappointed that Dole didn't take back her podium to confront the silly attacks) Hagan was routinely going after Dole and whatever topics that Dole has in common with President Bush. It became ridiculous at one point. I'll break-down Hagan's speech to these main parts:
1) Senator E. Dole and President Bush are in bed together on every topic important to the farmers of NC. (I wonder how Bob feels about this!) :)
2) Hagan has very few suggestions for action or legislation, but at least she isn't Dole.
3) Senator Dole's last name is now BushDole.
Now, I'll have you know that I came into this with an open mind. I'd never heard Hagan, and I wasn't too sure about Dole. Heck, in NC, most of the Democrats here are more conservative than republicans on the Left Coast.
What I don't understand is why Hagan took such a shrill and aggressive stance with this crowd. These are (generally speaking) farmers, owning small / medium businesses. They tend to be conservative, and they want their Senator to be competent, and to get things done. Hagan showed no ability to match any of these points. Her speech lacked specifics, would have been much better received in San Francisco, than rural North Carolina.
Dole is running against Hagan, and Hagan is running against BushDole. Will anybody be listening to what Hagan's saying come election day? I doubt it.
Monday, August 11, 2008
The Return
Well, I've returned. Unfortunately this means that I'm no longer on the McCrory Campaign. Back in June, the new campaign manager decided to replace me with someone with whom he has worked before. It's his perogative -- I just wish he would have told be before I turned down a job on another campaign. So, I no longer have my dream-job and again I'm looking for employment in this foreign land known as Charlotte, NC.
However, this post isn't about my return. It's about the return of Russia to the world scene. Under Putin (even though he's not the President, it does appear that he is still pulling the strings), Russia has emerged as a political and military force again. This is evidenced by the latest retalatory strikes against Georgia (the country, not the state).
From the initial reports, it sounds like Georgia thought it could attack and subdue one of it's internal province 's that is loyal to Russia. They were wrong. Today's Russia is not about to take any guff from one of it's break-away republics. So, Russia went in, secured the area loyal to it, and is now in the process of running over the rest of Georgia.
Unfortunately for Georgia (which was trying to become a part of NATO), the US is in no position to defend it with military might or political strength. American forces are stretched thin due to the wars in Iraq and Afganistan, and the falling dollar has weakened the US economy.
The Russian Bear has returned. And I'm growing concerned that the politics of appeasement will allow Russia to take back most (if not all) of Georgia, much like the Soviet Union did during the early days of the cold war.
However, this post isn't about my return. It's about the return of Russia to the world scene. Under Putin (even though he's not the President, it does appear that he is still pulling the strings), Russia has emerged as a political and military force again. This is evidenced by the latest retalatory strikes against Georgia (the country, not the state).
From the initial reports, it sounds like Georgia thought it could attack and subdue one of it's internal province 's that is loyal to Russia. They were wrong. Today's Russia is not about to take any guff from one of it's break-away republics. So, Russia went in, secured the area loyal to it, and is now in the process of running over the rest of Georgia.
Unfortunately for Georgia (which was trying to become a part of NATO), the US is in no position to defend it with military might or political strength. American forces are stretched thin due to the wars in Iraq and Afganistan, and the falling dollar has weakened the US economy.
The Russian Bear has returned. And I'm growing concerned that the politics of appeasement will allow Russia to take back most (if not all) of Georgia, much like the Soviet Union did during the early days of the cold war.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
