Tiny Town Blazes New Campaign Trail, Using Social Network
The last time Columbus, Kentucky was a significant part of the national political dialog was more than 200 years ago, when Thomas Jefferson proposed moving the national capital here after Washington D.C. was razed.
Now the tiny rural burg of 229 residents is poised again for the historical spotlight, thanks to trendy social networking tools and experimental grassroots digital campaigning that’s taken center stage in the 2008 election campaign. This week, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards will announce a stop here in early October, a result of placing his itinerary in the hands of voters through Eventful, a web–based event-planning site, a campaign spokeswoman said.
"I think such visits are important because they engage rural voters," said Shawn Dixon, a 24-year-old activist who helped orchestrate the trip, besting efforts from much larger destinations through clever digital lobbying. "I think people write us off, but when 1,800 people from a region step up and say we want people to come to speak, that gives rural Americans a voice."
Edwards' journey to an obscure town in the Bluegrass state highlights the often-unpredictable ripple effects from unprecedented Web 2.0-enabled community involvement in this campaign. So far this year, the candidates and electorate have been subjected to a CNN/YouTube debate that was criticized for falling flat and not being community-oriented enough. Earlier this month, they saw a half-hearted attempt by Yahoo to give voters a voice in interpreting candidates' messages through a promotion of its presidential mash-up.
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Andrew McLaughlin has an interesting post.
Madeleine L'Engle, author of "A Wrinkle in Time," Dies.
Alex, the African Grey Parrot, Dies. Alex's last words: "I Love You." He worked until the end.
Verlyn Klinkenborg has these thoughts on the meaning of Alex's life and work with Dr. Pepperberg.
Doing some research on mash-ups, I came across this one of "Bushisms." Interesting way of taking an idea and incorporating it into a popular cultural form. My first memory of someone doing something like this was Paul Hardcastle's "19," which made it to the Top of the Pops in the U.K.
Miguel Helft at the NYTimes has this interesting post about how a patent owner has filed an infringement suit against several of the big Web companies over their ad systems. The suit is taking place in the Eastern District of Texas in Marshall, which has built a small economy around such suits.
I expect this case to attract a lot of attention because of the names involved (Google, Amazon, etc) and because Silicon Valley companies are still pushing to reform the patent system in Congress.
Of course, the arguments get complicated because a lot of firms like IBM spend a lot of money on research and development and then go on to license whatever idea they've come up with. I met someone at a bar the other day who gets bonuses at a major Silicon Valley networking firm for developing ideas with engineers and then filing patents on them. The intention is defensive I was told -- own the idea before you're sued for making a successful product that someone claims infringes on what was first their idea.
US News also has this great interactive illustration that maps out the states' primary dates.
Just caught this interesting story from US News & World Report on the strategically important role that small donations play in financing presidential candidates' campaigns over the long haul. "Small donors" are also more likely to double up and contribute their time to campaigns, the story says. The story also features a great graphic of where the various candidates are at with their finances, and also features neat pop-up video footage Jim Kuhnhenn of the Associated Press's explanations of the various campaign finance terms.
As a former New Yorker, I'll miss your presence.
The Art of Beverly Sills.
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