Obama’s online advantage

 

“An analysis found Obama has soared ahead of McCain by a wide margin in his successful penetration of Facebook, with a staggering 2.3 million supporters compared to McCain’s 620,000 fans.”

Online profiles and web 2.0 clients are becoming increasingly important in any event and there is good reason for it. People like to participate in things and the way of being interested and showing support is to get involved in the web 2.0 stuff. it means political candidates can get unprecedented coverage and support. They  can reinforce themselves personally because a lot of the web 2.0 stuff is very positive in how it operates but its power is not to be underestimated. A lot of people here are more likely to be online than watching TV or reading a newspaper. We listen to the radio and we go online because we want information and as we gather and share information we are all keeping in contact. There is plenty  of ideas exchange online and much of it is positive. Politically we are on the ball for this reason. We can get information around quickly and we can share views quickly…but it also means people can contact us quickly and get information out to us. We like to be a part of it and be included. It makes politics so much more interesting and no doubt helps politicians plan campaigns. I guess it would be interesting to know just how much it does impact on voting and I don’t know how you could verify that. Online opinions are not he same as being in the polling booth making that vital decision.

 

Obama’s online advantage – Technology – BrisbaneTimes – brisbanetimes.com.au

End Game

(photo by Melinda Kolk)

So here we all are, ready for the Melbourne Cup tomorrow and then Wednesday will be the US elections and the whole world will be watching. There is a lot riding on this and we have been following this right from the start. We are so much more clued up than we used to be and we are taking a lively and considerable interest in overseas politics. About time. But we’ve had fun. It was great following the French election and then pretty sad France couldn’t put a woman in their top position. So then we thought, maybe America would and they went along with Hillary for some of the way and she was suddenly just out. Sarah Palin came in for a bit but has been losing ground faster than she gained it. So it’s pretty disappointing to see than women just cannot get to the finish line and then stay in power and be regarded as worthy of top positions. Women will fix that in time. Meanwhile our eyes are on John McCain and Barack Obama. Who is going to get into the White House? It is going to make quite an impact internationally whoever gets in there. That’s why we are watching.  The Australian has a Live Poll ready to go and I am really pleased about that because Australia has often made it hard to get overseas information. This is a great step forward to have us looking out onto the world. I just wish that America would respect its voters more and allow them to vote more comfortably. They really have to do the hard yards to put in their votes in those great long queues. It’s too long for people to be standing around. So, I wish them well and I look forward to seeing how it goes.

World loves Obama

World loves Obama – but they can’t vote | The Australian

For them, Senator Obama represents “a young, hopeful, multiracial society, an international creative child of Europe; useful, energetic”.

I think perhaps that the criticism of us in America is unwarranted. There seems to be a belief, according to this article, that we don’t actually know what we are talking about. The world is very clued up politically at the moment and so it should be. We need to be clued up. We have woken up to ourselves and that can only further us. So we have done our homework and we have done a lot of thinking and discussing. This is as a result of having first Hillary Clinton there as a candidate and now Barack Obama. He is American. We know he is American but he at least represents an intelligent, animated, thoughtful, international and modern America. He is refreshing. He is also very inspiring. What America needs to know from us is that he has the capacity to change the image of America and already has. America needs a different image internationally because although we have good ties and relations with a lot of Americans, its image internationally is not a good one and that is not because of its people , it is because of its government. We see Barack Obama as someone we can relate to and talk to and his popularity spans all age groups. That is pretty amazing. I have never known any overseas politician to generate so much enthusiasm. That has to be of benefit to an ailing geopolitical structure. We need people who can create hope and goodwill…those things we had forgotten about. We also need people who can think, talk and have good interpersonal relations. Of course he will have his weak points, but he is part of a team. It is important to the rest of the world that they have an America they can relate to and include. As it stands there is America and the rest of the world. Individuals engage with each other and can work together but on an international front America is on its own because that is what Mr. Bush wanted. In Obama Barack we see someone unique who will be able to relate to all sorts of people and all sorts of nationalities. It would make a difference .

Beware the Lurkers

There is a Victorian saying which goes something along the lines of : “It’s not the knocking at the door which should worry you, but the serpent which slithers under it” and it would appear Barack Obama is aware of this judging by this article. He is dealing with the door knockers. He is dealing with what is out there and in front of him and he appears to be doing that well. In this article he refers to the last minute unknown quantities which he and his voters will need to manage. Oh yes, there will be lurkers in the wings. This is a hard fought election and it won’t be won until whoever is in the White House is in the White House and maybe we’ll be wondering how on earth they got there. There are all sorts of things which this article discusses which could throw the election. Throw it? Are the Americans not sure what they want by now? The French election was hotly contested right to the last but then the two candidates were a tough match for each other and each had their strengths to offer. France went with Sarkoszy and inherited Carla Bruni along with him in the end and she spends a lot of time being interviewed on the European circuit and has eclipsed him in many ways. With Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain, well, there is not much to compare. John McCain is 72 and wouldn’t remain as President. Ms. Palin side tracked us for a while there and was pulled out of the hat, but she no longer has any appeal. Barack Obama continues to impress and so it is important that if the Americans want him to be President they will have to manage whatever comes in from the left field and the article suggests some pretty severe stuff. That is what America needs to get rid of. The fear fest. People should be able to compete on their merits not their trickery and treachery or well timed events. Surely the Americans are not hat easily put off track?

Will he make it to the finish line?

Barack Obama seems to be on a roll. He seems to be the right person at the right time. Will the Democrats stay on their toes and get him over the line? Will the Whitehouse have a poodle? Will the Americans be able celebrate equity along with everything else by allowing Barack Obama to be their president. 17 days and counting. Change would allow the Americans a chance to have a makeover which they are due for it and they know it. They need someone who is enthusiastic. They need someone who is flexible. They need someone who has the energy to put the life back into them. Barack Obama has done amazingly well because he has certainly had some tough challenges along the way. Really tough. He has survived them and he is still talking and thinking. He appears to be able to deal with thee things which fly in form the left field and he has a lot of support both in America and overseas. That is important. America needs someone who can reconnect with the other countries around the world and it needs someone who can connect with a complex world. Barack Obama has the background which wil enable him to negotiate with a whole range of people and that is important. I am sure some more tricks will come out of the bag, but I think Americans are over tricks and they just want to get on with their lives and they want to see their country thrive and do well alongside other countries. This last few days will be tough. Will he make it over the line. We’ll all be watching.

Hey Big Spenders!

Image via WikipediaAh well, in the midst of financial turmoil in America, news that Americans would be taxed to support any bail out, huge, massively huge spending on overseas military action…it gets announced that the two presidential candidates are the biggest spenders in history when it comes to campaigns. 1.48 billion dollars! That is a lot of money. Do they actually need to spend all that? is that what Americans need to run a campaign? Is that what the voters expect? Can’t they do a no frills campaign? When our politicians start splashing around the cash, we get stuck into them…we even mail them back their flashy brochures and then come up with a list of preferred alternatives for political spending. A lot of political debate can be done on TV, the radio, in the papers, on the Net. Flyers don’t have to be expensive and rallies don’t have to be star studded? Or do they? America must want a lot from their candidates. Why do they have to spend that much? Luckily the fund raising has been made easier with the internet and it has actually drawn a commitment from the young ones. Now, that is a good idea to get young people involved in the political workings of their country. I realise the spending has mostly been done before the blow out occurred…maybe we all need to rethink political campaigns. The money could go towards more important things.

The Home Stretch Election 2008

Image via WikipediaI was hoping that the home run on this American election would be able to be completed without the smearing, jeering and pot shots. I hate it when you get a political campaign which just deteriorates into mud slinging and it is a feature which became prevalent in the Bush/Blair/Howard era and it was not worthy of us. To have our politicians do nothing more that take aim and fire insults and nonsense to each other is just so undignified and immensely irritating when you know that we can all do better. The political discussions which have hitherto occurred have been interesting. They were interesting during the French campaign too and the fact we are interested here tells me how much thought has gone into the campaigns…and how much Australians have woken up. We do take a proper interest in world affairs now and we see that as important if we are to work with people. Please don’t let this deteriorate into mudslinging. It has been so good to watch a tough campaign be fought all along the way. Low level thoughtless nonsense will neither further nor help anyone.You cannot fly like an eagle when you are surrounded by turkeys.

Yes We Care

Image via Wikipedia“He makes me think of America the myth, the land of the free, the way it thinks of itself but doesn’t often behave,” she said.

This is unbelievable. This is different. We have got Australians who feel so strongly that they can identify with Barack Obama as the president of a country we have such a long association with, that they are prepared to go over to America and do whatever the Barack Obama campaign offices need. This is such an amazing thing. There are young ones and political veterans and they are doing it for the same reason I am doing this I guess. We need an America with a person who is approachable and who can work with the world. We need someone who can talk and engage with others. Whether Americans want that is another matter. It is their country, but surely they must be tired of Mr. Bush spending all their money overseas funding destructive initiatives? Barack Obama is popular here and it’s because you sense he does care and that he can hold a proper conversation with anyone. He doesn’t appear to be short of words or capacity to empathise. Facebook has a Yes We Care group which was founded by an Australian and it is going really well. We want to see America do well so we are barracking for Barack! Can you believe that? Yes We Care.

Is John McCain 72?

Image via WikipediaAccording to Google he is and this article. Well, now I am flummoxed. What is the matter with people? I know all about seniors and their capacity to contribute…but running a country? Even Her Majesty doesn’t run the country. It means if John McCain gets in , America will be yet another place where the elected leader ends up not being the leader. We are getting quite used to it here with our states in Australia. The people are voting for someone and then the someone disappears and another someone takes over and then there’s an election and another someone takes over. You can lose the plot and the personal impact! Leadership just becomes a blur. Is that what America wants? A leadership blur? Even if John McCain is hail and hearty, how old will he be at the next election? Elder statesmen need to play a critical role at this point in time and that is the role of wise counsel. The world is a bit frantic at the moment. You need a lot of energy, enthusiasm, guts, courage and energy to lead a nation at this point in time. So you need someone who can rally people to whatever the cause of the day is, because that seems to be how it is playing out at the moment and then you need someone who can get people on side, negotiate, network, get here there and everywhere in a hurry . Leaders seem to have to meet anywhere in the world at the drop of a hat. The need to be perpetually enthusiastic and positive. They can’t afford to be stuck in their ways or struggling for responses and that is where the elder statesmen come in. Their knowledge and experience is invaluable for reading situations and giving sound advice in terms of protocol and possible approaches. They can be the think tank online and on tap. The job itself needs someone who can get up and just go and go and go…and talk 19 to the dozen and jet hop with the best of them. That’s life in 2008.

So what about McCain?

Image via WikipediaIt would appear with 5 weeks to go that McCain is still being given a chance. People here wonder whether America, in the final analysis, would vote for Barack Obama. We know they can choose to vote or not so for us it would come down to who has the most active and interested voters. I would have given Hilary Clinton a good chance and she was going really well. It would have been so great to see a woman become President of a country which has done a lot for equal opportunity, but , like France, America just couldn’t come at a woman president and then Hilary lost it a bit. It is a long, hard trail for the Americans. I do not normally take much interest, to be honest, but I so want to see Mr. Bush gone. I think he has done a lot of damage to the world and the image of his country. We need leaders who are articulate and who can talk and negotiate. We need people who will collaborate and be a part of of the group which makes up our planet. So we are thinking, if a strong candidate like Hilary can get lost in this long trail to the election, what will happen in this last 5 weeks? There are people who just will not vote for Barack Obama. There will be those who want more of the same. The financial instability is only going to make this more complicated so I hope the Americans can get their heads around all of this and get the picture clear. It is going to be an interesting 5 weeks but I hope it doesn’t deteriorate into pot shots and smearing. So undignified and unnecessary.