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December 24, 2006
Happy Festivus...
...feats of strength later.
I've got some really big stuff in the works - specifically I accepted a new job that's going to have me move to Richmond. That's all I want to say at the moment - details may or may not be forthcoming on the blog. Anyways, enjoy the weekend!
Posted by MikeSager at 6:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 19, 2006
The book reminded him of a time when he would sit around reading books, the pages still smelling of recycled wood pulp, every word reminding him why he enjoyed reading these dead authors. Except Pynchon. He's still alive.
I enjoy making fairly heady jokes. As I may have previously mentioned, I feel very strongly that if I am going to make jokes about something of the intellectual variety, I must have at least attempted to read/see/listen/observe it. Sometimes this isn't always possible (A positron orders a drink. The bartender says "Are you sure?" The positron replies "I'm positive!"). But in the case of books especially, I shouldn't joke about what I haven't at least tried to read.
So I'm reading Proust. Little Miss Sunshine inspired this endeavor a few months ago, and I had a bit of a false start - I was trying to keep track of every character introduced in the first few pages of Swann's Way until I shouted "BOLLOCKS!" and put it down. Well, something reminded me of Monty Python's "All-England Summarize Proust Competition" sketch. So I figured what the hell, I'd pick it up and give it another go.
Never have I read so many words that described so little action. Twenty pages waiting for a goodnight kiss, trying to decide whether or not to go to bed as a child. The varnish on the stairwell crystallized his sorrow. Wow. Just Wow. But I am determined. I figure if I can finish at least one whole part of In Search of Lost Time, then I can conquer anything! - Pynchon, you're next! And I haven't forgotten you either, Dostoevsky!
I'll be back with Part 2 of the Campaign Piece soon, as well as a new music issue!
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December 15, 2006
Campaigning in the 21st Century Part 1
Where will it take me? Why am I waiting?
It hasn't even been a month yet, and already the self-referential circle jerk that is cable news and the blogosphere is talking about nothing except the 2008 election. People, it isn't even 2007 yet! But this does make for a good lead-in to a conversation about how campaigning is very different today, even from just a few years ago. It has been said that the McKinley campaign was the prototype of the modern campaign (a statement with which I concur), but what will be considered the first campaign of the Internet age? How do we define a modern campaign? How is running for office, from dog catcher to supreme overlord, different today than it was 10, 20, or 50 years ago? What must a campaign do in this new era to be successful? How can technology help improve voter data, voter contact, and GOTV efforts? These questions and more I hope to address in a few pieces starting now. Today I'm going to talk about those series of tubes that we love so much, the internet.
There is no question that the internet has completely revolutionized...well...everything. But the truly successful campaigns have recognized that the net is useful for more than just the pretend punditry of bloviating morons. The brilliance of the early Dean campaign was the use of very unorthodox techniques to achieve very traditional goals. 2 words: Voter Contact. Everyone speaks of how the Dean campaign was all internet and blogs, but the reality is these tools were used as a means to an end - getting people to speak to other people about the campaign. 2004 used "meetups" & house parties extensively to create grassroots momentum. I myself was drawn into supporting Howard Dean via a friend's house party. My first real political activism quickly followed - volunteering at the Dean meetup, writing postcards, talking to friends, registering voters, etc. The Kerry campaign very wisely co-opted this model, and it was at a Kerry meetup that I met the Central Florida Kerry Field Director - my good friend Tony. From this I was drawn into actually working on the campaign, making a little bit of money for a lot of hours. A little bit of activism brought about a major life change.
Certainly the mass communication factor of the blogs cannot be dismissed or ignored. Hell, I'm writing this in a blog, aren't I? The blogs of 04 served as the same sort of echo chamber in the same way that right wing talk radio has for the last 20 years. Want to get something out about your opponent without having it be directly connected to you? Dump it to a blog. Yet the blogs also served to engage people in the political process in a fashion never seen before. Regular people started donating money. People who'd never volunteered a day on a campaign before were suddenly compelled to put in the same amount of hours volunteering as they would at a second job. The activities themselves were no different than before, only there were many more people involved. The banal rantings of self-proclaimed experts, of which there are many, is only a side effect.
This last cycle showed the completion of the transition into a new era of campaigning. The internet was used to shed light on "cocktober" and macaca. Certainly both of these scandals would've emerged without the internet (Allen's gaffe would've been seen on the news, and Foley would've used other methods to try to fuck high school boys). But the net broke the stories, and kept them alive.
With the plethora of information now available to research directors, candidates will be vetted even deeper and only the squeakiest of the squeaky clean will attempt to run for office. I don't consider this to be a good thing, actually. Would Bill Clinton have run for Governor of Arkansas if his womanizing was all over the internet? Could FDR have been elected if his paralysis was common knowledge? I feel that too much emphasis is placed on the personal character of our elected officials, and the presence of a information network that saves anything and everything you ever do will keep very well qualified people from running for office in order to protect their privacy. I feel that our first loss in this particular department is Mark Warner. Why would anyone want to live under that kind of microscope? There's a small part of me that would love to be a lawmaker. But what little stomach I may have once had for putting myself out there as a candidate is long gone thanks to the internet. Sacrifice my personal privacy for a thankless job that will make me vilified with half the population? No thanks - I'll stay behind the scenes.
In Part 2 I will talk about the how technology has revolutionized the campaigns themselves - voterfiles, databases, methods of mass communication. Cheers!
Posted by MikeSager at 12:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 13, 2006
A Few Bits & Pieces
I'm still kind of reeling from being mugged on Saturday, so I haven't been in a writing mood. That said, a few random odds & ends to throw out and keep people reading.
1. Sometime today a Hillel publication is going to interview me about Jewish college students with tattoos. I only informed my folks about my 2 little bits of treyfe-y goodness a year ago when I had surgery, even though I've had them since I was 18 (sorry Mom!).
2. I had dinner on Saturday night (pre-mugging) with a several of the people I worked with on Kerry in Florida. It was a lot of fun to see those people again, and it's something that needs to happen more often. Afterward I was drove two of my friends from the group to meet up with some of their other friends who had been participating in Santarchy (I believe it was called) - featuring people dressed up in Santa suits and drinking too much. The last name of the guy dressed up as Santa in my car? Berkowitz. Nice.
3. The Decemberists are having a t-shirt design contest on Threadless. Three of my favorite things combined - The Decemberists, Threadless, and Fierce Competition. It's a shame I have no drawing/painting ability. I was gifted with artistic talented, just not for anything that could hang in a gallery or be displayed on a t-shirt. Curses, foiled again.
Posted by MikeSager at 10:30 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
December 10, 2006
It Was Bound to Happen Eventually
I decided to go out to the Black Cat tonight for Mousetrap, the most excellent indie pop night. I timed out my trip to the Metro just to make sure I caught the right train, and used the ride planner. It was a usual train ride until we were rolling into Archives. A group of 3 teenagers came up to me, and one of them started hitting me. I wasn't really paying attention so I didn't notice them come up - I was listening to my iPod, which is what I'm sure they were after. Well - they didn't get it. But I got out of the train right there at Archives - I think they were trying to do a snatch and run. There were a lot of people on the platform so they left me alone at that point and got on a train going the other direction. Not wanting to stay on an empty platform, I rode up with the crowd to Gallery Place and made a police report. I'm alright - my jaw hurts a little and I have a headache, but I'm otherwise fine. And nothing was stolen - it wasn't like when I was in Philly and my laptop got stolen out of my car. But I'm still pissed. But I guess that's city life for you. Now to decide whether a beer would help or hurt.
Posted by MikeSager at 12:11 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
December 4, 2006
Monday Morning Art Fix
Last night I got to checkout The D as a guest of one of my friends who is on tour with them. Over a quick beer, my friend described a new art project he's been working on with various band members from various groups - Secret Wall Tattoos. So the next time you're in a hotel, pull down the painting on the wall. If there's no art behind it - create some!
Posted by MikeSager at 9:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 1, 2006
A Short Piece on the Delicate Nature of Domestic Espionage Matters Spilling Onto the International Stage
Ah Russia. A mere 20 years after Glasnost, ol' Vladdy Putin (File Photo) is determined to "put the band back together". As a result, Russian dissidents are getting poisoned in quite diabolical ways. Radioactive isotopes in Sushi? Why not just serve him the Fugu, as prepared by a blind school child? (Please note, I'm sure most blind school children are excellent chefs...)
This does raise some real questions though - how do you handle internal matters that play out externally? The radioactive materials that he apparently consumed are only dangerous when taken internally (much like Drano). But nonetheless, geiger counters all over London are singing their happy tune plotting out a veritable road map of Cold War style hijinks. What's a Home Secretary to do?
The reality is, no British citizens were attacked. At the same time, the attack happened on British soil. Can Number 10 really do more than just issue statements condemning the acts and prosecuting anyone who gets caught under local laws? There's no conclusive proof that The Vladimir Putin KGB Experience is behind this, but there's no proof that Tarhun had a conflict with the serpent Illuyanka and yet people in Peoria seem to believe in that!
Issue some statements, prosecute whoever gets caught, and keep an eye on Putin to make sure he doesn't ratchet up the evil by killing puppies (for illicit profit).
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