Blogger Outreach? What Blogger Outreach?

The following is a pretty interesting read. From The Hotline's Blogometer:

3/14: How Blog Outreach Is Done

WH '08ers can't seem to agree on how to title their official blog advisers (eCampaign Adviser, Blog Outreach Dir., and Dir. of Online Communications are a few choices), and most campaigns also have trouble defining how exactly their blog experts fit into their campaign. Each candidate's strengths in other areas ought to inform how they handle blogs, but Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) aide (he doesn't even have an official title) Patrick Hynes' push-back efforts 3/13 are a textbook example of how the job should be done. After a flurry of posts hit McCain for skipping the Club for Growth's winter conf., Hynes went to work emailing bloggers to let them know CFG only offered McCain dates to speak that coincided with a previously planned trip to Iraq. The retractions and updates Hynes netted his candidate both tampered down implications that he was dissing conservatives and reinforced McCain's strength on just about the only issue conservative bloggers back McCain on. This one episode is not going to magically swing bloggers to McCain's column, but it is an example of the vigilant defense WH '08ers must be prepared to play online.

Now, I have to say this is a very little blog and I would be surprised if there were a lot of "outreach" in this direction from presidential campaigns. That said, Nevada is now an early Caucus state and I haven't heard of much outreach to any Nevada blog. There was the case of Obama skipping the AFSCME forum in Carson City - no explanations, no outreach whatsoever. Then the Fox News debate controversy. The only outreach at all was by Edwards and Richardson to Kos, but only after he contacted them. None of the candidates did any outreach during this time to any Nevada blogs - as far as I know, at least there was none reporting in this respect on the two biggies, Reno and its Discontent and the Las Vegas Gleaner.

So, maybe, just maybe, Democrats could actually learn something from a Republican for a change!

End of rant.

Viedo and More From The AFSCME Forum

One would wish that every campaign were as professional as AFSCME. The union has everything relating to the presidential forum in Carson City on Wednesday up on their website. You can view watch video of the forum, read the entire transcript of the debate, and find links to news accounts of the forum. Great job!

AFSCME Forum - Roundup

I had some problems with the livestream at C-Span from time to time but other than that I must say that I was positively surprised by today's forum.

First of all, I really liked the format. I've seen my share of debates and most of them sucked. Even though there were 600 people in the audience the setting came across as quite intimate. 10-15 minutes for each candidate by himself was quite a good idea to get acquainted with all the candidates.

Generally, I was surprised by the quality of the field. We have a wide variety of qualified candidates. And even the ones that are not taken seriously are still interesting and have something to say. Two of the frontrunners, Edwards and Hillary, pretty much performed as expected though Edwards was better than Hillary.

Because of livestream problems at the beginning I didn't catch too much of Dodd but it seemed like he did really well and got a great response from the audience. Other than that I was quite impressed by Bill Richardson and also Joe Biden who came across as the most qualified candidates. Finally Kucinich and Gravel rounded things up and didn't disappoint. I don't know if either should be president but I'd definitely like to see more of them in politics.

All in all, it's gonna be a fun year - and a much better and more interesting primary campaign than 2004.

PS: Oh, yeah, Obama wasn't there. He chose to spend the day in Iowa. After watching the forum I must say that that was probably not the smartest move. Though he did get the endorsement of former Senate leader Tom Daschle today.

Gravel: "The oil there is not worth one more American death"

"I'm no cheerleader". And he ain't kidding. Says that everything Congress is trying to do right now about Iraq, is unconstitutional. Says Murtha is trying to play General. Gravel says Congress needs to introduce a law. "The oil there is not worth one more American death".

He just made George say "Okay" which is DC code for "you're nuts" when he said that Bush is lying to the American people just like Johnson did about Vietnam.

On education: why can Scandinavian countries take a child from Kindergarten to Ph.D. and have the government pay for it? Why can't the US? His answer: the military-industrial complex. Well, he's old enough to still remember Eisenhower.

Is now trying to sell his sales tax initiative. Audience seems to skeptical.

"I'm trying to opt in to public funding".

"I don't think it's a big deal whether I become President or not". He's funny, I like this guy.

He's actually more of a cheerleader than he claims to be. Looking forward to the first debate in which he gets to ask another candidate a question.

Kucinich: "It Must be Hard for Candidates To Admit They Were Misled by George Bush"

"Here's one who wasn't misled by George Bush." Kucinich talks about his leadership in the House against the Iraq war. He wants to get out of Iraq, close all bases. Calls for reparations to the Iraqi people, stop "stealing oil from the Iraqi people". Gets an audible response from the audience when he asks what the reason for the Iraq war was: "Oil!"

Calls the health care debate "one of the biggest frauds". Says his plans doesn't provide for a role for insurance companies. Says the other plans are not "legit". Says the Democratic Party shouldn't be the party of the insurance people.

Says NAFTA, WTO trade agreements were bad for worker rights everywhere, not just in America. He wants to go back to bi-lateral trade. The audience cheers.

This format was much better for Kucinich than the DNC meeting in Washington. Kucinich just bombed in DC but the audience liked and cheered him in Carson City. However, at the end he overdid it again with the "you need a President with no strings" part.

Biden: "Sign me up for the Pledge"

"Ask the next person who tells you, let's get out of Iraq: What next? What next?"

Biden puts a lot of emphasis on his plan to get out of Iraq and especially what happens after that. He sure knows his stuff, no arguing about that.

Question by an AFSCME member about No Child Left Behind. Biden talks about his wife, who's a teacher. Says the program is underfunded, calls for smaller classes, wants to get the best students out of college as teachers but "we gotta pay them". Talks about 400,000 kids who qualified to go to college last year and didn't get to go.

All in all, he exceeded my expectations. Maybe that is because a lot of people (bloggers and pundits) were talking him down.

Richardson Proposes a Pledge for Democratic Candidates not to Attack One Another

Richardson indirectly chides all the other candidates. He proposes a pledge that Democratic Candidates not attack one another.

Talks about what he has achieved as Governor of New Mexico. Interestingly, Vilsack didn't focus so much on his experience as Governor.

"A lot of candidates talk about these things. I've done it."

Richardson clearly plays the experience card like no other. He wants the congress to de-authorize the war since it was the one who authorized it. Wants to restore America's standing in the world.

Second reference to Kennedy (after Clinton), "man on the moon" effort - this time it's about energy.

Richardson says Obama should denounce Geffen's comments on Clinton. He says candidates should advance their own solutions, not engage in name calling. Gets a lot of cheers for his pledge.

"I would not increase taxes" - problem is eccessive costs, wants to focus on preventive health care. "Solution should not be spend more, tax more". Actually gets some light applause for this.

In talking about globalization, he wants to reward those who keep their jobs in America. "I want the Democratic Party to be the party of high tech, of science, of innovation". He wants to things in a "positive way".

Quotes President Clinton: "Bad guys like Richardson, so I'm sending him there" in reference to his international experience. He's the first one to talk about Darfur.

First to quote non-American, former Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin: "We don't make peace with our friends, we make peace with our enemies"

Edwards Indirectly Disses Hillary: "We need a leader who will take responsibility"

Edwards starts off with his minimum wage initiative and plays the organized labour "and I've been running a poverty center for the last couple of years" card. Edwards just looooves unions.

Now, he's quoting Martin Luther King, Jr. He wants to start putting universal health care into place the second he takes office. Edwards also challenges every candidate to say how they're gonna pay for universal health care. He wants to take back some of Bush's tax cuts.

Iraq: "we need a leader who tells the truth, who will take responsibility" referencing six years with Bush and his admission that he made a mistake when voting for the war. Wham, if that wasn't a clear slap in the face of Hillary Clinton.

George got it too. Edwards says it's not for him to judge her. It's "her conscience."

But is Edwards just always taking the popular stance, George asks. Edwards response that it's up to the voters to judge.

"We have to be smarter about the effects of globalization". Solutions: Better education, easier college access and a trade policy "that works". Not fair trade, not free trade but "smart trade". He calls for international labor standards.

Final words: small baby steps are not enough. We need to take big steps.

The Little Fellow

Vilsack starts off with a "I'm not going to talk about" and then goes straight ahead mentioning everyone anyhow. But he wants to talk about "a little fellow" he met, a five year old who asked him about Iraq and if more troops would help. The boy told him he was scared. Vilsack thinks children in America shouldn't be scared.

Therefore, troops should be withdrawn. He wants Congress to act, stop funding the war in Iraq. He wants the money going to Iraq being invested in America instead.

"You know folks, this is America!" Vilsack is now talking about health care. "Make health care a priority, not Iraq!"

After the questions he got a rather long, respectful applause.

Another child story. He clearly loves this one. And he sure doesn't forget to mention his orphanage background.

He's clearly taking the populist route. Wonder how über populist Edwards is gonna beat that.

Hillary Getting Booed and Hackled

It may be that the livestream is sending out a weird sound but I thought I made out a few boos and at least one hackler in the audience when Hillary came on stage. There clearly are a several Hillary supporters as the cheering seemed to be at least equal to the booing.

Again, she refused to say her Iraq vote was a mistake. This wasn't too well received, though the reaction could clearly have been worse.

However, she does do her best to lighten things up by joking about her health care scars. Talking about health insurance is obviously one of her strong points.

Ooh, a Kennedy quote. And, oh my God, she just compared herself to Kennedy saying that she wants every person in America insured by the end of the (next? - I didn't quite get that one) decade.

Instead of answering whether or not Obama should denounce David Geffen, who had some choice words for the Clintons yesterday, she said she was happy to be in Carson City. Ouch!

Dodd did a Pretty Good Job

I'm still having a few difficulty problems. Somehow the feed ain't holding steady. Anyhow, from what I heard Sen. Dodd did a pretty good job. He got a lot of cheers and applause. And not only for being able to pronounce Nevada correctly. Especially, his stance on Iraq was well received. Being the candidate before Hillary he pointed out again that his vote for Iraq was a mistake. Hillary's up now.

George Just Got Booed

Man, and I thought getting out of Washington might help. Apparently not. Georgie boy just got booed by the audience for mispronouncing Nevada. Way to go! Thankfully Dodd knew what Georgie did wrong and corrected him.

This is Starting off Great

First, C-Span has trouble getting the feed, now John Mercurio of The Hotline hasn't figured out yet how to pronounce Nevada. This oughta be fun.

Liveblogging the AFSCME Forum Today

I intend on liveblogging the AFSCME forum in Carson City later today. Fortunately, the forum will be broadcast live on C-Span and will also be available as a livestream on the websites of C-Span and ABC News. This way I'll actually be able to watch it from Germany.

The forum itself will take place at 12noon pacific in the following format:

Candidates confirmed to attend, as of publication, in order of appearance at the forum:
(as determined by lottery)
United States Senator Chris Dodd, D-CT
United States Senator Hillary Clinton, D-NY
Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, D-IA
Former United States Senator John Edwards, D-NC
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, D-NM
United States Senator Joe Biden, D-DE
United States Congressman Dennis Kucinich, D-OH
Former United States Senator Mike Gravel, D-AK

The forum layout and rules (as determined by AFSCME)

At 2:45 am EST all the candidates attending have been invited to attend a group photo and video on then the forum stage. Following the photo the forum will begin with remarks from United States Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), AFSCME president Gerald McEntee and Nevada State Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley.

After the introduction and welcome, each candidate will take the stage individually:
- The candidate will give 2:00 minute opening remarks
- The candidate will answer three questions. Two from George Stephanopoulos and one submitted by AFSCME the order of questions is up to the moderator.
- The candidate has no more than 3:00 minutes to answer each question.
- The candidate has 1:00 minute to make closing remarks
- There will be a count-down clock visible to both the guest and moderator during each segment.

According to UPI the Forum is Already Over

God, these people! Where do they get the nerve? Published by UPI today at 7.38am ET, more than seven hours before the forum is even set to begin:

CARSON CITY, Nev., Feb. 21 (UPI) -- Nevada's capital was bustling Wednesday as eight Democrats with U.S. presidential aspirations participated in a pre-caucus forum.

"If they want to be elected president ... they have to win the West now," U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told USA Today. "That's why the caucuses are here and the (Democratic Party) convention will be in Denver."

Nevada gained some clout by being slotted as the second Democratic caucus site next year on Jan. 19, after Iowa on Jan 14. The first primary is Jan. 22 in New Hampshire.

All of the Democratic prospects attended the forum with the exception of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who had a scheduling conflict but he had made time to campaign in the state last weekend, the newspaper said.

It's highly unlikely that UPI even has a reporter in Carson City as they seem to claim as UPI today has fewer than 50 employees. But what do you expect from a declining organization which is part of News World Communications owned by the Unification Church sect of Sun Myung Moon. Said company also owns the Washington Times. Nuff said.

Yucca Mountain and the Nevada Caucus

Apparently, it is possible to write a story about Nevada for a national audience which actually involves an important issue and totally ignores the usual stereotypes. Of course, that is not the story Kathleen Hennessey wrote yesterday.

Fortunately, there are reporters like Jean Chemnick of The Politico. In a story headlined "Nevada's New Political Wattage Alters Balance in Yucca Nuclear Fight" she actually manages to take an in depth look at an issue of importance to voters in Nevada and makes the connection as to how the Nevada Caucus will have an impact on this issue.

An excerpt:

Changes in Nevada's political clout and its congressional delegation's commitment to the issue have helped block Yucca over the years, Bryan said. In 1987, when Yucca was singled out as the sole site to be studied for a high-level nuclear repository, the state had a congressional delegation of four. In contrast, Washington and Texas, which also had sites on the final list, had big delegations and even bigger players: Tom Foley, D-Wash., the House majority leader at the time, and Jim Wright, D-Texas, the House speaker.

Times have changed. Nevada has three House members and stands to gain one other seat after 2010. More important, it has Harry Reid, the new Senate majority leader. He has said he will block any pro-Yucca legislation.

The state's new early Democratic presidential caucus also doesn't hurt its cause. Candidates -- especially Democrats -- who have campaigned in Nevada have always had to pass the Yucca test. Now with the state's new role in choosing the Democratic nominee, no Democrat can afford to be pro-Yucca. Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack have stated their total or conditional opposition to the project. Their Democratic rivals, all of whom are slated to visit Carson City this month, for Wednesday's Democratic candidate forum or individually, will find it difficult to do well in the state without taking a similar position.

I recommend you read the whole story here.

Reports on Obama in Vegas

Barack Obama was in Las Vegas yesterday and apparently he made quite a splash. Somewhere between 1,000 (a blogger's count) and 3,500 (a reporter's count) people attended the rally. Unfortunately, he had so little time that he did not take any questions. Maybe next time around.

Read more about yesterday's rally:

Blogging the ObamaFest (Vote Gibbons Out)

Obama campaigns as the outsider in brief stop in Nevada (AP)

Barack the vote (Nevada Today)

Barack Obama will be the only candidate not taking part in Wednesday AFSCME forum in Carson City. There are some rumblings about it in the Nevada blogosphere as Obam will actually be in LA the night before the forum and could have stopped by the forum before going to Iowa. It remains to be seen how this will play out with caucus goers in Northern Nevada and whether anyone will still remember it in 11 months:

Obama's Nevada Flyover (Taylor Marsh)

Obama's Nevada Fly-over (Reno and Its Discontent)

Carson City Forum to Be Broadcast on C-Span

According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, the Carson City Forum will be broadcast on C-Span this Wednesday. The forum, which will include all Democratic presidential candidate except Barack Obama, will start at 12pm PST. I will post more info once it becomes available.

Stephanopoulos Will Host Carson City Forum

Alas, the Nevada Caucus seems to be taken seriously after all. Not only have all candidates, except for Obama, agreed to participate in the AFSCME forum in Carson City. This weekend it was announced that none other than George Stephanopoulos will moderate the forum:

The Nevada Democratic Party announced Friday that a Democratic presidential candidate forum planned in Carson City later this month will be moderated by newscaster George Stephanopoulos, a former senior advisor to President Bill Clinton.

The event is set to be the first such candidate forum of the 2008 presidential campaign. Organizers say the issues affecting working families will take center stage at the forum.

It'll be interesting to see how the press will spin Obama's absence and how, if at all, Obama will make up for it to Northern Nevadans and AFSCME.