After Web video pitted John Kerry against John Kerry in 2004 (which the Kerry campaign in my opinion and almost every other thinking persons opinion, did a horrendous job of responding too) I have to say that McCain and others (look at how Mitt Romney is being bombarded with his own words) need to get out there and put together a comprehensive message on the Web and do it fast. In 2004 John Kerry was his own worst enemy and thanks to the endless hours of C-Span footage Senate candidates face a rough road ahead as their words are not just in the public record, they are in striking video and available for all.
I have always hated how 24/7 and broadcast news have endless hours of video of candidates much of which shows them saying the complete opposite of what they have to share at the current moment. Most of that video just stays in the vault allowing anyone to say virtually anything without every being checked by their own reality.
The Web (and comedy programs like The Daily Show) is changing that and candidates are going to have to quickly adjust. I like Senator McCain a lot so I hate seeing it done to him BUT it is still nice to see technology used this way.
Air America Radio the ‘liberal alternative to conservative talk’ has been on shaky ground since its beginning. Every year it seems another round of speculation comes that the network will go bankrupt and every year it seems someone steps in to save the company from bankruptcy.
Al Franken, former SNL writer, author of numerous books and full time radio talk show personality on the network (and founding member) announced his departure from the airwaves just as Air America was getting saved again. The move seems permanent, at least for the next few years, as many believe Franken will announce his candidacy for the Senate in Minnesota.
The Senate races for 2008 has been much slower to ramp up then the Presidential so I haven’t blogged much. Franken though offers a big name to the lineup and will surely add for some unique soundbytes, campaign rhetoric and a lot of interesting and heated backlash from the right which he has lampooned for so long.