NDN Blog

Txting in 2008

A while back I signed up to receive text messages from the campaigns to see how they were utilizing this new tool. I didn't know what to expect really, but figured if they had the service they were going to use it somehow. Well, as it stands, I've received six text messages in the past 48 hours or so. One from the Clinton campaign and five from the Obama campaign. I've typed them out below:

From the Clinton campaign:

Feb 12, 2008 2:25:41 PM ET - Election Day - don't forget to vote! Every vote counts in the race for the nomination. Thank you so much for your support. -- Hillary

From the Obama campaign:

Feb 12, 2008 6:14:11 PM ET - Fired up? Our moment is now. Tell all your friends to vote for Barack NOW! If you are in line by 7pm, they must count your vote. Info call: 866-675-2008 (ext 4)

Feb 12, 2008 2:02:41 PM ET - People who love their country can change it. Make sure all your friends vote tonight for Barack! Polls open in VA until 7pm. For info: 866-675-2008 Fwd this msg

Feb 12, 2008 11:43:13 AM ET - One voice can make a difference. Make sure that voice is yours! Fwd this msg and make sure all your friends vote today for Barack. Questions, call 866-675-2008 (no.4)

Feb 11, 2008 6:54:42 PM ET - Vote for Barack tomorrow! Polls are open in VA from 6am to 7pm. For location info visit: VA.BarackObama.com or call 866-675-2008 (press 4) Please fwd this msg.

Feb 10, 2008 7:25:17 PM ET - Breaking: Obama wins Maine! You are next up on Tuesday -- remind all your friends to vote and to text JOIN to 62262. Please fwd this msg.

Update: I received another text from the Obama campaign last night that you can see below.

Feb 13, 2008 10:00:32 PM - CNN calls DC, MD & VA for Barack! We are growing momentum in red states and blue states. Fired up? Ask friends to join our movement by texting HOPE to 62262.

Potomac Primary: I Feel Good/Thriller

(Two choices to listen to while reading this post: in honor of the Godfather of Soul, I Feel Good; or in honor of the 25th anniversary of the world's biggest selling album of all time, Thriller.)

- DC to Maryland, come on and raise up! It's time for the Chesapeake Bay's day of primary fame! And as Debbie Wilgoren points out in the Post, voters got an early start on the day.

- Before we dive into the news, here are three questions to consider: First, how will the weather affect today's voting? Second, if he delivers today for Obama, will VA Governor Tim Kaine solidify his spot on the short list? And a related third, do endorsements really matter anymore? Or is the endorser's ground operation a caveat when considering the endorsement's effectiveness?

- In the Baltimore Sun, Paul West lays out the case for why today's primaries could prove decisive. Then again, he quickly notes how this campaign is truly a marathon. The Sun also has a nice tool depicting Maryland's political landscape.

- The Virginia Pilot takes a look at how each candidate went after Virginia's youth vote.

- Dan Balz and Chris Cillizza offer their respective take on the Potomac Primary in the Washington Post. Dan Balz continues his series with his "8 Questions the Potomac Primary Could Answer", while Cillizza offers his view in his FixCam video preview.

...more to come as I sift through the news.

Dems to debate in TX on CNN/Univision

The next debate for the Democratic candidates has been set for Thursday, February 21st from 8:00-9:30pm ET in Austin, TX. CNN, Univision and the Texas Democratic Party are the sponsors.

While the debate will air in Spanish on Univision at 11:30pm ET, journalists from both CNN and Univision will ask the candidates questions. So it will be interesting to see how they respond. If Obama's main challenge is that he isn't well-known in the Latino community, this a chance for him to make inroads.

(As many of you may remember, NDN played an integral role in this past September's Univision forum in Miami, so we're excited for another Univision debate!)

Moratorium on reporting polling data

In the days leading up to the next round of Primaries and Caucuses - KS, LA, NE, WA, Virgin Islands, ME, DC, MD and VA - I'm announcing that I will not post polling data on this blog. Join me in this moment of solidarity!

Note: Just because I'm not posting it doesn't mean I won't still be looking at it. :)

Dr. Robert Shapiro's take on the economy

In his first video blog (below), Dr. Robert J. Shapiro, Chair of NDN's Globalization Initiative, takes a quick, two minute look at the state of the economy:

There was an article in the New York Times recently on these very same issues that is worth checking out.

Farewell Mitt?

CNN is reporting that Mitt Romney may suspend his bid for the White House today.

Yes We Can and the Band: Videos in a new time

Before Super Tuesday's over, I had to post two videos. The first was produced by Jesse Dyaln and will.i.am as a powerful representation of one of Obama's victory speeches. You've probably seen it before. It's the "Yes We Can" video and, although it's not affiliated with the Obama campaign, it shows how third parties can really make an impact thanks to YouTube and all the other tools available today.

The next one is a video from the Clinton campaign called "Hillary and the Band". My opinion: the photoshopped pictures of Hillary and a guitar are pretty impressive...

February 5th: Here I Go Again

(Yeah, we're going there. Best if read while listening to Whitesnake. Other suggestions welcome in the comments section.)

- Disclaimer: For the simple fact that I can't keep up with them, I refuse to put poll data in this post. Instead, I strongly encourage all of you to play this quiz. Now that I've put that out there, let's get down to business.

- Super Duper Awesomely Important Tuesday is upon us! I'm not trying to take attention away from Fat Tuesday, but the candidates are once again making their final pitches, appeasing (or facing criticism from) their base and channeling the underdog spirit of the NY Giants.

- Also, be sure to check out NDN commentary on the elections right here on our blog.

- Dan Balz offers his “8 Questions Super Tuesday Could Answer” in the Washington Post.

- The New York Times explains (in graphical form) how delegates are awarded in each states for both Democrats and Republicans.

- Hat's off to the Washington Post for integrating some new tools in their Super Tuesday coverage: the Post has a mobile module to offer text message updates to subscribers throughout the day.

- As usual, I've attempted to compile the ads running in all of the February 5th States. I'm going to be updating this and eating my fastnachts throughout the day. However, if you see a mistake or have one to add, please let us know! Also, each state will link to a major newspaper (or preferred local paper) indigenous to that state. Special thanks to Oliver Gilbert, a diligent intern of ours who helped me with this!


Clinton: Obama: McCain: Romney: Huckabee:
Unknown Market “Bobby”, “Hartford Courant”, “Dignity”, “Freefall”, “Can Do”, “Times”, “Lifetime”

 

“Trust”, “True Conservative” “Very Close”, “Falls Short”, “Winning Combination”, “Economia”  
Alabama  

“President”, “Chances I Had”

     
Alaska          
American Samoa        
Arizona "Nuestra Amiga" “Future”, “Mother”, “Enough”, “Hope”, “First”, “Gutierrez”      
Arkansas        
California “Nuestra Amiga” “Caroline”,“Mother”, “Quiet”, “Hope”, “Gutierrez”      
Colorado   “President”      
Connecticut “Nuestra Amiga” “Mother”, “Need”, “Stock”      
Delaware   “Need”, “Enough”      
Georgia   “President”, “Join”, “Chances I Had”      
Idaho        
Illinois        
Kansas   “Year”      
Massachusetts   “Caroline”, “President”      
Minnesota   “President”, “Join”      
Missouri   “Future”, “Mother”, “Lift”, “Enough”      
Montana          
New Jersey        
New Mexico   “President”, “Future”, “Chances I Had”, “Join”, “Mother”, “Stock”      
New York “Nuestra Amiga” “Caroline”      
North Dakota   “Need”, “Dakota”      
Oklahoma        
Tennessee   “President”, “Take It Back”, “Chances I Had”, “Enough”      
Utah   “Utah”, “Join”      
West Virginia          

For more information on NDN's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election, click here.

NDN in the News

Over the past few days, NDN and its team have been cited in numerous articles on a slew of topics from Immigration and Florida to the 2008 campaign. Check some of them out below.

Florida election a barometer for country, Miami Herald - Marc Caputo and Lesley Clark make the case for Florida to be the deciding factor in the Presidential election:

"It's clear the Hispanic vote is influencing this election," said Joe Garcia, Hispanic outreach coordinator for the New Democrat Network. "And it will influence the nation's."

(Read the same article, La Florida se convierte en el centro de la poltica, in Spanish.)

The Early Word: Florida Fight Time, New York Times Blog, "The Caucus" - Ariel Alexovich previews the Republican primary in Florida while offering an opinion of the role Floridians will play in the months ahead. She uses a familiar quote in her piece:

‘’It’s clear the Hispanic vote is influencing this election,'’ said Joe Garcia, Hispanic outreach coordinator for the New Democrat Network. “And it will influence the nation’s.”

Competition fierce for zero delegates in Florida, Los Angeles Times - Mark Barabek takes a look at the unique situation in Florida and how the Democratic candidates have approached it:

"I've never seen a reporter standing in a cornfield in November saying, 'It all comes down to Iowa.' Nobody cares what happens in Iowa," said Joe Garcia, chairman of the Democratic Party in Miami-Dade County. "With a woman or an African American at the top of the ticket, show me another Southern state they're going to carry, except Florida. We're going to see a lot of them from the end of February on."

New Generation Casts Votes on Immigration, Economic Issues, Washington Post - Peter Whoriskey discusses an omnipresent factor regarding Florida politics, the Cuban vote:

About two-thirds of Cuban American voters are registered Republicans, though that number has been slipping. For years, politicians have courted them by opposing the Cuban president and promising aggressive bans on trade and travel to the island nation. In a debate at the University of Miami, the Republican candidates followed that line.

"The only thing they didn't promise was that the 82nd Airborne would be at the disposal of the Cuban American community," said Joe Garcia, former director of the Cuban American National Foundation and now director of NDN's Hispanic Strategy Center.

...

"Every other Republican candidate is poison on that issue," Garcia said. "Most immigrants realize that the immigration debate is not about immigration. It's about xenophobia at best and racism at worst."

Dems battling for Latino voters in state, San Francisco Chronicle - Tyche Hendricks highlights the importance of the Latino vote - as well as the choice they face in selecting a candidate - in key Feb. 5th states like California:

"Latinos are clearly going to play a huge role on Feb. 5," said Simon Rosenberg, who is not affiliated with any candidate. He is head of the New Democrat Network, based in Washington, D.C., a progressive strategy group. "There's no way to run a significant campaign in California without making Hispanics a priority," Rosenberg said.

Immigration issue killed Romney in Florida - Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas Zúniga cites Simon's blog post when attributing Mitt Romney's Florida loss to his poor showing among Hispanics.

DVR alert: Democratic Debate in Los Angeles TONIGHT!

Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will be in Hollywood tonight to participate in the Democrats' final debate before Super Tuesday. Held at the Kodak Theatre, it will begin at 8:00 PM EST and is sponsored by CNN, the Los Angeles Times and Politico. You can watch it on CNN as well as CNN.com. Wolf Blitzer will moderate.

Note: if you're interested, check out the National Journal's 2007 vote ratings. Respectively, Obama and Clinton rank 1st- and 16th-most-liberal. That's quite a jump for both in the past year...

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