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August 28, 2008
Here’s a quick video by the Massachusetts Republicans about the opening up of a McCain campaign office in Boston, complete with an optimistic “Victory Wall” that is likely to seem at best ironic on election eve.
It’s tough being a Republican in Massachusetts, but everyone’s entitled to, well, hope.
Wasn’t Bill Richardson supposed to speak last night? Aswini Anburajan at HuffingtonPost posts that Obama will unveil a “massive” voter registration drive tonight, which would be a fantastic move — symbolically right, but, more important exactly how you win an election without running to the middle. Perhaps Obama is going to bring out Richardson to help kick that off?
Also from Rumor Land comes the idea that McCain may name Kay Bailey Hutchison as veep. No reason to think it’s true, but, what the heck, there it is.
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The Strayed-Talk Express |
Care to predict Obama’s memes for tonight? The aim of the game is to anticipate particular phrases or turns of idea he might use.
For example:
John McCain will undoubtedly use images of this very event against us. That’s because when he sees tens of thousands of Americans eager to participate, eager to pick up the tools to build a better America for themselves and for their neighbors, John McCain sees celebrity. As I look out tonight, I see democracy.
The McCain campaign’s first reaction to my selecting Joe Biden as my running mate was to air an ad that shows Joe disagreeing with me during the long primary season. I truly thank Senator McCain for that. I’m proud that I can talk with people with whom I disagree, that I can listen to them, that I can work with them. Why, John, I even look forward to working with you. You are going to be a very important senator in the Obama administration, and we’re going to count on your support in building a bi-partisan agenda to rebuild this country.
There are 75,000 of us here tonight, tens of millions at home watching on TV, and millions and millions online, watching on the Internet, and undoubtedly chatting with friends and strangers around the world. Now, a few weeks ago, a senior aide to John McCain said that Senator McCain “is aware of the Internet.” That is totally acceptable for a candidate for the presidency of the United States…in 1992. But it simply is not acceptable for a country that wants to regain its leadership in the global economy.
Your turn…
August 27, 2008
We’re live now, chatting away at irc://irc.freenode.net/#democonvo. (Dave Winer has had a chat going also, at #dnc08)
August 26, 2008
Last night’s IRC chat party was fun. I’m going to set up a room again tonight, starting at 8pm EDT, so we can watch the Democratic convention together: irc://irc.freenode.net/#democonvo. (If that link doesn’t work for you, you’ll have to download an IRC client. I use Chatzilla, an add-on to Firefox. Once you’ve installed it, plugging the URL into Firefox’s address bar should launch Chatzilla automatically.) (Dave Winer also had a chat going, at #dnc08.)
See you then!
August 25, 2008
I love Twitter, but I’m wondering whether it’s the right tool for getting together to do a group-watch (we’ll laugh, we’ll cry) of the Democratic convention tonight. Would old-fashioned IRC be better?
I like IRC as a way of watching an event together. So, suppose I set up irc://www.freenode.net/democonvo tonight and opened it to anyone who wanted to join. As opposed to Twitter, the group would be smaller, it would consist of people who were there only to talk about the convention, and it would encourage more back and forth because the set of readers is the same as the set of potential writers. (With Twitter, the people you read don’t necessarily read you.)
On the other hand, Twitter brings together unexpected people who are highly unlikely to jump into any one IRC chat, especially mine. On Twitter, I’ll be able to read running commentary from Joe Trippi and Michael Turk (Democratic and Republican Net strategists). I can pretty well guarantee that neither will show up to an IRC chat that I throw.
So, I’m not sure what to do…
Dave Winer’s got an IRC going right now. He’s at the convention as a blogger…
August 24, 2008
Declan McCullagh has the goods (apparently) on Biden’s tech and Net policy record. It totally sucks and is completely out of step with Obama’s. Thankfully, Obama’s not appointing Biden as head of the FCC.
I like Biden as a VP pick. He’s prepared in case the unthinkable happens. He’s got some real values as a person. And I think he brings not only foreign policy experience but also some bluntness to the campaign. But, have I mentioned that his Net policy sucks? (Apparently?)
August 23, 2008
If McCain hadn’t become Karl Rove’s sockpuppet, this is what he might have said in response to the selection of Joe Biden as Obama’s running mate:
I congratulate my friend and colleague Joe Biden on his being selected as a vice presidential candidate. Joe and I have disagreed frequently over the years, and we disagree now on many of the important issues facing this country. But I’ve also worked with him, count him as a friend, and respect him as a capable man who loves the country he’s served for so many years.
That said, I remain convinced that the solutions Joe and his running mate are proposing are dangerous, and dangerously out of step with the American people. We’re going to keep on making that case up and down this great land, offering our own practical, down-to-earth solutions that will make a real difference in the lives of hard-working Americans.
McCain’s actual response, in full, from his Web site:
ARLINGTON, VA — Today, McCain spokesman Ben Porritt issued the following statement on Barack Obama’s selection of Joe Biden as his running mate:
“There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama’s lack of experience than Joe Biden. Biden has denounced Barack Obama’s poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realizing — that Barack Obama is not ready to be President.”
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