The Marketing of the President

Last night I went to a panel hosted by ProPublica on "The Marketing of the President" - of particular interest to me of course, as a marketer and a political junkie.  The other draw was that it was hosted by Farai Chideya, of whom I'm a big fan. 

The discussion was less about marketing in general, and centered around how campaigns are using online data - information we voluntarily (though often accidentally) share via free sites like Facebook and Pandora.  Lois Beckett, Kate Kaye, and Joseph Turow brought lots of interesting points that I wasn't even aware of as a marketer re privacy (or lack thereof), digital footprints, data storage, and the algorithms advertisers build around our actions and potential actions.

My favorite point was made by Turow - something I believe in and have been sensing for awhile now - that eventually there will be so much information online about all of us that it will become moot. 

At least, I'm hoping this is the case, otherwise The Mayoress will never become an actual mayoress (this blog, case in point).

NYC: Vote on Thursday, September 15

As you know, one of my top causes is getting New Yorkers to vote in the district where they live.

Local elected officials are the ones that affect your day to day life, and the ones who will actually listen when you call, write, or email.  None of this "I'm still registered in my home state" even though you live and pay taxes in New York.  It's just foolish.  This is not the '08 presidential election and you can still influence your friends and family in your home state while being a participating member of your actual current community.

The primaries are MORE important than the November elections for locals because in NYC, the Democrat almost always wins.

SO, the important thing is getting the RIGHT Democrat on the ballot. The only time to do this is in the primary election, and you must be registered with the Democratic party to cast this vote. While I respect the philosophy of registering Independent, guess what?  It's a waste of your vote in New York. So make your vote count and register and vote as a Democrat, and if you don't like the system, do something to change it.  Opting out is irresponsible.

This year the primary elections are on Thursday rather than the usual Tuesday, probably because of 9/11.  So plan to vote this Thursday, September 13.  Here is a link to everything you need to vote in New York State.

Newsflash: My Demographic Doesn't Favor Romney

Shocking, I know.

This post by my favorite Jezebel is hilarious.

"Even though single people's strong preference for President Obama could tip the election away from the GOP, Romney campaign needn't fret. The election's still four months away, and there's still plenty of time to nominate a running mate that will appeal to single women — Channing Tatum wearing glasses, perhaps, or the song "Call Me Maybe" (what do you mean the constitution doesn't allow politicians to nominate musical compositions for office? Stupid activist court system)."


Well, I suppose if the GOP can make a VP out of Christian Bale making me dinner while reading me O Magazine and queuing up the latest ep of True Blood, I could sway right.  


Then again, probably not.

Person of the Week: Hugh Atkin

Who apparently has infinite hours to spend editing.  Check out his genius:

The Mayoress Makes Some Resolutions for 2012

Can you believe it, dear constituents?  It's not only a new year, it's an election year, and will mark the fourth year of Meet the Pressler.  How the time does fly, much like a soaring bald eagle in the opening credits of The Colbert Report.

I swore in 2008 that a) if the Republicans won, I would move out of the country for a year, or b) no matter who won, I would be out of here for the 2012 election cycle.  I was just too exhausted from the emotion, involvement, and constant news onslaught of '08.

But here we are, it's 2012, and I don't plan on leaving the country (disregard the fact that I am currently out of the country).  So, in accordance with keep my sanity and yours as we enter Obama v Romney (prediction!), here are my three 2012 resolutions to you:

1. I'm going to stay more objective.  Not because I am - barring any major revelations, I'm voting for Obama, let's just get that out of the way (more on why later).  But rather than get emotional about it...

2. I'm going to go all pundit on your ass.  Opinions backed up by sorta facts but mostly other opinions!  But for serious, if I distance myself a bit in order to evaluate strategic moves, especially when it comes to my specialty of marketing and PR, I'll emerge far less emotionally exhausted.  Also, watch for me on CNN or MSNBC or Comedy Central.  Don't blink!

3. I'm going to wear my now-vintage Obama tank from '08 more often.  I can't resist gold metallic, people.  Gold metallic!

Winning.

"And Make Us All More Freer Than We Were Yesterday"

Have you met Basil Marceaux, candidate for Governor of Tennessee?  No?!  Well, let me introduce you!

Peter Orszag Needs To Get His Shit Together

What is all the fuss about this guy? He's not even hot. He's like Colbert-cute, like Rebecca's type. Although judging from my trip to DC last year and the lack of talent, by Washington standards he's a 9 or 10, but whatever, he needs to get his shit together because he's making a joke out of his office. Obama - go have a talk with this adolescent.

A pause - perhaps I'm being a bit hypocritical: one of my intended campaign media strategies in 2012 or so is to take my player-dom to the streets, Page Six style. Okay Peter, well played. Carry on then.

Alaska Breathes a Collective Sigh of Relief

You all should have heard by now that Ms. Sarah Palin suddenly quit her job last Friday. Why? She didn't say. What she did say, in her eloquent prose, was that to stay would be to give up. And to quit would be the right thing. Wha?

The press thinks this is either a) a bail out after a rough year, or b) a gear-up for a more national presence. All signs from her ridiculous popularity-hungry personality point to (b), which should make the other 49 states as nauseous as I feel at the thought of having to look at her and hear her stupid "speeches" for yet another season.

But I think it's c) she's gotten some offer for a big famous thing, like hosting her own 700 Club or something. She just craves the attention too much to get out of the spotlight without another, bigger spotlight waiting.