The Chosen People

During Barack Obama's campaign he surrounded himself with phenomenal people such as David Axelrod, Robert Gibbs, and many more. The one aspect that I noticed about Obama's strategists and campaign manager were how real they were.
Robert Gibbs would always do interviews on Morning Joe and other news stations. Yes, in most of his interviews he talked about the campaign and answered questions, but he also managed to fit in a few jokes. I think these qualities (being professional yet humorous) are quintessential for a campaign's well-being. I believe that the press fell in love with Obama not just because he is who is, but he also had likable people working the press.
Bobby Jindal needs to find the RIGHT people to help his campaign gain the media's respect and positive attention. Most assume that Fox News likes all republican candidates, but in this campaign we learned that is just not true. Fox News likes the Bush campaign/administration because they liked Karl Rove.

Clearing the Air

This article was posted today by David Horowizt on the Historical News Network. It discusses how conservatives such Alan Keyes are still trying to push Obama out of office. It seems absurd that a small group of people have so much time on their hands to wine about this issue all day. Horowitz says that 64 million people voted for Obama, and the did not seem to care if he was born on American soil.

Yes, it is a rule that the U.S. president must be born in the United States, but it always seems that republicans try to ruin everything. It is also a rule that an election must follow the electoral college, and the republicans did not follow that in 2000. Just let it be, and most likely Obama will do something in office that republicans can pick on.

Graduation Speaker

In order for Bobby Jindal to be embraced by the youth and pop culture, he needs to be the commencement speaker at upcoming college graduations. Over the years many presidential candidates volunteer their time to address the graduates.
Ted Kennedy was supposed to speak at Weslyan's 2008 graduation, but he was diagnosed with his brain tumor around the same time. Barack Obama stepped up to the plate and took Kennedy's spot. Obama doing this created even more exposure to the youth vote, and also showed that he was willing to take some time off his campaign to help a fellow politician.

Glamorizing Jindal

In 2006, when Obama was planning his campaign Michelle and him had a completely different look from their current look. They were not as glamorous as they are now. Many people think that a president should not care about their wardrobe or designer labels, but who are we kidding? What makes celebrities and other individuals in the spotlight so intriguing is that they own things that the general public cannot afford. People react to these possessions differently some with envy and others with admiration. Take Palin for example, even though there was controversy over her shopping spree at Nieman Marcus, this created attention and the public grew a curiosity.

Bobby Jindal and his wife will need to have signature looks, so that public realizes that he is an established politician. This sounds very superficial, but in the beginning of the race the image is a crucial factor. Also think of the Kennedys, people still discuss Jackie's famous sunglasses or other items in her wardrobe. Bobby needs to look presidential and revamp his style but not let it define him. The reason why it defined Palin was because she did not have that much more going for her.

Jindal TV

In order to gain recognition, Bobby Jindal needs more national exposure. In 2006 Obama had a TV channel website called barack-obama.tv. The editors of this website posted up to the minute videos of Barack and other election related items. The website is carefully outlined, categorizing videos to specific themes, and also by date. Not many people knew about this website, or maybe they did and I just was out of the loop.
In 2010 when Jindal announces his plan to run in 2012, he needs to publicize the Jindal TV channel. This could be a major contributor to spreading his message besides his campaign website. He could categorize the videos toward different viewers. If he is trying to attract the youth vote he should show a video of him on The Daily Show. This is a technique Jindal could use to create his own press and media coverage.

Jindal's Dreams from My Father

When Obama spoke at the DNC in 2004 the public was provided with a visual of Obama's life, which included his family. After he spoke America's curiosity over Obama flourished, and Random House re-published Dreams from My Father.
This book inspired many, and became a bestseller. It portrayed Obama's life as the American dream. Besides Obama's speech at the DNC, I think this book really answered a lot of questions the public had about him, and prevented Obama from fading out of the public's eye.
Bobby Jindal needs to do something similar. He does not need to have a full fledged campaign before 2010, but he needs to have a subtle message so that the public can learn about him, and eventually like him.

Advice for the Atlantic

Yesterday in class we discussed various ways The Atlantic could revamp their multi-media component to their website to gain more viewers. Colin stated that when he reads an article he wants closure/follow-up not more information. I responded by saying that the journalist should post a weekly vlog on The Atlantic's website. We then looked at the hideous vloggers that were good citizen journalist, but bad on camera. I think my idea was misinterpreted. I was thinking more of a webinar structure. This is when the journalist is vlogging live (in appealing lighting and clothing) while viewers are able to type in questions to the journalist and he/she can respond live. It would be similar to a letter to the editor section but with a faster response. Also it would be weekly component to the website with hype throughout the week to gain more viewers. Here is the description from Wikipedia of what I am trying to explain. Sorry for the confusion.