grace

… filling in the negative space with positively everything

How *not* to win an online campaign : Pt I

Since the 2009 Houston mayoral election, it seems everyone has a theory on “why Locke lost.” It would be nice if some (any?) of those theories were informed by what actually happened at Locke headquarters during the period that led to the December run-off. (Before the run-off, everyone seemed astounded that a first-time candidate with little-to-no name recognition or campaign experience was able to beat out sitting City Council Member Peter Brown, who outspent both Parker and Locke throughout the race and achieved the greatest visibility of all the candidates on television.)

I have my own ideas of why Parker won. If you want to know what they are, send me a tweet and I’ll tell you over coffee some time. But for the benefit of all the political candidates running for office this year – including Bill White for Texas Governor and Gordon Quan for Harris County Judge – I’d like to share what I learned from the campaign trail.

In 2010, White and Quan will be running against incumbents for their respective offices. In the 2009 mayoral race, while it was open due to term-limited White vacating, Parker and Brown could be considered the “incumbents” Locke faced, as they were both seasoned politicians who had developed strong support bases over years (and even over a decade for Parker) of campaigning. Similarly, it will be an uphill battle for the “new” candidates to build online support that can effectively compete with their opponents’.

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Letter to the Editor: American Recovery & Reinvestment Act 2009

I’ve blogged about “Why You Should Support the Arts” - but in light of recent media attacks on arts funding (see below), I thought it wise to bring “the facts” to the attention of Houston’s news people … so I wrote the following and submitted it to KTRK, KHOU, KPFT, Houston Chronicle, and Houston Press:

Dear [Media Rep],

As a fan and active participant in Greater Houston’s diverse cultural community, I want to bring to your attention the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009, being considered by Congress right now.

$50 million dollars for the arts hangs in the balance as a growing number of media negatively portray the arts funding included in the House version of the bill. These ill-informed statements include:

  • “True to form, Congress has loaded the [bill] with hundreds of billions in wasteful spending. The bill includes $650 million for digital TV coupons, $140 million to study the atmosphere and $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. None of these proposals would create jobs or boost our economy. They’re just old-fashioned waste.” - Op-ed in the Indianapolis Star
  • “The National Endowment for the Arts, for example, is in line for $50 million, increasing its total budget by a third. The unemployed can fill their days attending abstract-film festivals and sitar concerts.” -National Review Editorial
  • “I just think putting people to work is more important than putting more art on the wall of some New York City gallery frequented by the elite art community.” [U.S. Rep Jack] Kingston said. “Call me a sucker for the working man.” - Congressional Quarterly report
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