Cheese and rice! User generated content by individuals, trying to brand themselves through things they believe in and things they do well, will never cease to amaze (she should stick to rock commentary btw).

Not to be over critical of the Obama campaign, but this video did more to re-in-vigor my fervor than The Road We’ve Traveled. Don’t get me wrong, everything else about this web video presentation was innovative and forward thinking-the use of grassroots word of mouth; celebrities with name recognition (Hanks, Axelrod, Gutenberg); limiting accessibility through streaming without posting directly to YouTube and thereby also limiting later scrutiny; and real time feedback immediately after.  The only thing that was lacking was genuinely entertaining content, but working on content with such a specific message and purpose limits the ability to make people think or giggle. It was well done for what it was-a highlight reel of the successes of the Obama administration.

That is the best and worst thing about online content-it’s hit or miss. The funny thing is that this is the worst digital content with the best distribution which is still going to put him fathoms above all the Republican nominees eating each other alive.

The closest thing so far has been this insanely talented Christian guitar duo.  Imovie’s underachieving middle child that gets too much positive reinforcement, FCPX, has made video editing pro quality stuff way easier than 15 year vets are willing to admit or these girls had a friend more fluent in rack focusing, side swipe transitions, compelling political b-roll, da vinci coloring or simple image de-saturation, Gaussian blurs and other complicated video stuff that make me sound smarter than I am; do it for them (longest run on sentence ever).

Maybe they got Herman Cain’s guy to do it.  His stuff is unintentionally funny sometimes (I mean all the time), but at least he tries to get in on the joke. I’m not revealing any trade secrets in saying that Republicans take themselves way too seriously and that is their first and biggest obstacle in the digital sphere along with being the butt of the jokes and for being delusional about the normal populous’ perspective of them.

Good content is hard and to have it form within an online community for you organically is even harder.

Source: BuzzFeed

(I had to put this video here instead of the one that was here before because it was taken down. PIPA and SOPA are taking some preemptive action or it was a false YouTube account that just got deleted. Either way, I am slightly inconvenienced. Dec. 3, 2011)

I finally understand how things are working in the culture that is developing within OWS because of the self proclaimed ‘patriot of the people’ himself, Colbert.  It seems really organic and democratic, but so is the system of discourse that already exists politically, in an old crotchety way.  The one that we’ve got is just a lot further along.  There still has to be a way to reconcile the grievances of the movement with the system that already exists, because neither is going anywhere.

This guy has a good idea.  At least Colbert’s Super PAC found something to do with all of the unlimited funds it could potentially use towards political agendas, legally; thereby, creating a post-modern social commentary in making a difference and highlighting the difference (in enacted legislation that affects the minds and lives of the under-educated penny-less huddled masses by ivy league gads that got lucky enough to push paper after grad school)-trippy.

But do Ann Coulter’s comments still matter to anyone outside of the beltway and are cigs cool again?  I’m still lost on this whole mess.  Does Cain have the signatures to be on the ballot and can he get them, now?  Whose ‘black’ am I?  I’m so confused.

I harp on this time and time again: video is a powerful tool in digital content strategy.  This video shows effort.  I’m not praising or endorsing Cain-just like I don’t think this video is trying to endorse smoking; yet, still highlighting the fact that it makes him look like a hyper-cool, take-no-prisoners-maveric with other trendy made up ad-hyphenates.  I’m commenting on his campaign’s use of online video and his staff being smart enough to pay for it themselves or to get someone professionally creative paid to do it by someone else.

He posted to YouTube and linked to Facebook-techniques that should be no-brainers now-a-days.  Gary Vaynerchuck said it best though.  Sometimes a little effort is all that makes a difference, because nobody has all the answers yet and most people can’t even tell the difference.  Of course no one else needs to know that.

Just found this supplemental.

Source: facebook.com

A change in the rhetoric and public condemnation are par for the course for media scrutiny of insensitivity, but this video is just funny after that slip up he had.  As much as politics is a media centered endeavor I don’t think that Herman Cain speaking out against a rock at a farm leased by Perry is going to endear him to black voters.

President Obama’s current rhetoric towards black voters may not either.  But this conversation on the polarized racial dialectic and it’s impact on the next big election coming turns into a bad white vs. black joke way too fast (white folks do this-womp … womp and black folks, oh they do this-WOMP!  WOMP!  WOMP!)

I can’t remember if Chris Rock or Dave Chapelle (no, he didn’t actually fly to Mars with Bibble-this happened to Kat Williams too. he didn’t fly to mars either.) expounded on the joke (black people vs. n-words-Chris Rock just remembered).  I think this explains how hard it is to talk to “black people,” when it comes to going directly after votes or even support for legislation.  We are not all n-words and we all didn’t get scholarships to Harvard but we do all have something to say.  You can’t lump us all in together without missing someone.  

The President enacting legislation that can be seen as giving more power to the people seems to be his way of reaching out to his base and seperating his agenda from “Corporate America,” the faceless villain that got us into this mess.  To get out of it and so it doesn’t happen again people have to be informed and ready to make decisions or at least able to articulate what they want beyond “greedy people paying for their mistakes.”

Cornell West is a whole different breed altogether.  That man makes me want to get 2 Ph.D’s just to catch up to however many he has.  Him taking the time to go down to the #occupywallstreet movement just gives it more credence.  A movement that started with middle class suburban kids sleeping in Zuccotti Park just proves that even if we’re all aiming to be Kanye at least we’ll have a chance at being a working Joe Schmoe with kids that will stir the pot after we couldn’t care less.  I don’t think that they are going anywhere.  Where do they have to go anyways?  I think sleeping on a park bench until everything resets is a better story to tell than couch surfing until it fixes itself.