October 31, 2008 @ 20:40
It's been interesting to listen to American conservative talk radio over the past few days.
Mental midgets like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are telling Americans not to believe the polls which have Barack Obama way out in front.
Their strategy is elementary. They want Republicans to get out and vote. You know the deal, it's difficult to get people to get out and vote at the best of times, but when they think the outcome is a foregone conclusion it's even worse.
Limbaugh and Hannity know the polls are correct, but they're so desperate to push their perverted agendas, they'll like to their listeners, tell them the polls are wrong, and hope they'll get off their fat asses and maybe close the gap.
But it may all be a waste of time.
I spent Wednesday, Thursday and the better part of Friday at a conference in Toronto. It was the Corus Entertainment Leadership Conference and a good measure of it dealt with this rapidly changing technological world and the importance of radio and television to be connected to their audience through the "new" media.
Encourage collaboration with listeners and viewers. Encourage them to be part of the process by actually contributing content.
One of the most compelling panels involved four people under 25 years of age. They called it the "Net Generation Panel" and among the group was a 22 year old woman named Rahaf Harfoush from Toronto, who's a new media strategist.
She's just a kid, but she has big clients all over the world who depend on her to come up with ways to connect them with potential customers.
But right now she's reaching the end of a three month hiatus. She has spent the last three months in Chicago working on Barack Obama's New Media Team, and apparently it's been a smashing success that could very well provide the margin of victory.
It's every simple. When it comes to new media, Obama has clobbered John McCain.
It's not that McCain's team ignored the web. They used it, but as you might expect, they used it like a 71 year old man would use it compared to a progressive 47 year old.
McCain used it, but he didn't take full advantage of it like Obama did. And part of Obama's strategy was to hire some brilliant young minds like our own Rahaf Harfoush.
A gang of kids went Chicago and set up a social network that could very well blow the doors off Tuesday's election. They set up a network that challenged young Americans to take an interest in this election.
Much like it is in Canada, it's been difficult in the United States to get 18-24 year olds to become involved in the process. A lot of them don't vote because they're turned-off by politics. They tend to lean left, but only a small percentage are inspired enough to actually go out and cast a ballot.
This year could be much different.
Tens of millions of young Americans have been reached through Obama's on-line social network which has encouraged them to stand up and be counted this time. It's an historic election featuring two distinct candidates and "net" generation has apparently bought in.
If the response to the network is any indication they will come out in droves on Tuesday night in numbers that that have never been realized before.
Not only that, but these are people that haven't been counted in the polls. They don't talk to pollsters, and often aren't even asked. So come Tuesday, it could be overwhelming, which in way, makes Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity correct.
The polls aren't accurate. Obama may have an even bigger lead than they indicate.
Category: Politics
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