TresSugar

Executive Producer Mark Squier Gives DNC a 9 Out of 10

LibertySugar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:00:00 -0700

The Democratic National Convention, and the Obama-bump that followed, may seem far in the past, but the event will surely live on in history. I got a chance to ask a few questions to Mark Squier, an executive producer of the extremely successful (and fun) Democratic National Convention. When he's not coordinating massive political pageantry, Mark masters smaller-scale political messaging. He has produced ads for numerous members of Congress and governors, and acts as a strategic adviser to many more politicians. Now that the dust of both conventions has settled, take a behind-the-scenes look at the DNC with Mark!

On a scale of 1 to 10 how happy are you with how the DNC turned out?
10 being the highest - a 9. Nothing is ever perfect but this was close. When you consider we had a late primary so we didn't get guidance from a nominee until June - and we had two venues. We didn't have a major malfunction. You have to be happy with the way it turned out. And a shout out to everyone who worked at the Denver convention - the team that was put together was outstanding and it was easy to look good when you had such a committed and hardworking team in your corner. Oh - and not to mention Barack Obama - an incredible candidate to work with in every way.

How do you explain viewership that beat even the Olympics Opening Ceremony?
Americans are worried - it's human nature - they know things are on the wrong track; the wars, the economy, gas prices, health care costs, high unemployment, the national debt, the mortgage crisis. Voters feel these things every day and they know that this election is critically important to getting our nation back on track - so they watch.

To find out if Mark would have done something differently if Hillary Clinton would have won the nomination, how he kept the convention from looking like C-Span, what he thought of the RNC, and if there were any close calls with disaster, read more.

How do you keep the convention from looking like C-Span?
By using the best of all technologies. Television is a great amplifier of communications but it is not interactive. The Internet and all the new technology tools are great for making people feel connected - but it can't compete with the visual spectacle of Thursday night at Invesco field with 80,000 people on television. Using them both - TV to entice and the new technologies to connect - we think really helped get voters to be more involved and take a stake in electing their office holders and their democracy.

You began working on the convention before the Democrats chose Barack Obama. How did the message, or your approach, change once he became the presumptive nominee?
Not a lot. Change has been the message and theme really since Democrats were elected to the majorities in the House and Senate in 2006. In fact, you can see that McCain himself has now gone from arguing experience to trying to be an agent of change with his pick of Governor Palin for VP. Voters are angry - they think the country is off on the wrong track - they want change.

What was the closest call with disaster backstage that the viewers at home had no idea about?
Not telling - but there were a couple.

How do you think the RNC went?
Well. The Palin pick for VP created a lot of curiosity and that drives viewership.

Source

Did You Watch Convention Speeches on the Internet?

GeekSugar — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:10:33 -0700

What's so interesting about John McCain's speech at the Republican National Convention bringing in slightly more viewers than Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention to geeksugar? It's interesting because this election has involved the Internet in an inextricable fashion - so much so that this data, the viewing habits of live broadcast television only, could be kinda skewed.

What I'm getting at is that I know a lot of people who didn't tune in to their regular broadcast to watch either speech, and instead watched videos of the speeches online. In fact, since the Internet is where I, and many others, have been getting their election coverage, it makes sense that you wouldn't turn on the TV to watch a speech, confident that they would make it on YouTube (like most important things these days).

So tell me, if you watched any of the convention speeches, did you watch them online?

Looking Back: Which Party's Convention Was the Best?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:00:11 -0700

Phew. I've run into quite a few people over the past few weeks who've seen both conventions top to bottom, and the question came up last night after the last balloon settled: Which convention was the best? In my mind it can be answered on a couple of levels - which convention looked the best, or which was more fun - but when it comes down to it, I think the real question is: Which convention did its job the best?

My mom reported in after McCain's speech saying, "I was worried when McCain started, but was in tears at the end. Your grandpa wanted me to take him to the post office to sign up again." While that's a rousing testimony to be sure, they were solid McCain voters before anyone set foot in St. Paul. So what do you all think? You've seen our coverage of both conventions - which party's did its job with an A++ super-gold star?

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They Said What? Frequency of Words Used by the Parties

CitizenSugar — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:00:24 -0700

Now that it's all done but sweeping up the balloons, the New York Times, ever the data-doyenne, has a different way of looking at who said what these conventions. Bubbles of varying sizes show the amount of times per 25,000 words uttered, that certain phrases were used.

Interestingly, the "opponent's name" count varies pretty wildly - the Democrats used McCain's name 78 times to the Republican's use of Obama a mere 25 times. Up there for both parties? "Change" and "God." While the Republicans were twice as godly, and the Democrats three times as change-y, it seems like both have see the benefit to grabbing both traditional and forward-thinking tropes.

The graph also let's you see who said what - Obama used McCain's name 3.5 times more, and McCain grabbed the "change" mantel from Obama just over half as often. Watching the two conventions, do any of the results surprise you? What do you make of the disparity between use of the opponent's name?

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The Tale of Two Tents: Bloggers and the Traditional Media

LibertySugar — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 13:00:53 -0700

In Denver we got a chance to check out both the blogger tent set up by Google, YouTube, Digg and DailyKos, as well as the traditional media tent set up right outside the Pepsi Center. And believe me, these two tents could not have been more different.

Over in the Google tent bloggers and laptops crowded together at long tables or comfy couches set up in a tent kept dark to make up for the lack of air conditioning. The gang of new media gave off the vibe that it was there to crash the party - only 150 of the 500 bloggers, who paid $100 for space in the Big Tent, had official DNC credentials,

Over at the traditional media tent, publications like the Washington Post had about 60 staffers each, stationed in makeshift offices, complete with ample desk space, air conditioning, and fancy computers. But don't worry - both media headquarters had plenty of flat screens and an abundance of food.

Google will be back with its Big Tent next week at RNC. To see video of a real-life blogger, and more pictures, read more.

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Oh What a Week It Was: Recap of the 2008 DNC

CitizenSugar — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 07:00:43 -0700

We're gearing up for this week's Republican National Convention, which begins Monday, but that doesn't mean we've already forgotten some of the amazing moments from last week's Democratic National Convention.

Barack's Big Speech Incited Passion in the Crowd	VP Candidate Joe Biden Took the Stage	Hillary's Speech Helped Unite the Party
Michele Joined Nancy to Support Barack	Celebrity Sightings at the DNC	We Looked at Convention Costs: Past and Present

Ben Affleck Says Successes in Africa Inspire Him to Do More

LibertySugar — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:00:00 -0700

I checked out a panel on combating global poverty this week, filled with a diverse set of people ready to talk about their experiences surrounding the issue. I was super excited to see panel members like ex-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, and the bearded and articulate Ben Affleck.

A humble Ben noted that he felt a bit out of place, but then shared what he's learned from his time in Africa. Ben thinks poverty activists need to re-package their message so it's not so doom and gloom. He argued that it's "more effective to talk about what people are doing successfully. [The successes] gave me added urgency to get involved."

Ben also highlighted how he and other Western folk are received in Africa. He said:

The countries that hold us in the highest esteem are in Africa. We don't carry colonial baggage. . . . [But] Western folks come in with a sense that "this is how it works." Imposing paradigm is much less effective than imposing solutions into social grooves. You hear people say, "If you teach a man to fish . . ." These people know how to fish, they need a pond to fish in.

Does Ben's insight impress you as much as it impressed me?

One Last View of Obama's Nomination Acceptance Speech

CitizenSugar — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:16:04 -0700

We're back from Denver! Ah, air that's not mile-high - that's some killer altitude. While I was unpacking I found this clip that was too good not to share. CNN may have had their fancy cameras, but this is some serious embedded journalism.

It's pretty amazing view to say the least. The flashbulbs are my favorite part. Enjoy!

Egaffes! Was Joe Biden's Freudian Slip For Real?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:00:35 -0700

Now that the Democratic convention has come to a close, one question remains. In his big speech this week Democratic vice-presidential nominee, Joe Biden, tripped over his words in the most elegant way. So elegant, it's left us wondering if it was scripted or in fact pure gaffe.

He said, "That's the America that George Bush has left us, and that's the America we'll continue to get if George . . . excuse me, if John McCain is elected president. . . . Freudian slip! . . . Freudian slip." Was it?

The Morning After: Our Reactions to Obama's Change Promise

LibertySugar — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:30:34 -0700

Liberty: Last night I saw Americans who have been hiding in the shadows of apathy or cynicism come out and get excited about the future of their country. Americans who showed that they can wait in a line for hours, just to participate in a celebration of their power to make a difference.

Barack Obama's speech stressed individual and mutual responsibility. He said Democratic leadership, and an Obama presidency, would not do everything for Americans. It would, though, help them accomplish the things they cannot do for themselves, like protect the country from national security threats in Afghanistan, and give those who do not have bootstraps a pair so they can pull themselves up into the promise of middle-class prosperity. And while he was at it, Obama fiercely made the case that John McCain has and will turn his back on America's urgent needs because he just doesn't get it.

Whenever a politician claims that government can make peoples' lives better, critics become skeptical. But last night I saw a candidate that will, and did, make a commitment to ordinary people. Who did the best he could to offer specifics, without falling prey to a typical Democratic weakness of ignoring an emotional argument. Democracy became an action verb, not something that the well-connected took care of for you.

To see Citizen's reaction and more pictures we took at the event, read more.

Citizen: At its heart, there wasn't so much about the speech that was innately objectionable, the broad strokes he painted are a fine landscape - but he doesn't speak to me. Whether a fundamental difference of political philosophy or a complete lack of chemistry with the man, as much as I enjoyed witnessing the spectacle, I was not moved by it. I was not inspired by the parade of done-wrong stories. When he said, "More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach. These challenges are not all of government's making." My head screamed, but does that mean they're for the government's fixing?

I'm all for roads and a smart, no-waste globally beneficially governmental structure (and let's get it right), but I sure as hell don't want to rely on that as my complete bedrock of security. With great reliance comes great power, and I don't want my government to have that power over me. My building blocks of support come from the ground up, not the top down. When things go wrong, I want solutions to come from self first, then family, then community, on up - the government would never be my first call. As Liberty and I hashed it out afterward, it's a different philosophy. If you have a safety net you're more likely to fall. It's just human nature. If someone will fix your problems for you, why wouldn't you let them? Though he said this: "Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves," that was not the real message conveyed last night, at least not to me.

Then there was the event itself. I've loved this week - you don't have to support a candidate to support the effort of democracy. But last night's dressed-down, come as you are, jumbo-soda and plate-of-nachos stadium setting was disappointing. With the crowd doing the wave and the half time-style line up, I kept waiting for kickoff. Between the utter distraction and screaming every time a famous person appeared, for much of the event what was happening on stage was an after thought.

And on that stage? A veritable variety show. Sheryl Crow? Stevie Wonder? Where is the sense of decorum and humility and ceremony in the midst of a rock concert? There is a time and place for celebration, but this most serious and sterling of occasions isn't it. I'm here for the speeches, not the snacks; the weight of grave responsibility, not the wave; and the gracious dignity, not the grandstand.

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