Pawlenty steals hockey coverage?

ABC Sports may slap presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty with a cease-and-desist letter for improperly using its footage in a political advertisement.

Who the hell is working on these campaigns?!

Farmville for Campaign Nerds

Look what the facebook dragged in!

Of course I was intrigued! How can you not love a video that starts "I'm gonna show you how easy and fun it is to start and run your own Presidential campaign!" After messing around with the facebook app for a few minutes, I'm not sure I'm a fan. Here are my thoughts:

First off, why does he continuously pronounce it "vuh-tacracy" shouldn't it be "vote-ocracy"?

Moreover, they claim $99 is steal compared to what actual Presidential candidates pay, but you're still paying $99 dollars for a facebook app AND I'm pretty sure proportionate to net worth Mitt Romney would actually be making out better than me on the deal. Besides, there is nothing on the "what you get" page that I couldn't do on my own for less money if I were so inclined.

Also, users (and there are currently about 5,200 of them) seem pretty skewed one way. Consider this poll where 47% support Cut, Cap and Balance. I chose "hate it" which showed up as "ate it."

It does say "At the end of the voting process, a national, multi-media ad campaign will be created to enable Votocracy's national nominee to compete with confidence against the traditional parties." I wonder what that will look like. I'm anticipating it will either be really interesting or really inane, or potentially some weird hybrid of both.

So, thanks votocracy, but I don't need "a way to compete against [my] friends, family members, and colleagues, to see who's the best campaigner." I have that, it's called the last four years of my life.

What do you guys think? Is this awesome or lame?

Words, Words, Words

Activist and Precinct Captain to the stars, Brad Kerr, tipped me off to this article about a new study which found that asking people "Will you be a voter?" rather than "Will you vote?" made them up to fourteen percent more likely to vote!

The group polled wasn't huge, but the findings are pretty interesting (especially if you're a giant nerd like me).

Identity is a powerful thing.

Pro-Tip: End Your Emails With Rap Lyrics

Alright guys, you are really getting the gems of my professional wisdom now. Back in the day, I used to motivate myself/my organizers by including rap lyrics in the signature of my regional emails. It's not exactly the invention of google docs, but it did help get me through the day and inject some fun into my copious communications. Here are some of my favorites:

Ice Ice Baby, Vanilla Ice: "Anything less than the best is a felony."

4 Minutes, Madonna ft Justin Timberlake: "We've only got 4 minutes to save the world."

Stronger, Kanye West: "That,that,that,that don't kill me can only make me stronger."

Lose Yourself, Eminem: "You've only got one shot do not miss your chance"

In the Ayer, Florida: "Oh hot damn, this is my jam."

Can't Touch This, MC Hammer: "Either work hard or you might as well quit."

Gettin' Jiggy With It, Will Smith: "Saw Ali told him I'm the greatest."

Enjoy annoying your staff with my corniness!

Love,
Nancy

What if the VOTERS chose NY's newest Congressperson?

This editorial is worth reading and not just because of the phrase "Weiner is just the tip." The Democratic machine in New York City is alive, well, and going to select our next Congressperson.

This bill, mentioned in the article, would "create open special elections, where multiple Democrats can appear on the ballot together." That plan obviously has its own flaws, but it is preferable to the current system because it allows voters a (gasp) choice in who represents them.

Tea Party, Earl Grey.

Be still my nerdy, nerdy heart.

To say nothing of the compulsory military service...

Israelis' stress hormones are 3x higher on election day.