Month: June 2006

Campaigning On MySpace

So last week I mocked some guy running for Reno city council for having a MySpace page for his campaign. Well, it seems I didn’t really have to look nearly to the other side of the country for a campaign in MySpace.

James Webb is doing his part to cater to that elusive 14-23 year old voting block that just LOVES MySpace and the half nekkid girl spambots that infest it.

Maybe I’m just behind the curve and MySpace is in the same place blogging was a few years ago: shunned, mocked, considered utterly worthless for campaign purposes. Hey, blogging’s still viewed that way by a lot of folks. But still, MySpace? The webservice that gets in the news only when fourteen year old girls run off to meet up with their 20-50 year old BFF they met there? I dunno…

Oh well, at least George Allen has more friends on MySpace then James Webb.

Ouch: Allen 56% – Webb 37%

A new SurveyUSA poll in the VA Senate race puts Republican incumbant George Allen way up over Democratic challenger James Webb by 19 points. A breakdown of the polls is available here.

Only 80% of the people approached were registered to vote and only 54% of that 80% said they were going to vote this November. I’m sure some of those who said they didn’t intend to vote will eventually decide to (thus explaining the very low 3% undecided number) but just the same, that’s not a lot of interest or a whole lot of room for the candidates to maneuver. I fully expect it to get closer between now and then, but that’s only if the Webb camp can get its act together and start running like a professional, big league campaign.

350pm UPDATE: The Dem response to this poll seems to be that Allen’s been out there more as of late than Webb. Didn’t Webb just come off a primary win that gave him huge exposure statewide and beyond? Didn’t Webb’s primary performance get credit for his being within 5 points on the Zogby poll? So why does that performance and exposure not count now?

Things Are Escalating In The Middle East

Last night Israeli troops entered the Gaza Strip to try and force the release of Cpl. Gilad Shalit who is being held prisoner by a Palestinian militant group. Today Israeli airplanes flew over Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s house in an effort to get Syria to put pressure on the Palestinians to release Cpl. Shalit.

The mission was the latest in a dramatic series of events raising tensions in the Middle East, including Israeli military raids into Gaza, where Cpl. Gilad Shalit was believed to be held captive by groups linked with Syria.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that Israeli planes had flown over the Syrian president’s country home and Israeli television reported al-Assad was at home at the time.

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres has complained that Syria allowed Hamas political leaders based in Damascus to order Shalit’s kidnapping.

Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon told Army Radio Wednesday that Israel sought to assassinate Hamas’ Syria-based political chief, Khalid Meshaal, according to The Associated Press.

Syria’s response?

Syria says its air defenses fired at Israeli jets flying over the president’s house, forcing them to flee, The Associated Press reports.

How far is this going to go?

One Million Dollars For World Peace

.!.

If only for a moment. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban commenting on Donald Trump’s upcoming appearance on the Howie Mandel Show:

Howie, if you can get Mr Trump to pull a rubber glove completely over his head and blow it up on your show, not only will I watch it, I will donate 1 million dollars to the charity of your choice.

What could be better than that? Money for a great cause that you love. For the Donald, the thing he loves more than anything, bragging rights. Is there any doubt that by Tuesday afternoon he would be able to say that he was responsible for the most watched television show in the history of TV?

Is it possible that any human being on the planet would be able to resist watching Donald Trump blow up a rubber glove over his head? I dont think so. Combatants around the world would lay down their arms and all enjoy a moment of shared laughter.

I dont have the power to cause the end to wars. If only for a moment. You do Donald.

A small price to pay. If only for a moment.

More Kosola

This thing just keeps going. Via Instapundit, Travis at Rain Storm sees a conspiracy behind the whole thing:

It’s the old guard Dems and a few Ivy League journalists, seeing the times a changing, focusing all their resentments on a handful of insightful bloggers who might have referred to them as “wankers” a time or two.

So they’ve been throwing a swift boat hissy fit, telling stories out of school about those mean bloggers who called them such awful names. What a bunch of whiny ass wankers.

It’s the traditional media using blogging tools to give as good as it gets, if you ask me. Blogs are only relevant in as much as the MSM allows them to be, either by providing fodder by way or article or by picking up on stories that run around the blogosphere. This is what happens when bloggers continuously bite the hands that feed them.