The Scarlet Letter
Campaign Insider
Startup aims to fill gap in social CRM space
by Dave Nyczepir / Sep 25 2012
Tech startup Attentive.ly is pitching a new way for campaigns to generate engagement from supporters on their email lists. An enhanced social media monitoring tool, Attentive.ly launched Tuesday and essentially turns a campaign’s list into an infographic using intelligent tracking.
The company’s pitch: in the face of increasing email unsubscribes and decreasing open-rates, it’s no longer enough to just rely on email for online outreach. Attentive.ly’s cofounders say the system is designed
The Rand Paul formula is working
by Brandon Howell / Sep 21 2012
In a week kicked off by a spat with fiery left-wing economist Paul Krugman and gift-wrapped with a poignant address to the Values Voter Summit, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) quietly had one of the best weeks of his budding political career.
Of course, the biggest news to come out of “Paul-world” last week was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) tapping of Rep. Ron Paul's former campaign manager Jesse
The Educated Campaigner
by Michael Cornfield / Sep 21 2012
Some time soon, probably in 2013, the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management will mothball the word “Online” in the titles of its courses and certificate program.
“Managing Online Campaigns” and “Online Political Strategy” will join the Democracy Online Project (1998-2001) and the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet (2001-2010, in effect) in our display case. We’re going with “Digital” to acknowledge an important development in the world of campaigns,
FEC green lights AT&T request on text-to-donate rates
by Dave Nyczepir / Sep 20 2012
Some donations via text message could turn out to be more lucrative for campaigns after the Federal Election Commission approved a bid by AT&T to restructure its service rates. The commission unanimously voted to approve AT&T's request at its meeting Thursday.
Wireless carriers typically take 30 to 50 percent off the top of mobile contributions—a carryover from their fees on commercial content like apps. But AT&T intends to implement a new model where
Court overturns ruling on outside group disclosure
by Dave Nyczepir / Sep 18 2012
The D.C. Court of Appeals overturned an earlier District Court ruling Tuesday that required outside groups to disclose some of their donors.
On March 30, the District Court found in favor of Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who sued the FEC over its regulation that donations of $1,000 or more to corporations, labor organizations and nonprofits need only be disclosed when designated for “electioneering communications." An electioneering communication covers any targeted broadcast, cable
Gallup: Obama's post-convention bounce erodes
by Shane D'Aprile / Sep 18 2012
President Obama’s post-convention polling bounce has all but disappeared, according to new numbers from Gallup. The latest Gallup tracking poll shows Obama up over Mitt Romney by just a single percentage point with registered voters—47 percent to 46 percent.
That’s exactly where the horserace was just ahead of the Democratic convention in Charlotte.
“We began to see Obama’s lead expanding on Tuesday night of the convention, and then saw it begin
How will the electorate actually look on Election Day?
by Chris Palko / Sep 17 2012
To followers of this presidential election, looking at the horse race can feel like a roller coaster. When viewed from certain angles and in certain perspectives, it looks like President Obama is a solid favorite to be reelected. Most public polls have him up, and he appears to be running ahead of his national numbers in the key swing states.
But viewed from other angles, Mitt Romney can seem stronger than these polls
FEC poised to approve lower rates for text contributions
by Dave Nyczepir / Sep 14 2012
AT&T’s proposed restructuring of rates for campaign text donations is near fruition. In a draft advisory opinion released Thursday, the Federal Election Commission said the wireless carrier could charge campaigns lower rates to process text message contributions.
AT&T was concerned offering campaigns lower rates would constitute illegal, in-kind contributions, per previous FEC text-to-donate advisory opinions. Lower fees could make the service more accessible to smaller political campaigns and committees.
“Here,
It's all about online engagement
by Dave Nyczepir / Sep 14 2012
Campaigning online is all about engagement, especially in the final 60 days. That was the advice for the campaign’s stretch run from three veteran digital strategists at C&E's Final Push video e-conference on Friday.
When it comes to communicating via email, Republican digital strategist Becki Donatelli said making small dollar email asks—like many of the fundraising emails sent by the Romney and Obama campaigns—can translate to a missed opportunity for campaigns.
No more easy outs at the FEC
by David M. Mason / Sep 14 2012
While no one who has had to deal with the enforcement process at the Federal Election Commission enjoys it, the FEC has put significant emphasis in recent years on dismissing unjustified complaints. The Commission uses a “no reason to believe” (no RTB) finding to express its conclusion that a complaint was not justified.
Getting that No RTB finding is now a lot harder thanks to a ruling by a Federal court here in
What consultants are facing in the Middle East
by Sean J. Miller / Sep 13 2012
The Egyptian political consulting market looks increasingly forbidding with the ongoing street protests centered on the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.
Civil unrest has spread across North Africa and the Middle East linked, at least in part, to a video disparaging Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. Protesters stormed the U.S. Embassy compound in Cairo and four American diplomatic personnel, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were killed in Libya on Tuesday. Protests have subsequently spread to
Study: GOTV messages on social media increase turnout
by Dave Nyczepir / Sep 13 2012
Those GOTV Facebook messages campaigns want you to send to your friends? They actually help increase turnout, according to a new study in the journal Nature.
A randomized, controlled study of approximately 61 million Facebook users found political mobilization messages, posted during the 2010 U.S. Congressional races, encouraged voting, information-seeking and self-expression. Those effects extended to friends and friends-of-friends, among those who received the messages.
The informational message contained a link
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