The Scarlet Letter
Campaign Insider
Political donations follow 80-20 rule
by Erik Nilsson / Aug 07 2012
After pouring over some of the fundraising data points culled from the June FEC filings of President Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, what I found most interesting is that political donations are following the Pareto Principle.
It’s commonly known as the 80-20 rule and it’s is a basic rule of thumb which states that roughly 80 percent of results come from 20 percent of the causes or efforts. There seems to be no
Republican firm launches TV booking service
by Dave Nyczepir / Aug 06 2012
Republican online firm CRAFT has launched a new television booking service headed up by Alex Finland, formerly a producer at Fox News Sunday. Finland will be tasked with identifying suitable clients and working to get them television airtime.
While other media firms also book for clients, CRAFT intends to emphasize its booking operation in a way that it thinks will improve upon the existing industry model.
“Our initial focus is on
Focus groups: 'Walmart moms' sour on economy
by Erika Spicer / Aug 03 2012
Focus groups taking the political pulse of so-called “Walmart Moms” found a bloc of swing voters who are frustrated by a lack of progress on the economy.
The research, conducted by two prominent political polling firms on behalf of Walmart, also reveals disappointment in President Obama and uncertainty about presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
“We had women in both [focus] groups say they wanted to combine the candidates,” says Democratic pollster
Sticking points remain on text-to-donate
by Dave Nyczepir / Aug 02 2012
The wireless industry’s willingness to set up a political text-to-donate regime may hinge on its ability to dictate which federal campaign committees are eligible for the service.
That was among the major points of discussion Thursday at an open hearing of the Federal Election Commission, during which commissioners heard from lawyers for wireless aggregator m-Qube and CTIA, the wireless industry trade group.
In June, the commission approved a text-to-donate
Broadcasters now posting political files online
by Shane D'Aprile / Aug 02 2012
Starting today, broadcast stations in the nation’s top 50 media markets are required to make their political ad sales data available online.
The new requirement, which was adopted by the Federal Communications Commission earlier this spring, is now in effect after a federal court rejected a request late last week by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to temporarily halt the rule.
The FCC rule requires affiliates of the four
Are text-to-donate proponents building castles in the clouds?
by Erik Nilsson / Aug 02 2012
Has there ever been so much enthusiasm for an unproven political fundraising tool?
Yet another firm threw its hat into the text-to-donate ring this week by submitting a new proposal to the Federal Election Commission. Revolution Messaging has asked the FEC to consider:
- Allowing campaigns to share short codes in order to cut down on costs and setup times for text-to-donate campaigns.
- Lower the amount wireless carriers can charge campaigns
Twitter launches Obama, Romney sentiment tracker
by Danielle Kane / Aug 01 2012
The Twitter Political Index, launched by the microblogging site on Wednesday, will offer a daily measure of how users are feeling about President Obama and Republican Mitt Romney culled from millions of tweets.
Twitter has partnered with data analysts at Topsy and with pollsters from The Mellman Group and Northstar Opinion Research. Combining more traditional tools with the power of social media, the index aims to augment public opinion data, not
Overlooked SCOTUS ruling could impact campaigns
by Robert Spicer / Aug 01 2012
Many people missed an important First Amendment decision from the Supreme Court recently. Amid all of the political discussion surrounding the court’s ruling on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, its decision in U.S. v. Alvarez, which came down on the same day, is worth some attention.
The case centered on Xavier Alvarez, who falsely claimed he served in the Marines and won the Congressional Medal of Honor. Alvarez was indicted under
Mobile firm offers new text-to-donate proposal to FEC
by Dave Nyczepir / Aug 01 2012
Mobile strategy firm Revolution Messaging has jumped into the text-to-donate debate with an advisory opinion request submitted to the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday.
In June, the commission approved a text-to-donate proposal from aggregator M-Qube and Armour Media, but wireless carriers have since expressed a litany of concerns over compliance and have requested clarity from the commission before moving forward.
In its new advisory opinion request, Revolution Messaging argues that the m-Qube
Weather Channel gets in mobile targeting game
by Dave Nyczepir / Jul 31 2012
Even the Weather Channel is jumping on the political targeting bandwagon this election cycle. The cable network is partnering with Jumptap to pump up its mobile ad offerings for political campaigns from the top of the ballot on down.
The mobile advertiser will serve political ads to the more than 30 million monthly users of The Weather Channel’s mobile and tablet apps. Users will be able to target banner and rich media ads
Questions surround text-to-donate
by Dave Nyczepir / Jul 31 2012
Setting up a text-to-donate regime in time for political campaigns to cash in before November looks increasingly like a long shot.
The issue is on the agenda for the Federal Election Commission’s open meeting slated for Thursday, but several analysts point to the litany of issues presented in the advisory opinion request from CTIA—the wireless industry trade group.
The full text of the AOR, which was submitted to the FEC
Text-to-donate on FEC's agenda for next week
by Dave Nyczepir / Jul 27 2012
The Federal Election Commission will discuss the text-to-donate reporting requirements of campaign committees, aggregators and wireless carriers, at its August 2 open meeting.
An advisory opinion request submitted earlier this month asked the FEC to shed more light on its recent text-to-donate ruling, which said candidates can accept contributions via text message. The request came from aggregator M-Qube, political advertising firm Armour Media and the campaign committee of Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.).
Newsletter Sign up
Please enter a valid email address
Sign up here to receive newsletters and special offers from Campaigns & Elections.
Advertise with Campaigns&Elections
