Campaigns & Elections - August 2007 - (Page 69)

Cause-Based SocNets Lure Issue Voters By Joel Berg …or lead the bunch. The sharks are circling, the seas are choppy… Let THE TRAZ GROUP toss you a lifeline. Ed Traz has successfully navigated these waters for 15 years, completing countless search-and-rescue missions to land his clients safely in office. ■ Award-winning direct mail for Republican candidates ■ Comprehensive strategy ■ One-on-one consulting ■ Incisive budget analysis ■ Grassroots mobilization In the shark-infested pool of today’s politics, don’t be the lunch—be the leader. Call Ed Traz today. Charlie Gerow is waiting for the video snippet that will reel in the crowds to his social-networking site for conservatives, QubeTV. “That’s what is going to make this site,” said Gerow, co-founder of the site and chief executive officer of Quantum Communications, a Republican-leaning communications firm in Pennsylvania. QubeTV is one of several socialnetworking sites that appeal to people based on political persuasion. Launched this spring, QubeTV plans to host a primary by the end of the year. Nonpartisan cause-based social networks include YouthNoise.com and Rethos.com. Left-leaning sites include Intoxination.net. YouthNoise targets young people aged 14 to 26; in the 2008 cycle, members will design their ideal candidates and pit them against each other in a mock election. Cause-based sites are focused solely on the issues, attracting a more defined audience that should appeal to political campaigns. “It’s a more efficient use of your time and money,” Gerow said. He predicts social-networking will become a big player in 2008. “Whether or not it has any power in 2012 remains to be seen,” he added. Joseph Mercurio, a Democratic media consultant in New York City, expects candidates in 2008 to use cause-based social networks to motivate issue-oriented voters. “You can make sure that they know there’s a difference between the two candidates on that issue,” said Mercurio. However, campaigns should remember that any message pitched to a targeted segment might find its way to a wider audience, Mercurio said. What a candidate says to one group should not offend another. “You have to assume that anything you say is going to get out,” he said. C&E thetrazgroup 26 SOUTH MAPLE AVENUE MARLTON, NEW JERSEY 08053 T: 856.797.9970 F: 856.797.9975 E: edtraz@thetrazgroup.com 601 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW SUITE 900 ■ SOUTH BUILDING WASHINGTON, DC 20004 T: 202.220.3026 F: 202.639.8238 CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS 08.07 69 http://YouthNoise.com http://Rethos.com http://Intoxination.net http://www.snapstream.com/enterprise http://www.snapstream.com/enterprise

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Campaigns & Elections - August 2007

Cover Contents Editor’s Note Ames Straw Poll Cavalcade; Last Candidate Standing; The New Dollar-A-Year Guy; Web Videos That Can Change the Election Across State Lines: Campaign News from Around the Country People and Organizations Movers and Shakers: Ten Questions for Matthew Taylor and Philip de Vellis Campaign Consultant Sign-Ups Reel Time Cover Story: Building Blocks From Madison Avenue to K Street Money Can’t Buy Votes Dick Cheney: Roll Model for Millions Ames: Still Weird, Still Important How to Do Tougher, Quicker Crisis Management Online Cause-Based SocNets Lure Issue Voters The Great Exaggeration Why Primetime TV is Alive and Well, Politically Speaking Buyer’s Guide Tips for Toeing the Fine Line Between Employment, Friendship Managing Your Friend’s Campaign? Think ‘Consigliore’ Off The Record

Campaigns & Elections - August 2007

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