Bad MySpace Move By Barack Obama

The Barack Obama MySpace page did look like it might be something run by the official campaign itself. And so the concern was legitimate.

Barack had 150,000 MySpace friends, and now that is down to 30,000. That is a huge loss. But that is momentary. Looks like the squatter guy took away all his "friends" and the Obama campaign is having to start afresh. I used to be a "friend" of Obama. And I realized I had been delisted. I promptly went back up. I am sure many others will as well. I expect the number to exceed 100,000 very fast, in a matter of weeks.

MySpace is the leading social networking site right now. It was but natural that Obama wanted to own his own name there. But the way his campaign handled it was not cool. The self-propelled volunteer guy should have been shown more respect. He should have been compensated perhaps. Heck, he should have been hired, I think. Google bought YouTube. The guy did something the Obama campaign did not for a long time. Like Rupert Murdoch said when he bought MySpace: "Noone on my team thought of it."

Obama has a robust presence also on Facebook.

Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack)

Size: 323,985 members

Barack Obama for President in 2008

Size: 67,623 members

The Obama campaign needs to stay away from these groups. Don't mess with it. These things are supposed to be bottom up. Not even that. These things are grassroots energy, synergy.

The problem is not that Obama has lost his MySpace friends, he has not, he will rebound. The problem is the way his campaign handled it. It did not show enough respect to a volunteer. That is not okay. I hope that mistake is not repeated too often.

I don't fault MySpace though. It did the right thing.

In The News

Obama: 'This is MySpace' Capitol Hill Blue, VA
Barack Obama Could Lose Some 'Friends' In MySpace Debacle Post Chronicle
Obama Takes MySpace Page From Backer MyFox Chicago
Obama Requests Creative Commons for Presidential Debates Slashdot
Obama's MySpace love >> Total Content + Media, UK
Sweet blog special: Obama and MySpace saga. Chicago Sun-Times, IL Obama is making extensive use of social networking tools in his campaign, which has a "new media" department based at the Chicago headquarters. The Obama campaign is also encouraging netroot activists to rally support for Obama and organize on their own. ..... I dug into the story behind yesterday's collapse in Obama's MySpace numbers; it's a kind of cautionary tale for the Connected Age, and also suggests the Obama campaign is more traditional top-down control-oriented than the press they've been getting for all their online social networking. ....... MySpace has said Joe Anthony can post his site, complete with all his friends, on whatever non-official URL he chooses. I think that's fair. ....... MySpaceGate! ...... What a foolish decision on Obama’s part! Paying this man for his work is not only the right thing to do, it’s also the smart thing to do.
Unnecessary candidate Daily Vidette
Obama's MySpace Mayhem National Journal, DC The user who once voluntarily managed his MySpace page for more than two years has accused the campaign and MySpace of taking over the Web site and deleting the former profile. ....... a 29-year-old from the L.A. area ...... The campaign, with the help of Myspace, have seized control of the profile without my consent, and are using it to refer traffic to a new profile they created. I have been blocked from having access to the profile. ........ our campaign staff wanted make sure users had direct access to the campaign. We support the MySpace communty, and look forward to building our relationship. ....... Joe Anthony gets to keep his 160,000 list under a different myspace site name. Myspace has told him to pick another name for his site and continue running it if he wants. Obama gets to use his official myspace url address which belongs to Barack Obama per Myspace rules. This is more than fair to me. ....... it seems like his "washington outsider" rhetoric doesn't apply to regular people. this is very disappointing - i'm now voting for edwards. ..... How many millions will Obama spend for a few seconds appearance in tv. He has taken for granted that 160,000 fans that this rebel page has gathered will stay with him anyway and he will spend a dime for them. ...... Regardless of the legality, I believe that this whole situation was handled very poorely by the Obama campaign, and this is just the sort of bad press that can potentially snowball, and have a real affect on younger voters. Myspace is a real community of a demographic that is very hard to reach in the traditional sense, and I think that the Obama campaign needs to be very careful about how all of this is handled.
Obama endorses effort to make debate video free USA Today Saying that the Democratic Party should "do everything we can" to encourage "citizen-generated" coverage of the presidential campaign, Sen. Barack Obama today sent a letter to DNC Chairman Howard Dean asking that the party put video of its presidential debates in the public domain. ....... I am a strong believer in the importance of copyright, especially in a digital age. But there is no reason that this particular class of content needs the protection. ...... Your presidential campaign used the Internet to break new ground in citizen political participation. I would urge you to take the lead again by continuing to support this important medium of political speech.

Yahoo shares soar on bid rumours BBC News
Google tops global brand league ahead of General Electric and Microsoft ..... The total value of the Top 100 brands has increased by 10.6% in the past year to $1.6 trillion. .... The biggest riser was Marks & Spencer, which tripled its brand value to take the number 68 spot globally and fourth place in the UK. ..... combines balance sheet values with consumer sentiment ..... the past year has seen companies such as BP and Toyota boost their brand value with the promise of more environmentally friendly policies and products. ....

1 Google

2 General Electric

3 Microsoft

4 Coca-Cola

5 China Mobile

6 Marlboro

7 Wal-Mart

8 Citi

9 IBM

10 Toyota

Stock futures rise on Yahoo-Microsoft report USA Today
White House threatens to veto hate-crimes bill CNN
Barack Obama Could Lose Some 'Friends' In MySpace Debacle Post Chronicle
Obama: 'This is MySpace' Capitol Hill Blue
Lowry: The great Clinton/Obama feminist pander Salt Lake Tribune
Falling Hillary, Rising Obama, by Kang In-sun Chosun Ilbo
Clinton Takes A New Stand On Iraq NY1 is introducing legislation that would repeal the 2002 congressional resolution authorizing force in Iraq. ...... bill would require President George W. Bush to get approval from Congress before he can extend the military tour past October. Clinton says she wants all combat troops out of Iraq by March 2008. ..... The White House says it is another attempt to put a surrender date on the calendar.
Hillary's presidential formula relies on women and blacks Florida Times-Union California and New York, plus many others, on a February "Super Tuesday" .... Lately, she's been making noise about making good, practical political use of "The First Gentleman" if she's elected. ..... From Edwards to Richardson and in between, male Democratic presidential hopefuls all win just enough support among Democratic voters to prevent any one of them from accumulating enough to seriously challenge Clinton. ....... Thompson - maybe even Thompson alone - could serve as the true threat to an otherwise likely Democratic victory in November 2008.
Polls Show Clinton, Giuliani Lead US Presidential Race Voice of America
Poll: Giuliani Beats Clinton, Obama, Gore NewsMax.com
Clinton, Giuliani Slip, But Stay On Top Guardian Unlimited

Obama gets Secret Service detail Seattle Post Intelligencer The Secret Service said Thursday that Democratic Sen. Barack Obama was being placed under its protection, the earliest ever for a presidential candidate. ....... Federal law allows candidates to seek protection if they meet a series of standards, including public prominence as measured by polls and fundraising. ...... The Rev. Jesse Jackson drew early Secret Service protection because of violent threats during his campaigns for president in the 1980s.
GM Profit Down 90% From 2006 New York Times losses at its finance arm overshadowed the gains from restructuring its automotive operations. ...... described the company, which reported losses of $10.4 billion in 2005 and $2 billion last year, as “operating at or close to break even.” ....... G.M. had been the world’s largest automaker since 1931, save for brief periods in the 1970s and 1990s when strikes among G.M. workers allowed Ford to claim the top spot.
Seattle Suffers a New Major League Soccer Threat Seattlest
Major League Soccer in Seattle? Washington Business Journal
Ubuntu 7.04 Arriving On Dell Computers Portal IT
Firefox users urge Dell to preinstall the browser PC World Canada
Tobias drawn further into sex scandal Indianapolis Star Reporter Brian Ross said Tobias told him he "had gals come over to his condo to give him a massage." Ross said Tobias didn't remember who any of the women were and that it was "like ordering pizza."
Tensions worsen between Russia and Estonia International Herald Tribune, France Last week, Russia's upper house of Parliament called on Putin to sever relations, while the lower house demanded the imposition of sanctions. The Moscow mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, used a May Day festival to call for a boycott of Estonian goods. .... Russia's furious reaction recalls a public campaign of harassment against Georgians living here following a dispute over the arrest of Russian intelligence officers in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, in October. Russia deported hundreds of Georgians living and working in Russia and cut rail, air and sea links with its southern neighbor, which, like Estonia, is a former Soviet republic.
Bush: “I’m the Commander Guy” New York Times
Royal scores in heated presidential debate with Sarkozy (Roundup) Monsters and Critics.com
Britney's Stripperific Onstage Lap Dance TMZ.com
The President's Thanks, and Other Forms of Kissing Up Washington Post
Barack Obama's Achilles Heel Rears Its Ugly Head. Again. Huffington Post
Obama takes MySpace page from backer Sacramento Bee
Obama camp takes control of MySpace page Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Will Turkey become an Islamist state? Jerusalem Post
A Feel of Resurging Bihar Patna Daily
Obama Ranks at Head of Dem Field for First Time: Poll Mother Jones
Hillary, Fearing Obama, Changes Strategy NewsMax.com Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign is growing increasingly concerned about her main challenger. ....... a worried Hillary Clinton is dramatically retooling her strategy on several fronts, including fund-raising ..... Obama is beating Hillary, and her own aides acknowledge that the Illinois Senator is simply working the phones more than their candidate. ........ Terry McAuliffe acknowledged that Obama "works the phone like dog. He probably did three to four times the number of events she did” in the first quarter of this year. "No matter who I call, he has already called them three or four times” ........ Hillary is seeking to counter what Obama’s aides call "an enthusiasm gap.” ....... "So Clinton is lavishing more attention on groups like women, whom she considers her natural constituencies” ........ During most of her tenure in the Senate Hillary has avoided using her husband for back-up. But that has changed too. Hillary also plans to have husband Bill hit the campaign and fund-raising trails more often. ....... Both Clintons are using the fear factor to ward off growing support for Obama. Time says the power couple are telling potential contributors that the U.S. could very likely experience a 9/11-scale terrorist attack during the next administration, and Hillary – because of her experience as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee – is the candidate best suited to handle such a crisis.