Obama's Online Guru :"I Don’t think We Could Win the Re-election for Brown"

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2009

Obama's Online Guru :
"I Don’t think We Could Win the Re-election for Brown"

So says Blue State Digital's Thomas Gensemer in The Times today. His firm helped Obama raise $300 million online. If anyone can do it, he can. Yet, with Brown in front, he thinks it is mission impossible.

Labour are trying to fight back, but so far their only online campaign that has escaped from the politico-geek ghetto is John Prescott's campaign against banker's bonuses. That broke out of the few hundred and made it into the tens of thousands signalling their support.

Putting aside the comedic value of Derek Draper, Labour's efforts are undermined by the rivalries, whereas the Tories have one successful community site, Labour has four or five not very successful attempts to match ConservativeHome. They also don't seem to have realistic expectations.

What is the point of Alistair Campbell's videos? Nobody watches them:

Compare the number of views Campbell got to the two videos produced in the same week mocking Derek Draper and LabourList. Tens of thousands of views versus a couple of hundred views for Alastair's efforts. Alistair got lots of press coverage for his efforts - even though hardly anyone watched them - because he understands how to manipulate the Dead Tree Press.The anti-Labour video guerillas understood what would play well on the web: humour.*

Prescott is doing a far better job of reaching out using authenticity, humour and celebrity. He has box-office appeal and is better advised. Draper has, like Campbell, not got a feel for online.

The coming general election is going to be fought online more than ever before. Labour are going to lose it badly if they don't learn fast.

*The various Gordon Brown nose-picking videos have been watched three-quarters of a million times on YouTube. By far the most watched YouTube videos of any British politician.

Comedy Candidates

The London Standard is pushing a story claiming that a cabinet minister is urging Yvette Cooper to stand as a "Stop Harriet" candidate. Very amusing. If you believe the papers the list of candidates could see Miliband major versus Miliband minor as well as Yvette Balls versus Ed Balls. The list of runners for Gordon's succession is said to even include Andy Burnham.Some of this press speculation can only be for the purposes of satire...

UPDATE : Ben Brogan points out that Cruddas is backing Harman in theIndy.

Osborne : Brown is a "Walter Mitty"

Osborne has once again come close to saying what many in Westminster think - the PM is at the very least delusional, if not bonkers.

The FT reports Gordon's fantasy that the tripartite regulatory system worked and is being copied around the world. Osborne clearly could not bite his lip, retorting that Gordon is "still living in his Walter Mitty world where his system of banking regulation didn't fail, where boom-and-bust had been abolished and where Britain is best placed to withstand the recession". 

Just say it straight : Brown is Bonkers.

Prayers for His Holiness

This morning the Fawkes household said prayers for the safety of His Holiness, for the citizens of the Eternal City and for the one holy catholic and apostolic Church. For today the one-eyed, ill begotten son of the manse goes to Rome to meet the Pope. The Catholic Church has survived for two millenniums, it has battled with Satan and his works and it will, with the blessing of God, endure the curse of Jonah Brown.

Incidentally, yesterday on the day that Obama authorised funding for international abortion groups, the Pope called on politicans to defend the unborn. It is the custom of the Holy See to deny visiting Catholic politicians a photo-opportunity if they do not take the orthodox Catholic line. As a non-believer who supports abortion it is probable that Gordon will get his publicity shot.