Monday, January 12, 2004

Greensboro Parks and Recreation Commission member David Hoggard is covering a hot story on his weblog: "What is at stake is the money and prestige involved with controlling Central NC's wealth of amatuer basketball talent." Hoggard is out in front of all other local media on this one. He's keeping the public informed as he does his public job. What a concept. Local government, boards, and commissions should be blog-rich environments. 4:04:22 PM    comment []

A quick email conversation with Zephyr Teachout, Director of Internet Organizing and Outreach for the Howard Dean campaign. -- 3,500 Dean volunteers from out-of-state will serve in Iowa. -- "Necessity is making people turn to organizing tools." -- "Tell everyone that the letters are working." EdCone.com: Zephyr, can you give me any comment on the race in Iowa? ZT: I haven’t been out there, but we hear that it's going well – the office and state is packed with local and national organizers. Here’s a neat story from a person out there, showing how the Perfect Storm organizing is meshing with the letter writing: Here on the "front lines" in Iowa the letters and personal calls are paying off in real results. I telephoned a woman in my precinct the other evening who had been undecided. But she had just received a moving letter from a Dean supporter in Idaho and she had shared it with her husband. Then, my personal telephone call came after an evening of annoying recorded messages from the others. She said that because of the obvious energy and commitment of Dean supporters, both she and her husband would caucus for Dean. There's more. Her husband is a registered Republican, but will register as a Democrat next Monday evening to caucus with the Dean supporters. (This is legal in Iowa. So tell everyone that the letters are working. I am certain that there are literally thousands of stories like this one. Write some letters today and claim your space in history.  How many people will you/ have you brought into the state? 3,500. What are the most important jobs to be done there by volunteers? Going door to door and talking to Iowans about why they support Dean, and how to go to caucus. Some phone banking. How has the software worked -- any pleasant and/or unpleasant surprises there? Recently a surge in use of Get Local in Iowa -- necessity is making people turn to organizing tools. That’s interesting. 11:19:57 AM    comment []

Atrios: "One lowly scale AP reporter probably has a lot more influence than William Safire." 8:35:10 AM    comment []

Did that ugly INT by Brett Favre in overtime last night mean that his late father and/or God Almighty was no longer pulling for the Packers? 8:30:12 AM    comment []

A big, front-page, above-the-fold profile of John Edwards in this morning's New York Times. Hey, if the Carolina Panthers can win in St. Louis... 8:25:33 AM    comment []

I've signed up with Blogads to see if I can make this weblog pay for itself. My first goal is to cover Internet access costs. Then, if all goes well, to purchase some hardware that will improve the blog by adding more images, etc. Then, orthodontia for the kids, an apartment in SoHo for Mrs. Cone, a new wing for the Weatherspoon Museum, a special cold-weather-needs endowment for the Greensboro Urban Ministry, and, eventually, a seat in the United States Senate. 8:20:13 AM    comment []