February 24, 2008
Random 'First Campaign' Links
Posted at 21:41 in .
Here are some other interesting links I came across this weekend amid my blog surfing:
- TechPresident.com's best web videos of the week. It's just amazing how much voter-generated content there is happening in this election. I just can't get over how many people feel moved in some way to devote not insubstantial time and effort to make their own viral videos.
- England's learning the hard way about what Richard Florida calls the "flight of the creative class": Its doctors, teachers, and engineers are fleeing the country at alarming rates. The Telegraph reports: "Record numbers of Britons are leaving - many of them doctors, teachers and engineers - in the biggest exodus for almost 50 years … More than three quarters of these professionals have settled abroad for more than 10 years, according to the study by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). No other nation is losing so many qualified people, it points out. Britain has now lost more than one in 10 of its most skilled citizens, while overall only Mexico has had more people emigrate." That last fact is a huge warning sign: Who wants to be second only to Mexico in fleeing residents? The global labor challenge is a huge challenge to every country—not just the United States and, as I argued earlier tonight, there's an ever-growing market for education and the educated.
- Marketing guru Seth Godin weighs in with a subtle political post: "It's too easy to criticize hope. And in the end, cynicism is a lousy strategy." This is a lesson the Clinton campaign (and others before it) are learning the hard way: Obama's message is compelling for reasons more powerful than "just words."
- Also another blogger picked up my Washington Post op-ed from December on politicians not understanding technology and got inspired to ask John McCain a question: "Can you tell us the difference between YouTube and MySpace?" I'll give a signed copy of "The First Campaign" to anyone who actually gets a chance to ask a presidential candidate that. Heck, I'll give a signed copy to anyone who asks ANY federal candidate that question. If you do, drop me an email. I'd love to hear the results.
