New Orleans-themed Campaigning by Obama

Campaign ads are everywhere these days from the Superbowl to Super Tuesday. They usually include discussions on health care, the war, or the candidate's opponent, but the latest ad circulating American television waves includes shots of New Orleans, Katrina-style. In an attempt to win Louisiana votes, Barack Obama's latest ad features scenes of demolished New Orleans' houses post-Katrina. Read the full NYTimes posting here and see the campaign video below:

Proxy Exclusive- Obama Joins Black Planet

Welcome to the new era of presidential campaigns in America. No previous generation has seen anything like this, and even the 2004 campaign was not this accessible and wired. From the YouTube presidential debates to (legitimate) facebook profiles, the 2008 presidential candidates have taken the campaigning process to a new level. The proxy has an advanced copy of a PR release going out tomorrow, Monday October 15th, about the official announcement of Barack Obama's member profile on Black Planet, the largest African-American social networking community, as well as four other significant online networking communities. Obama's Black Planet profile is very youth-friendly with YouTube links, friends lists, personal stats, and photos, similar to MySpace pages and facebook profiles.

In one day, Obama managed to get more member friends on his Black Planet account than he did in one month on facebook. The power of online networking is limitless with one Black Planet member writing,

“I don't normally vote, but if it will help put you [Obama] in office, I will start. I think you [Obama] are one of the most qualified candidates in the running and it's not just because you are black, it's because you stand up for what is right and would make a great leader of this country.”

With still a year to go before the presidential elections, we are in for a campaign of the future and who knows what's next.

Decisions, Decisions: Demographics and the Political Race

This New York Times article explores the discourse among African-American women in the Carolinas on two of the leading democratic candidates: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. It's interesting how much of the reason why people like (and know about) Hillary comes from her husband. People quoted in this article note their concern for voting for Obama, simply for his safety reasons. Problematic? I think yes. Read for yourself and VOTE.