Crystal Gazing

Searching for John McCain

2008-05-30T14:57:00.000-07:00

By Chris Bowers. (Reprinted in full per DKos copyright policy.)

Searching for John McCain is a massive, online activism campaign designed to make at least ten million non-partisan, poll-tested, on-message voter contacts that reveal the damning truth about John McCain entirely through mainstream news reports and McCain’s own words. Through mass blogger participation and the use of embedded hyperlinks, Searching for John McCain will connect millions of curious, low-information swing voters to negative, mainstream news articles about John McCain without 99% of those voters even knowing that Searching for John McCain exists.

To learn how to participate, and to learn how it will work, read on into the extended entry.

Searching for John McCain is the more sophisticated, and hopefully more effective, 2.0 version of the Googlebomb the Elections campaign which, with only $1,500 and three days of work, reached 6% of the electorate in 47 swing congressional districts during the final two weeks of the 2006 mid-term elections. You can participate if you have a website of your own, if you make comments on other websites, or even if you are a registered user on a community website. It is quick. It is easy. It is free. And it is very, very effective. If it is done correctly, and if enough people participate, this campaign alone should cost John McCain 1% of the vote in November.

What
The utilization of simultaneous, widespread embedded hyperlinks in order to connect voters looking for information on John McCain to nine revealing, important news articles on John McCain.

Why
According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, the number one way that voters use the Internet for political action is to search for information on candidates. In 2004, 34 million Americans used the Internet for this purpose. In 2008, that number will increase significantly, possibly to 50 million or more, with tens of millions looking for information on John McCain. As these voters are looking for information on John McCain, our actions will direct them toward nine articles in particular. Voters are looking for information on John McCain, and we are giving it to them.

These nine articles were not chosen lightly. Analyzing and interpreting polling has long been one of the specialties as a blogger, and I have spent the last three months culling through mountains of available polling on John McCain in order to find the top attacks. All nine of these articles directly correspond to messaging on John McCain that, according to my research, effectively raises doubts about McCain among more than 60% of swing voters.

Additionally, six of these nine articles are from news organizations that already boast top twenty-five Google search rankings for either "John McCain" or "McCain." As such, in order for those six articles to appear in the top twenty Google searches on either John McCain or McCain, we only have to optimize each of those articles relative to other articles from that news organization. That is a very simple, low-hanging fruit sort of task that can be accomplished in only a matter of days.

Further, this messaging is presented by either John McCain himself, or by a non-partisan news organization (or, in most cases, both). As such, the messaging will not be, or be seen as, a partisan attack, making it all the more effective. Personally, I also like that when the inevitable media and conservative outcry against this action kicks in, we can just say that these are all McCain’s own words, and all articles produced by national news organizations. Considering that Michelle Malkin claimed Google should sue me over the Googlebomb campaign two years ago, that her readers issued dozens of death threats against me, and that every single TV news organization contacted me about the campaign two years ago, I really like this aspect of the campaign.

Finally, all of these articles have "McCain" in the title of the article, and most have "McCain" in the URL for the article, making them easier to optimize on Google.

The Articles
Here are the nine articles:

1--John McCain Votes to Filibuster Minimum Wage Hike
AOL News is highly ranked on John McCain, and the minimum wage increase was incredibly popular.

2--McCain housing policy shaped by lobbyist
This article emphasizes how corporate special interests have formed McCain’s economic policy. If it becomes the top ranked MSNBC article, it will appear in the top ten searches for McCain nationwide.

3--Bush, McCain plug Social Security
Seniors are going to be the key swing vote in this election, and they hate Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security. This is the best polling message against McCain of all, which isn’t surprising since our victory on Social Security is how began to turn the tide against Republicans and conservatives three years ago. The headline alone ties McCain to Bush, and this article already ranks very high on searches for McCain Social Security.

4--McCain blasts Obama’s and Clinton’s attacks on NAFTA
This is a great article because it not only ties McCain to NAFTA, which is quite unpopular, but it also draws a contrast between McCain and Democrats on the issue. The LA Times is also in the top twenty searches for John McCain.

5--McCain in NH: Would Be "Fine" To Keep Troops in Iraq for "A Hundred Years"
McCain’s "100 years" statement ha damaged him already, and this article has already been significantly optimized on Google. While Mother Jones is not an ideal news source, it is the top article for this quote, and appears in the top thirty searches for John McCain already.

6--McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion
This is my personal favorite. The headline just makes McCain look like an asshole, and ties him to Bush. Who is opposed to health insurance for kids? CNN also is in the top ten searches for McCain and John McCain A lot of people will see this one.

7--Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition
While I am not thrilled about using Salon, since it isn’t as well known, and since there is an advertising wall that hides the story, the title is damaging enough. McCain’s opposition to the GI Bill really hurts him, and tying him to Bush is just as bad. This title does both in a clear, straightforward manner.

8--McCain says overturn the law that legalized abortion
Pretty straightforward, and extremely important. More than half of all women voters think that McCain is pro-choice. This will quickly change their minds.

9--McCain Defends Bush's Iraq Strategy
The classic McCain SEO, that still appears in top thirty searches for McCain and John McCain. It is also proof positive that this campaign will work, because it appears as the second CBS news article, but still on the front page in Google searches just below the CBS election center information on John McCain. That is all we need to do to get it on the front page of searches about McCain--optimize it against other CBS articles. Also, even though this SEO campaign was abandoned fifteen months ago, it still ranks in the top forty in McCain searches. If a fifteen month old campaign is still that effective, imagine what we can do with enough participation in this campaign.

Even if people searching for information on McCain don’t click through to read each of these articles, the titles alone collectively paint a pretty terrifying picture of McCain. Further, their wide subject range will create a trickle down effect for all kinds of searches on McCain. When people look for specific information on McCain’s issue positions, these articles will appear in the top ten for many, if not most, of those searches.

Action
And now the important part. Here is how you can participate in the campaign:

1. Blogroll John McCain: If you have a website of your own, create a blogroll link for either McCain or John McCain, that links to one of these nine articles.

2. Sign John McCain: Put an embedded John McCain link to one of these nine article in your signature line on all community websites where you are registered. Choose any one of the nine that you like.

3. Comment on John McCain: Whenever you write the words John McCain or McCain online, makes sure to do so with an embedded link to one of these nine article. Choose any of the nine that you link.

And that is all you have to do. If we can get only a few hundred bloggers to participate, we should be able to put six of these nine articles in the top twenty search results for John McCain and McCain before the end of next week. Over time, all nine should appear in the top twenty, and three or four will appear in the top ten. In the end, this should result in several million voter contacts that provide important information on John McCain. The contacts will all be effective, poll tested, non-partisan, and in line with progressive messaging in this election. They will also be educational, as the people who find these articles might forward them to friends and co-workers, or bring them up in conversations. The ripple effect should be quite powerful.

So, please, optimize John McCain today. Put John McCain in your blogroll. Put John McCain in your signature line. Link to John McCain whenever you type his name on a website. This is a quick and powerful action you can take, and it will help us win this election. There isn’t another action you can take this election that will have anywhere near as a high a return for the amount of effort it takes to execute. Millions of truly effective voter contacts just by creating embedded hyperlinks on John McCain or McCain. Let’s do this. Let’s make a difference. Let’s win this election. Let’s search for John McCain.

UPDATE: The first article about the recession being "psychological" has been replaced due to an oversight on my part. It now optimizes John McCain on the minimum wage. Really, I think this is an improvement. Please update your links if you used the first one originally.

Where Was The Schiavo Circus?

2007-12-22T10:11:00.000-08:00

Nataline Sarkysian, RIP

Crickets... chirp... chirp... chirp... chirp... chirp...

Historian?

2007-12-20T13:36:00.000-08:00

I don't think it means what Tom Wolfe thinks it means...

They Should All Resign in Shame

2007-12-20T13:32:00.000-08:00

Mark Halperin, kneepads in place...

Editors, anchors, executive producers, reporters, and campaigns are instantly aware when Drudge posts something political. And with just days to go before the voting — with everyone so busy, so tired, so manic, and so vulnerable — political and media actors are more easily turned chasing in whatever direction Drudge points them. Or, more specifically, in whatever direction Drudge’s spoon-feeding sources point them.

Wingnut Headlines You Can't Resist

2007-12-13T00:49:00.000-08:00

Video: Mary Katharine Ham explains porn sites to O’Reilly

Precious goldmines of self-aggrandizing pretense

2007-12-06T11:16:00.000-08:00

Here's a nice look at Joe Klein, a man "blinded by self-regard."

Bacon Can Save Your Life

2007-11-29T00:29:00.000-08:00

No, really...

A researcher at the University of Texas at Houston says bacon can actually help save your life during a heart attack.

Dr. Nathan Bryan claims nitrates found in bacon form a gas, which can re-open blocked arteries.

Early research indicates the nitrates in bacon cause cancer, but Dr. Bryan says this research is false.

"You should not avoid eating bacon because of the nitrite content. If anything, the nitrite content is what protects our heart during a heart attack," he says.

More info here.

Shorter Joe Klein

2007-11-27T00:39:00.000-08:00

"I've no time or ability to deliver facts and analysis to readers. It's not my job..."

Great Moments in Reading Comprehension

2007-11-20T11:04:00.000-08:00

Coattails Limbaugh:

Solicitor Romulo Diaz said, "While we respect the right of the Boy Scouts to prohibit participation in its activities by homosexuals, we will not subsidize that discrimination by passing on the costs to the people of Philadelphia."

The solicitor apparently doesn't care that the Supreme Court has ruled that the Scouts have a right to exclude homosexuals...

Clinton Crotch Holler

2007-11-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

K-Lo's words say no, but her ruttish empty void says otherwise...

Cootie Vibes

2007-11-12T23:51:00.000-08:00

Silly Sully has another case of cootie vibes...

Rescissions

2007-11-09T10:23:00.000-08:00

Your free market health insurance...

One of the state's largest health insurers set goals and paid bonuses based in part on how many individual policyholders were dropped and how much money was saved.

Woodland Hills-based Health Net Inc. avoided paying $35.5 million in medical expenses by rescinding about 1,600 policies between 2000 and 2006. During that period, it paid its senior analyst in charge of cancellations more than $20,000 in bonuses based in part on her meeting or exceeding annual targets for revoking policies, documents disclosed Thursday showed.

The revelation that the health plan had cancellation goals and bonuses comes amid a storm of controversy over the industry-wide but long-hidden practice of rescinding coverage after expensive medical treatments have been authorized.

These cancellations have been the recent focus of intense scrutiny by lawmakers, state regulators and consumer advocates. Although these "rescissions" are only a small portion of the companies' overall business, they typically leave sick patients with crushing medical bills and no way to obtain needed treatment.

Chumps

2007-11-08T10:34:00.000-08:00

Pat Leahy edition...

Congratulations are in order: Leahy and the White House will soon celebrate the one year anniversary of Leahy's November 15, 2006, request for “any and all Department of Justice directives, memoranda, and/or guidance . . . regarding CIA detention and/or interrogation methods.” So a Happy Torture Policy Stonewalling Day to Pat and everyone in the Bush Administration!

Better Reporting Please

2007-11-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

Once again ... is it too much to ask that a Peter Dreier, Professor of Politics at Occidental College, posting at the Huffington Post or that our respected and valued Tristero at Digby's place point out to their readers that Article II, Section 1 of the US Constitution says that only "the Legislature thereof" may change the manner of selecting electors... ?

Professor Dreier is particularly remiss when he includes this...

"There's nothing in the Constitution that requires states to divvy up their electoral votes a certain way. Currently, Maine (with four electoral votes) and Nebraska (with five) allocate their electoral votes based on the popular vote in Congressional districts, but neither state has had a split vote in any of the last five elections. All other states have adopted the winner-take-all system."

...without so much as mentioning the Art. II, Sec. 1 requirement that the Legislature must make the change.

Maureen Dowd

2007-11-04T15:19:00.000-08:00

Sorry, but your shit does too stink...

Sadly, Yes...

2007-11-04T15:07:00.000-08:00

B. Rocket at Sadly, No!

"Incidentally, if Bush started rounding up opposition politicians, you get the feeling that the Democrats would willingly jail themselves."

The Prophet Moe?

2007-10-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

Oh, sweet Jesus...

On My little infidel
Go to hell!
Cover up, convert or die - Sharia!
Muslim foot baths in the schools - airports too!
Public school madrassas are taking over.
Never gonna stop, give it up
We're such girliemen
Always give it up to the call of the Prophet Moe.
Allah Akbar!

When you gonna cut my va?
va jay jay!
Gotta live in dhimmitude,
Honor Killings!
Gonna call you racist and Islamophobe!
If you dare to use the word Islamofascist

Refrain:
Never gonna stop
Give it up
We're such girliemen
Always give it up to the call of the Prophet Moe

My My My My Sharia!
My My My My sharia!

Steny Hoyer, Incompetent

2007-10-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

Via Correntwire we learn, incredibly, that the office of the House Democratic Majority Leader does not know who Atrios is and is unaware of one of the leading liberal media outlets:

Welcome, Eschatonians, and thanks to Lord Atrios for the link. I called up Hoyer’s office, and courteously informed the young staffer about the link. And you know what? They didn’t know who Atrios was.

Look, I don't proclaim some egomaniacal exceptionalism for Atrios (nor would he) that expects all the world to know about his blog, but one would think that the leadership office of a major political party would at least be aware of who has a significant media megaphone within his own party and in the political world generally. How are we ever going to counteract the right wing noise machine when our leaders don’t even know who the key new liberal media outlets are, let alone have a strategy for using them effectively. Can you imagine anyone in John Boehner’s office not knowing who Assrocket and Powerline is?

The sheer incompetence of Steny Hoyer and our leadership is breathtaking…

Perfected Like Ann...

2007-10-25T01:19:00.000-07:00

h/t Maha

Prehistoric Minds

2007-10-25T00:37:00.000-07:00

It's only a matter of time before these people who are too stupid to rub sticks together start whining about government aid being given to those who chose to live where there is fire...

"A disaster waiting to happen"

2007-10-24T00:20:00.000-07:00

What Kevin says about Rudy Giuliani...

Rudy Giuliani is the guy you'd get if you put George Bush and Dick Cheney into a wine press and squeezed out their pure combined essence: unbounded arrogance and self-righteousness, a chip on his shoulder the size of a redwood, a studied contempt for anybody's opinion but his own, a vindictive streak a mile wide, and a devotion to secrecy and executive power unmatched in presidential history. He is a disaster waiting to happen.

Five Reasons to Stiff Rahm and the DCCC

2007-10-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

No turkee for these turkeys...

Howie Klein:
You might be interested in knowing that 5 Democrats voted with the Republicans on condemning Rep Stark and another 8– all reactionaries– voted “Present,” refusing to come to Stark’s defense. You can probably guess the names of the disgraceful 13 Democrats. But just in case… the 5 who voted– as they so often do– with the GOP:

Jason Altmire (PA), still not kicked off the DCCC Front Line list (Bush Dog)
Chris Carney (PA), still not kicked off the DCCC Front Line list (Bush Dog)
Joe Donnelly (IN), still not kicked off the DCCC Front Line list (Bush Dog)
Brad Ellsworth (IN), still not kicked off the DCCC Front Line list (Bush Dog)
Heath Shuler (NC), still not kicked off the DCCC Front Line list (Bush Dog)
Howie has another interesting statistic — according to Progressive Punch, of the 20 House Democrats who vote with the Bush Administration most frequently in tough roll call votes, 10 are freshmen recruited by Rahm Emanuel. Altmire, Carney, Donnelly, Ellsworth and Shuler are all on that list.

I’ll just leave you with that thought and let it sink in.

Better to give through Actblue or directly to the candidate(s) of your choice.

2008 in a Nutshell

2007-10-23T23:57:00.000-07:00

Digby:

If one political party is a complete failure at governance, but their rivals are total, all-encompassing failures at politics, which do you suppose will win the favor of the citizens?

It looks like we are about to find out.

It's come this this: Hoping the morons can prevail...

Tucker is a douche...

2007-10-20T22:39:00.000-07:00

Tucker Carlson is a douche (but you probably already knew that...).

But what makes the Tucker segment noteworthy is not that it featured false, misleading, and oversimplified claims about a prominent progressive -- that happens all the time on cable news. What really makes it noteworthy is that at the end of the segment -- a segment in which three journalists (Tucker, A.B. Stoddard of The Hill and Josephine Hearn of the Politico) had discussed at length an allegation against Hillary Clinton that appeared, based on a single anonymous source describing a 14-year-old event, in a factually flawed book that at least two of the three had not read -- Carlson and his guests agreed that the media is giving Clinton a pass on the allegation.

None of the journalists had noted the allegation's dubious provenance. None noted that Gerth, at least, has a long history of deeply flawed reporting about the Clintons. Instead, they made false claims (as in Hearn's assertion that nothing in the book had been contested) and misleading statements (as in Carlson's description of the authors as "not two guys from The American Spectator. These are two -- in at least one case, I think, a pretty well-established, at least, former liberal. I mean, they're not screaming right-wingers") bolstering the credibility of a book that at least two of them had not read.

The Wikiality of Goat Blowing

2007-10-16T00:43:00.000-07:00

Mickey Kaus, goat blower.