Why Elections Have Been Changed Forever — And No, It’s Not The Black or The Babe Thing.

2004 seems like soooo 4 years ago. But in election years, that’s actually an entire generation. Or two. Because what happened in the 1460 days between Kerry-Bush and Obama-McCain was something that changed the course of every election forever.

Social Media.

During the 2004 Election season, there was no:

• YouTube (2005)
• Facebook (2006)
• Twitter (2006)
• MySpace was up and running in 2003 but it was largely a music-oriented Friendster.
• Digg was founded in 2004, after the election.
• The Huffington Post was founded in May, 2005.
• Politico was founded in 2007.
• Pioneering site Technorati was just beginning to cover the exploding blogosphere in 2004.
• RSS, which made every voter a potential publisher, wasn’t widely known until 2005.
• The term Crowdsourcing cropped up in a Wired story in 2006.
• While Howard Dean had his hefty email list in 2004, no one had a list of three million + cell phone numbers with which to introduce the new Vice Presidential candidate.

And importantly, way back in 2000 and 2004, there was no instant way to report problems with voting as there is this year via Wired’s special election day service.

Or to keep every single moment of Election Day uber-transparent. Click here to follow the election via Twitter.

Here’s an idea I love from iStrategy Labs founder Peter Corbett: Will text messages someday be the twenty-first century version of FDR’s Fireside Chats?

Guru’s Note: Interestingly, the first of FDR’s Fireside Chats was about ‘The Banking Crisis.’

Vote Early. Eat Often. The Complete List of Election Freebies.

Pundits are projecting a huge turn-out on Election Day. So a word to the patriotic companies offering free goodies to those who show up sporting an I VOTED badge on Tuesday: make sure you have enough ice cream, donuts, coffee, tacos and chicken tenders for 130 million hungry voters.

Here’s the complete list of Election freebies Guru has found so far:

Guru’s Note: Most require an “I Voted” sticker so if you voted early or by absentee, find something that proves it. And as always, note the ‘any participating’ disclaimers, which means your local store may be in or not. Most offers valid on 11/04/2008 only.

Chick-fil-a: Get a free Chicken Sandwich for all voters. (In some locations, Chick-fil-a is also taking free sandwiches to election headquarters’ workers. And some locations let campaigners bring in their election yard signs on Wednesday, November 5th for a free chick sandwich.)

Krispy Kreme: Get a free red, white, and blue donut with sprinkles.

Ben & Jerry’s: Between 5-8pm you’ll get a free scoop of ice cream. This freebie has been all over Facebook, with many planning to attend.

Shane’s Rib Shack: Get an entire free “Vote America Meal” of three chicken tenders, fries, and a 20 oz drink.

Starbucks: A free cup of brewed coffee. A strategically placed television spot aired on the John McCain/SNL last night. (Carmel Mochiatto and Frappacino lovers, please note the brewed freebie only)

Daily Grill: Free Happy Hour Appetizer on Election Day. (CA, DC, MA, MD, OK, OR, TX, VA, WA)

California Tortilla : Free taco (DE, MD, DC, PA, VA, WV)

And thanks to Rock The Vote, if you simply pledge to vote, you can download these awesome songs for free:

Maroon 5 – Not Falling Apart
Sara Bareilles – Many The Miles
Phantom Planet – Dropped
Raining Jane – Incline
Menomena – Wet and Rusting
Michael Franti and Spearhead – Hey World (Don’t Give Up Version)
Ry Cuming – Home
The Duke Spirit – This Ship Was Built To Last

And if you live in Dallas, enjoy FREE TATTOO REMOVAL.

Guru’s Note: Check out the growing viral magic of that Starbucks TV spot, now posted all over on Facebook. Let’s hope the happy combination of soaring blood sugar (Ben & Jerry’s and Krispy Kreme) + uber-caffeine leads to really Rocking the Vote.

Thanks to various sites including Heyitsfree.net and Slickdeals and Dealighted.

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Getting Naked for Peace.

(Be very glad) The Guru is not ready to take off her clothes for peace. However, she wholeheartedly supports those who do! And loves it when viral marketing techniques are used for the right reasons.

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Sarah Palin Ups SNL To Best Ratings in 14 Years.

Guru’s Update on the exploding Viral Views: NBC’s own capture of the view count of Palin’s opening monologue is tracking some 580,000+ views to date. By the time Monday hits, it’ll be well into seven figures. Or more. Palin’s “Moose Rap” runs more than 300,000. Many of them from my daughter’s dorm at Berkeley.

There’s no telling if the real Sarah Palin’s appearance on the late night legend “SNL” will improve the McCain/Palin ticket’s odds in 15 days. But it sure gave Saturday Night Live a big bump (kudos to the uber-pregnant Amy Poehler) in the ratings. The Moose Rap will now enter the show’s long history of watercooler classics.

View Amy & the Eskimos here: The Moose Rap

This would be the highest-rated “SNL” since March 12, 1994, when Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan — skating with the late, great, ever-graceful Chris Farley –was the host and Aretha Franklin the musical guest. “SNL” would also be the third-highest-rated show of all last week, including primetime, following only ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” (12.0/18) and CBS’ “CSI” (11.2/17). So does that mean 82-year old Cloris Leachman beat out the beehived babe?

The show opened with a conversation between the real Palin chatting with executive producer Lorne Michaels while Tina Fey portrayed Palin in front of the studio audience. Among other things, Palin tried to get Michaels to agree to let her play Fey on “30 Rock,” on which Michaels is an executive producer. But Michaels declined, saying that nobody watches “30 Rock.” She was then introduced to Alec Baldwin, another “30 Rock” star who after lambasting her politics, then tells the Governor: “You’re hotter in person.”

Also on the show was host Josh Brolin, star of the new Oliver Stone movie “W”, and actor Mark Wahlberg, cracking jokes about his hip “Entourage” credentials.

Saturday’s show was up 161% compared with the average last October (4.1/10). It’s also up 47% compared with the Oct. 4 “SNL” that averaged a 7.3/18. The real SP averaged a 10.7 rating/24 share in the 56 metered markets, according to preliminary estimates released Sunday by Nielsen Media Research.

Thanks to always in-the-know THR’s Political Theater Blog.

Guru’s Note:  Not surprisingly, the media (‘liberal + regular liberal’) is going wild with SP’s appearance on SNL.  Commentator Pat Kitano has a good piece on his blog, which also links to the buzzy Election 2008 twitter site.

This Year’s Hottest Halloween Costume: Joe The Plumber

It’s a classic ‘Wag the Tail phenomenon. Joe the Plumber, the Toledo, Ohio plumber who asked Barack Obama a question, already has nearly 1550 fans on his Facebook page.

Adding to Joe Wurzelbacher’s iconic status, many plan to copy his Plumber-Chic look for Halloween, possibly beating out Sarah Palin for most popular costume. So avoid the run on gray T’s and Mach 3′s. Rush to your local Home Depot asap.

Guru’s Note: Here’s the entire context of the exchange, courtesy of MSNBC.

He’s Good Enough, He’s Smart Enough, and Gosh Darn It, People Like Him!

Comedian Al Franken grabbed the Democratic nomination Tuesday for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, setting up a showdown with Republican Sen. Norm Coleman that had been years in the making.

The Inevitable Anti Sarah Palin Facebook Page.

In the wake of this morning’s news, here’s a new Facebook page with 1,666 fans and growing. Don’t you love the way social networking has blossomed into such a powerful vox populi tool?

Fanning the Sarah Palin Social Networking Frenzy.

Social networking site Facebook is leading the pack (so far) of Sarah Palin fans. As of this noon today, the Governor’s Politician’s Fan Page was booming, with 31,803 fans and counting, many of them active and posting.

The VP Candidate also has a MySpace page, with 1591 Friends to date.

And a Ning page.

Linkedin.com is showing a Sarah Palin as an employee of a Metro Hotel in Australia. And here’s what shows up when I search on Hi5.com for Sarah Palin.

Guru’s Update at 11:25 p.m. Pacific: Sarah Palin Facebook page now up to 35,926 supporters.

While Leon Trotsky seems stuck at 1272 fans.

With An ‘Attack Dog” VP Now On The Ballot, Dems in Denver May Need To Paws For Puppy Love.

Travelmole reports: When the Democrats come to Denver next week for their national convention, it will be dog days — at least in some places.

Particularly at the Hotel Monaco, where the “director of pet relations” will be on hand to greet attendees.

“Hercules” will be decked out in a specially-made red, white and blue tuxedo and top hat, which he will be debuting on August 25 in the Hotel’s lobby. He will be there for photos with both two- and four-legged fans, as well as a petting or two, sporting his new “Super Delegate” tuxedo.

With the polls showing McCain closing in on Obama, the diehard PUMA Hillary crowd not falling immediately into lockstep, and the feisty ‘attack dog’ Biden already in full pounce, a ‘paws’ for a little puppy love may be very welcome.

The 38th Annual Pride Parade: Here Come The Brides –And Grooms.

 
They were everywhere. On giant wedding cake floats. Handing out ‘just married’ Hershey’s kisses. Waving signs and banners. Passing out stickers. San Francisco’s 38th Annual Gay Pride Festival and Parade was one ginormous wedding party — one that (thankfully) also happens to be big business for the city that deserves a boost after all its done to make these marriages a reality.

Tourism officials predicted huge crowds for the weekend — and they got them. Many hotels were sold out, including the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero where we stayed. My daughter and I came to march with my dear childhood friend — the soon-to-be California State Senator, Mark Leno, who is the author of the marriage equality bills approved by the Assembly and Senate in 2005 and 2007. Mark is one of those guys you just know is going to grow up and do something amazingly important– and he has.

SFGate reports that “with 259 marriage license appointments and 284 reservations for wedding ceremonies scheduled at the San Francisco county clerk’s office, Friday was on pace to be the city’s busiest day for weddings since gay marriage became legal earlier this month. There were 202 license appointments and 115 weddings performed on June 17, the first full day that gay and lesbian couples could get married in California.”

The wedding pavilion across from City Hall was swarming with brides, grooms and revelers when we were there. Nearby booths for hotels and resorts were handing out brochures and hawking special honeymoon deals for the newly married.

A recent UCLA study reinforces the good news, projecting the possible economic impact over the next three years :

• Total outlay for same-sex weddings by California residents and nonresidents:    $692 million
• Spending by California couples on their weddings. Assumes 51,319 couples (half of existing committed same-sex couples) will choose to marry, and estimates they will spend $7,645 per wedding:  $392 million
• Spending on weddings and tourism by 67,513 out-of-state couples. Assumes each couple spends an average of $2,962 on the wedding and $1,351 on hotel and food: $291 million
• License fees for 118,832 couples, assuming an average of $73.50 for fees: $9 million.

Beyond warming San Francisco’s coffers, today’s joyful parade warmed half a million hearts. The pictures below say it all.
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Pictures courtesy of Katie Carroll.

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