Do you feel a draft? Mitch Daniels for Prez?

The Christian Science Monitor (see link below) openly opined today that Mitch Daniels' superb State of the Union rebuttal (gotta love the bit about the light bulb) was possibly nothing but a litmus test for a real run (aka read "draft").

In reality, is history repeating itself or a forgotten page right out of L. Keith Bulen's election playbook? This seems very close to the 2003 quasi-strategy in the first part of the Bush the Second's administration, when Daniels publicly refused to return to Indiana (then holding the OMB director post) to run for Governor.

After a seemingly independent groundswell of prominent calls, letters and pledges, Daniels "reluctantly" returned to Hoosierland and captured the gubernatorial brass ring. Will we see a repeat on the federal level in 2012? It IS a great speech! http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2012/0125/Mitch-Daniels-State-of-the-Union-rebuttal-makes-GOP-wonder-What-if/(page)/2

Reagan - the Man Who Truly Reinvented Himself

Reagan the inevitable? Hardly. Today, as we approach the century mark for Ronald Reagan, many often forget that this man ran for U.S. President four times and lost twice. "He had to fight for every inch, he had to make it happen," writes Peggy Noonan in the Feb. 4 Wall Street Journal. Noonan, the author of many of Reagan's most memorable speeches, saw firsthand the fruits of how Reagan literally reinvented himself. A Democrat turned Republican, Reagan was the live coast-to-coast television host of the 1955 opening of Disneyland. Clad in a white tux and black bow-tie, Reagan then would have hardly been considered a possible future two-term governor of California (which he was in the mid-1960s), much less presidential timber. But Reagan, "a ceaseless little engine of ambition" (according to Noonan), had different ideas of who he was and who he would become.

Often called "The Great Communicator," Reagan demurred: "I never thought it was my style or the words I used that made a difference: it was the content. I wasn't a great communicator, but I communicated great things."

Knowing that, and never giving up on re-inventing himself, Reagan made good on his brand promise--he became a great president. As Noonan points out, the world found out in the 1980s that "this guy means business." All this after a high-profile "flop" at running for the presidential nomination in 1968 against Richard Nixon, then losing again in 1976.

In or out of influence, Reagan simply never gave up.

And then, when he did win, America "voters weren't charmed, they were convinced." Reagan won his global battles time and time again simply by "just trying to do what was right," according to Noonan.

Ever good-naturedly ambitious, Reagan is today defined as "a good man who became a great president," capturing the hearts and respect of millions.

An entire generation in the 21st century has no personal recollection of the dark days of the Soviet Union, which represents an eloquent testimony--like him or hate him--to the vision of the man from Illinois by way of California--Ronald Reagan.

eMarketer: YouTube will decide presidential election

Now that we're nearing the 4th month of the not-so-new year, take a look back at eMarketer's predictions for 2008 and decide for yourself.
Anticipating the recession that we appear to be in, eMarketer made 10 predictions, casting forth possibly the most interesting oracle: YouTube will decide the presidential election.
Here's how they put it: "YouTube attracts the most online traffic and is consistently rated the favorite social media site by US Internet users.
"YouTube will play a decisive role in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election by either airing a user-submitted clip that embarrasses a leading candidate or setting the tone of the campaign through its series of sponsored debates."
YouTube certainly has brought down numerous other public figures (including one notable shock jock) with user-edited and submitted videos. When the election is over some seven months hence, wonder if we'll see new tomes toting how public figures need to have a specific YouTube strategy in achieving their objectives.
In case you're interested, here is a list of eMarketer's complete predictions for online behavior (commentary in parentheses):

1) Online ads remain resilient (and nearly recession proof)
2) Video surge slows. (bandwidth issues - or will people continue to accept garage-level rough-cut production?)
3) Social network advertising hits $1.6 billion (Facebook is now running political ads!)
4) Networking goes beyond MySpace and Facebook (links to mulitple sites and more of the proposed Web 3.0 will start appearing)
5) YouTube decides the election (still waiting on this one)
6) Beijing Olympics pumps up ad spending (the Olympic Torch/Tibey gaffee is playing in here)
7) Buy online, pick-up in-store becomes expected feature (this could be the resurrection of the original virtual shopping pieces that everyone expected back during the dotcom fizzled revolution)
8) Movie downloading hits the mainstream (One of our clients, Smithville, is rolling out Fiber-to-the-Home with fiber speeds up to an astonishing 100 mbps - that's industrial strength broadband - with movie downloads that take like 40 seconds for a two-hour movie; with that kind of connectivity, why would you ever want to burn up $4 gallon gas to drive to Blockbuster?)
9) Music marketers roll out new business models (as the CD continues to die, watch for more advertising-supported Web sites that offer free or subsidized/subscription downloads)
10) Dynamic ads heighten gaming revenue potential (gazillion-dollar product placement and related games for the upcoming Iron Man movie kind of sums this one up)

More and more, it's an online world!