Daily Digest: One Million Strong For Tibet
BY Joshua Levy | Wednesday, March 26 2008
The Web on the Candidates
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While our recent political focus has been on whether Hillary Clinton lied about her arrival in Bosnia 12 years ago, or on the latest from Jeremiah Wright, there’s been some serious tumult in Tibet. On the web activism front, Avaaz.org’s petition asking Chinese president Hu Jintao to stop the violent crackdown on protesters in Tibet has been signed by more than 1,000,000 people. Former Chris Dodd blogger Matt Browner Hamlin makes an apt comparison to the One Million Strong for Barack Facebook group, which has become the standard-bearer for measuring viral growth. The Tibet petition reached its mark in just seven days — and the Obama group never made it to 400,000. A little perspective can’t hurt now and then, right?
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A group called the Afrosphere Action Coalition is promoting a petition asking Hillary Clinton to stop running for president. The petition cites familiar arguments about a prolonged race fracturing the party and calls the divisiveness “regrettable” because it threatens a multi-racial coalition that’s emerged in support of Obama. But then the group makes a radical suggestion: “Should the Democratic Party leadership nullify the people’s votes by giving Mrs. Clinton the nomination, despite the popular will as represented by earned delegates, we would then call upon African-American voters and all Democratic Party constituencies and supporters to withhold their support from a Hillary Clinton candidacy in November.” Only 795 people have signed the petition thus far.
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If you’re in New York this Friday, be sure to check out a panel on “How New Media is Changing American Politics” at NYU. It’s featuring some of the finest minds on technology, politics, and journalism, including techPresident’s own Micah Sifry, Arianna Huffington, NewAssignment.net’s Jay Rosen, and NYTimes.com’s Lisa Tozzi, and moderated by Jeff Jarvis. Wow is right. The New York Citizen Journalism Meetup page for more info.
The Candidates on the Web
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McCain daughter and blogger Meghan McCain — better known as McCain Blogette — snags a five-page (!) profile in the Washington Post. Writer Libby Copeland makes it clear that politics isn’t Meghan’s strongpoint. “What’s really meaningful to McCain is fashion. She dreams of being a designer...," Copeland writes, pointing out Meghan’s fascination with shoes, her makeup regimen, and her “style of saying so much without divulging anything truly intimate,” not unlike her Pops.
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Mike Gravel, former Senator from Alaska, filibusterer of 1971, star of the Rock video, and current presidential candidate, is now formerly of the Democratic Party. He’s moved over to the Libertarian Party “because the Democratic Party no longer represents my vision for our great country,” and he’ll be seeking the nomination as a Libertarian. Gravel’s been a Democrat all his life — we wonder how his politics will square with the small-government, socially-liberal types. And are they cool with his stance on teens and marijuana?
In Case You Missed It…
Ari Melber has it first: Obama has made YouTube history with the most watched presidential campaign video ever — and beat cable news along the way.
Micah Sifry wants you to know that Australian political video maker is brilliant, and while his Australian countrymen already know how fantastic his work can be, he deserves more attention here in the U.S.