Our Thinking

Topic: Grassroots Mobilization

“Help Me Help You……”
Posted 08/31/10

This poetic quote comes from the film, Jerry Maguire, where the professional football player (played by Cuba Gooding, Jr.) pleads with his agent (played by Tom Cruise) for support so he can do his job: deliver on the football field.  While elected officials don’t have agents, they do have constituents.

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Clickity...clack...
Posted 08/16/10

I’m proud to say my parents didn’t raise me to be a follower, which is perhaps why I haven’t felt it necessary to make the leap from my beloved Blackberry to a newer, “fancier” smartphone.  I take solace in the fact that according to CNN reports, there are millions who suffer from my addiction and haven’t made the plunge.

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Was Tuesday Telling?
Posted 11/06/09

As usual after off-year elections, pundits cannot agree on what the outcome of the November 3, 2009 election may mean for the 2010 Congressional elections.  Some pundits are saying that the 2009 results were a harbinger of things to come and some are suggesting there is no reason for Democrats to be concerned.

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What’s right with America?
Posted 04/22/09

I had deep thoughts in high school.  (College was a little less structured, if you know what I mean).  I would grapple with my feelings about the First Amendment, students’ rights, crime and punishment, nuclear proliferation and on and on.

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Punking Traditional Media
Posted 04/18/09

It was reported today in the Los Angeles Times that actor-producer Ashton Kutcher and CNN are in a Battle Royal.  No, CNN didn’t misreport a Kutcher story and the recent CNN ratings were not the subject of a Kutcher practical joke (they really are that low).

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Racing to Twitter
Posted 04/17/09

As Twitter CEO Evan Williams prepares to go on Oprah today with Twitter phenom Ashton Kutcher, my VOX colleagues have been furiously debating the value, power, and practically of the tool for use in public affairs and reputation management campaigns.  Personally, the best use of the tool I’ve seen so far is by Lance Armstrong.

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Adjusting for the Irrational
Posted 04/15/09

Josef Stalin reportedly noted that "one death is a tragedy; one million is a statistic."  As a man who was responsible for dozens of such "statistics," Stalin knew of which he spoke.

According to studies by University of Oregon researcher Paul Slovic and reported by the Washington Post, people show more willingness to help individuals or small numbers of victims more readily than they will help large numbers.

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