Pulling out the big gun 

John Goodman will play a role on Studio 60. The West Wing used him to good effect. I loved that storyline, when the speaker stepped in, complete with the tension of the VP slot unfilled, the friction between the staffs, the jarring sound of hearing him called "Mr. President." Great situation.

Join the blue team 

I know I don't have a very big bully pulpit, but if I could persuade just one voter to help the Dems win back Congress, I'd be proud. Let's try a good old pocketbook argument.

The GOP is trying every rabbit they can pull out of the hat in the final days, some so distasteful I'd hope it would give the faithful pause. One fairly underplayed tack is not so much distasteful as it is just this side of honest. In the president's weekly radio address yesterday, he hobnobbed with small business people in Colorado and spoke about how tax cuts have helped small business help stimulate the economy.

Trotting out the "good for small business" argument needs to be exposed for what it is -- a way to make big business tax breaks sound more populist. The biggest beneficiaries of the Bush tax policy have been enormous companies, like the pharmacueticals that already earn obscene profits.

If the divide between the haves and have-nots feels wider to you, you should trust your gut, because it probably is, despite good-news stats about the unemployment rate or gas prices. If it doesn't seem to you when you're paying your bills that you are in better shape in this great thriving economy we're hearing about, then something is wrong with the picture.

If you can honestly continue to trust that Bush and his Republicans mean to help you by giving the richest corporations the best breaks, I probably can't say anything that will sway you. But if you are beginning to doubt that this gang has your interests at heart ... if you can't seem to summon up the spirit to sing "Happy Days Are Here Again," why not throw your little pebble into the pond by voting to put Democrats in the House and Senate, and watch the fresh new ripples it might make.

Move over PR, ad agencies want to play 

Wanna get leveraged? From a panel description for Ad:Tech, a conference happening in NYC this week:

The case studies presented will show how CGM [consumer-generated media] fits into the engagement equation in brand engagement, media engagement and advertising engagement. Finally, the panel will offer advice for strategies and tactics to help marketers and researchers start leveraging these principles within their existing operations.

Ze Frank is on the panel? He's so good at explaining things. Here's hoping he is doing the gig for exposure to land himself a nice fat sponsor, but will take the opportunity to splain them about the point at which engagement becomes offensive intrusion.

The session line-up also is riddled with SEO topics. Enough said.

Anybody want to start a new internet? I'm getting more depressed about the future of this one every day.

Erasing a preposition from my vocabulary 

"Around." Due to overuse.

Dan Rather on Comedy Central for election night 

That'll make me take an occasional peek, but I'll stick with MSNBC for the most part. I like and trust Chris Matthews when it comes to politics.

Olberman is hot. Do you think his soliloquies are designed for YouTube? I have a feeling it now must be a factor in the planning, since the rants started getting passed around a lot. Gotta love the way sports writers inject drama into their screeds. I wonder what his role will be on election night. I don't know that I've seen him do much on the air that has not been prepared.

Update on my PayPerPost experiment 

A week ago I mentioned I'd like to try my hand at writing short fiction with flagrant product placements. I did hear back from PayPerPost about my rejection and was invited to submit again. So I submitted again. Approval is pending again. That's a good thing. There must be some human review to filter splogs.