Why I Oughta...

Back at Christmastime, my friend Kate gave me this big red box right ahead of the holidays.  She knew of my affinity for Coke Zero and so this was a welcome gift.  Inside the box was a set of these cute glass bottles with my name on them! This is the 2nd time I've written about the #ShareaCoke campaign.   First time was back here in August of 2015 when I bemoaned the lack of an 'e' on the Jacob bottles .  Well...turns out they've solved that little problem. You can go over and create your own bottle on the 'share a Coke' site here:   https://buy.shareacoke.com/ .   And you can put an 'e' on the end of your name if you'd like, too!

Hitting pretty close to home, eh Mitch ? "Arrested Development" creator Mitch Hurwitz isn't giving up on his show -- but he is using an upcoming episode to poke fun at the skein's latest near-death experience.  Seg, dubbed "S.O.B.s" -- for "Save Our Bluths" -- finds the show's Bluth family fighting to save their fictional construction company. They decide to mount a big event -- "Some kind of 'Save Our Bluths' type thing," as George Bluth Sr. says in the script for the episode.  "It's very self-referential," Hurwitz told Daily Variety, noting that he finished the final draft of the shooting script Wednesday.  In one scene, Jason Bateman's character, Michael, notes, "Our backs are against the wall. ... It's just hard for me to accept that it's really come to begging."  There's also a conversation about whether the Home Builders Organization -- HBO -- might be willing to...

My co-contributor Lance Stevens pointed out some stuff to me yesterday. He was all a twitter with excitement over the DNC and the online resources at his fingertips. He pointed out Chris Matthews Hardblogger and some of his contributors. One of those contributors is none other than Mr. Joe Trippi. I've recently gotten to page 139 and 149 and someone's name twice! (more on this later) Anyway, Joe had some things to say about 'Market Demos' and trying to attract some youth's to the movement : It’s all wrong. The key to this election will be young people, disaffected young people, young people who have never voted before- and I’ll be damned if I am going to come up with some cutesy name for them "like Sons and Daughters of Nascar Dad and Soccer Moms." Just shoot me! What is remarkable about this election cycle is how for the first time in decades the younger generation of Americans is the most active and energized. How they communicate with each oth...

Dan Johnson-Weinberger who is a bright, but progressive political follower had some things to say about the Draft Ditka Movement : My hat is off to the Illinois GOP media operatives who have launched the Draft Ditka campaign. My guess is it's ... the smart guys running ... Tom Cross' online media work.  It's a brilliant tactical move.  ...And to get Mike Ditka in the converation about the Senate race? Brilliant! They've got *nothing* right now. They don't even have a candidate! And somehow just talking about Mike Ditka as a potential candidate gets more attention than Barack Obama. It's great, great media work by the GOP operatives. Notice the conversation isn't about the almost unprecedented train wreck where there isn't a candidate in mid-July and the potential replacements keep saying no (Rauschenburger pulled out a few days ago). Instead the converation about the IL GOP is about a fresh, fun story involving a Chicago icon. Just great work.  I...

There's so much out there, it's hard to digest it all. I've been reading all afternoon, and I'm not anywhere near the end of it. It's going to be interesting. This will certainly make a fun case-study. How someone who won a primary walked away from a General Election.... On another note, check out Draft Ditka . My dreams have become a reality. The site is not in conjunction with Leader Cross. Some operatives have cobbled it together. Thinking about it, this movement should be for real. The ILGOP can't take more hits.

I just got back from lunch with Rick Klau who made his name with the Dean for America Campaign. I have to tell you...He's such a genuine nice guy. Very knowledgeable and respectful. He's clearly a partisan, and so am I, but he had some nice comments and suggestions for us and our blog. 1. Improve the blog format 2. Start a Diary over at Daily Kos 3. Read "interface" and others. Thanks, Rick. I want to hook back up with him in the future. He's so knowledgeable about the future of all this stuff.

For all those of you who don't get the blog (see below), I think we're investigating a wiki.... According to 'smart guy' Rick Klau, Kos just announced the dKosopedia , an open collaborative wiki that the community edits. I posted over at Rick's site asking him what he thought. Kos is going to have a progressive political junkie's political encyclopedia, I was thinking of starting Illinois' political junkies encylopedia..... Could be fun....