After four years of disagreements with the Obama Administration over settlements, peace negotiations with the Palestinians, and a potential strike on the Iranian nuclear program, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looked to elections for the 19th session of the Israeli Knesset as an opportunity to recapitalize following the re-election of American President Barack Obama.
On the surface, publc affairs fights can be about any number of issues, but at their core, most every fight over public policy comes down to one thing: money. I’m not talking about the millions paid to lobbyists, government relations and communications specialists to analyze the policy issues; I’m talking about the money that funds the “special interest economy”.
We love our mobile devices. We have special “tech-touch” gloves so that even on the coldest of days we can update our Facebook status without getting frostbite. We have subjected ourselves to early carpal tunnel by constantly having our hands cradling the devices to tweet our latest life update. Soon, we may have these devices surgically attached to us so we don’t have to go anywhere without them. While these devices are great with their mega-zoom lenses and Internet access everywhere, what really makes them powerful are the apps we use.
Sorry for the pun based on a movie that is 20-plus years old, but that’s what came to mind when I considered the recent revelations surrounding CIA Director David Petraeus' sex scandal. If you’re unfamiliar with the story, in 2010 then General Petraeus allowed fellow West Point graduate Paula Broadwell to travel with him while he was leading our efforts in Iraq, and then when he was transferred to Central Command to lead our efforts in both Afghanistan and Iraq,
This week, Stan continues with his discussion on the fiscal cliff. Some of the most commonly-held budget beliefs have now been shown to be deceptive and just plain wrong.
As the American people have chosen the Obama Administration to remain in office for another four years, foreign policy watchers will need to take note of whether the White House and State Department take a more pragmatic or activist foreign policy approach.
This week, Stan discusses the fiscal cliff. In spite of outward appearances to the contrary, there are new reasons to conclude that going over the cliff and fixing it in January is still the most likely outcome.
Increasingly, our clients are asking for our thoughts on Twitter. We have watched as Twitter has grown from “text-messaging for the web” into a primary source for real-time engagement in breaking news, customer service and crisis management. As online users move away from live television, we see twitter and the other social networks filling the void.
Twitter is growing at a rate of over 400,000 users per month, and every day there are in excess of 400 million individual tweets. Amazingly, 60% of Twitter's’ users are engaged and tweeting, not just passively reading.
And now... it's the ground game.
There are just days to go before this American federal election finally ends. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on advertising and polling and it all still comes down to individuals going to the polls and actually casting their vote. The old cliche about how it all depends on who turns out to vote is true, and this is where campaigns large and small either succeed or fail.
For the second straight presidential debate, President Obama ate his Wheaties and it appeared as if challenger Mitt Romney popped the same sedative the President took in Denver for the first debate.
Who won? Well that’s up to you, but from a pure debate technique standpoint, President Obama won last night as clearly as Mitt Romney won earlier this month. The reason? Consistency of message.
On this week's Qcast, Stan discusses the fiscal cliff.
Listen to it here: http://snd.sc/XP6KyF
