And Then There Were Three

Yesterday Rick Santorum dropped out of the race for the GOP presidential nomination.

Rick Santorum, who pitched himself as the true conservative in the race and used a platform focused on social issues to come from well back in the pack to be the main challenger to Mitt Romney, announced (Monday) afternoon that he is suspending his effort for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, told a gathering of reporters in Gettysburg that his three-year-old daughter's battle with a genetic disease, and her hospitalization over the weekend, "did cause us to think ... about the role we have as parents." And he concluded it was time to step aside from the campaign trail, where his campaign no longer appeared to have time left to stop Romney from being the nominee.

I can't really blame him. Family should come first. Regardless of your political leanings, I hope you will take a moment to say a prayer for Santorum's daughter.

Shortly after Santorum's announcement, Gingrich made a play for Santorum's supporters. Ron Paul's people likewise argued that their man deserved the allegiance of Santorum backers.

Vultures...

But that's beside the point. Of the three remaining candidates, Romney is the odds-on favorite to win the nomination. Ron Paul has been relegated to the role of after-thought. He's a novelty act that appeals only to a small number of fanatics. That's a shame, because I share his libertarian views to a certain extent. However, I think he goes too far on a number of them.

Newt is an interesting case. In my opinion he is the smartest and most articulate of anyone still running -- including obama. I like his approach to many of the issues: big problems call for big ideas, not just tinkering with existing policies. I also think he'd flat-out destroy barry in a head-to-head debate.

But Newt also has baggage - lots of it. There are ethics questions regarding his use of campaign funds. And of course, there is his history of infidelity. The press paints him as a cross between Bill Clinton and John Edwards, and there is some basis for that characterization.

Some people say a politician's private life is irrelevant. That was the liberals' position during Monicagate. Conservatives, on the other hand, argued during the entire blue dress kerfluffle that "character counts." Today everyone has switched sides. Newt's detractors argue that he's shown he can't be trusted to keep his word, while his supporters say his marital history doesn't matter.

I side with the "character counts" folks. I said it with Clinton, and with Edwards, and I hold that position with Newt. As much as I like his ideas, I can't get past the fact that he broke his oath "to forsake all others." Why should I believe that he'll keep an oath to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States of America"?

That leaves us with Romney. By all accounts he is a good family man, a man whose personal life is above reproach. But he's also an incremental thinker, not a radical one. By that I mean he has small ideas to improve the status quo, at a time when big ideas are needed to address big problems. To borrow an overused phrase, he can't think outside the box.

He also doesn't have the most scintillating personality. He's not exactly Mr. Electricity. Women don't swoon when he walks in a room. He comes across as privileged and out of touch with most people. He's Mormon, which shouldn't matter, but will to some people. And there's that whole Romneycare thing hanging around his neck.

Still, Romney has one great big thing going for him.

He's not obama...

Better Living Through Technology

Every so often I get tired of all the gloom and doom that seems to pervade today's headlines. As a change of pace, I like to focus on the enjoyable aspects of my job (yes, there are a few). One of my favorites is researching the unique and creative ways emerging technology is being put to use. Here are three examples.

I.  Yesterday (April 3) marked the end of Wal-Mart’s “Get on the Shelf” campaign. It was a brilliant combination of reality TV and social media.

Zombie repellant might not be something you expect to find on the shelf at Walmart. Or, for that matter, puppy shoes.

Wal-Mart dubbed its contest the "Get on the Shelf" program — an American Idol-style competition for small businesses. Two rounds of online voting will determine three winners, all of which will be sold online, with the grand prize winner gaining a spot in select stores.

For Wal-Mart, it's all about garnering publicity and social-media hits. But for the winner of the contest, it's a chance to go from a virtual unknown to a distinguished product sold with roughly 150,000 others at more than 3,800 Wal-Mart stores nationally.

What a great idea. In addition to the favorable publicity and flood of new Facebook friends, Wal-Mart gets a ton of free market research. And some small business gets an incredible opportunity – that same free publicity, plus what just might be the most expensive per-square foot real estate in the world: Wal-Mart shelf space.

II.  On a smaller scale, there’s a website that connects buyers and sellers of anything – any good or service – as long as it’s priced at five dollars. There is a truly bizarre assortment of things people are willing to do or sell for five dollars. For example:

• I will dance to 2 minutes of any song of your choice in a hot dog costume for $5
• I will sing Old MacDonald Had a Farm in Hebrew and send you the voice file by email for $5
• I will make the sounds of animals in Ukrainian language and send you mp3 file for $5
• I will sing 'Happy Birthday to you' in Welsh, wearing only a Welsh flag thong and woolen hat…
• I will photoshop your face onto the movie poster of your choosing for $5
• I will draw you as an animal for $5
• I will shout anything you want in a banana costume for $5

But it’s not all fun and games. There are some serious business offers out there as well.

• I will improve your website with 10 tips for $5
• I will transcribe 15 minutes of audio for $5
• I will install the latest version of WordPress for you for $5
• I will write product reviews of 800+ words for $5
• I will make you an android app business card for $5
• I will help you write an attention grabbing elevator speech or 30 second introduction for $5

It’s an intriguing mix ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. Check it out.

III.  Finally, we have an organization that encourages people to visit small local businesses en masse and spend money at those locations.

Modeled on the flashmob concept, these Cash Mobs use social media in an attempt to positively impact community businesses.

The idea started last fall when Buffalo blogger Chris Smith envisioned using the purchase power of flash mobs to help small businesses. He set a few ground rules: each person should try to spend $20 and pay full price for items. He says this sets cash mobs apart from other social media deals.

“What you get with a Groupon or a Living Social deal is a one-time injection. And it’s not necessarily a profitable injection. You’re having to cut your prices so significantly. With this, because we ask people to spend a little time in the store, we encourage the entrepreneur to spend a little time with the shoppers, talk about the products they have. It builds a relationship that you don’t get with a coupon.”

Will it work long-term? I have no idea, although it’s off to a good start.

Now, nearly 200 cash mobs have cropped up in 35 states and a handful of countries, mostly through word of mouth online.

Another incredible idea. It's a simple concept using simple technology, but it has the potential to help struggling small businesses across the country.

I've challenged my students to take advantage of one or more of these opportunities, and to let me know what happens. I'd love to know if anyone out there tries it, and what the results are.

The most you can lose is $5...

More Late Night Thoughts

My wife and I were watching TV tonight. Thanks to the miracle of modern technology, we get somewhere around 200 channels, all of which seem incapable of broadcasting anything worth watching. But we got lucky and stumbled across a showing of the classic movie Wizard of Oz.

During a commercial break I couldn't help but think about modernizing it, based on current events.

Dick Cheney has already received a heart. Now we can only hope that Joe Biden gets a brain, obama gets some courage, and that a House falls on Pelosi.

Late Night Thoughts

Fueled by equal parts outrage and Shiner:

Q: What's the difference between Spike Lee, the New Black Panthers, and the KKK?

A: The color of their hoodies.

What I Wish I'd Said

This morning I commented on the Trayvon Martin shooting. In that post I made mention of how ironic it was that the same ethnic group that has suffered so much at the hands of lynch mobs is now in the process of assembling one of their own.

This evening I came across the following post, which says what I was trying to say, but much more succinctly and eloquently.

The Lynch Mob Assembles

I haven’t written about the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Florida for the simple reason that I was as shocked by his murder as anyone else. I am not a racist no matter what some might say, and as a parent of a teenage boy myself I’m quite sensitive to seeing parents suffer the type of loss that is my own greatest personal fear. But I’ve learned from past experience to never trust initial reports, so I have been waiting for the dust to settle and the truth to be revealed. And waiting. And waiting.

The righteous anger that erupted immediately after Martin’s death has morphed into something else, something much more ugly. It is one thing to demand an investigation into his death, it’s another to call for his killer’s capture “dead or alive” as the Black Panther’s have, or to pass along his address – erroneously it turns out – to your 250,000 followers on Twitter the way Spike Lee has. This is the hysteria of the mob, and it is dangerous yet the politicians who don hoodies in Congress are so caught up in it that they are blind to it.

It is impossible to imagine Martin Luther King jr sending out the addresses of the men who killed James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner in 1964 for a very simple reason: He had seen first hand the results of lynch mobs, and he knew their irrationality and power. He had seen innocent men tried, convicted and executed by the mob, and he knew that the greatest antidote for it was the application of slow but inexorable blind justice. Florida 2012 is not Mississippi 1964, so why are so many so desperate to turn the clock back? Convene a grand jury and let the Truth come out, but do not unleash the beast that threatens to devour everyone including those that set it loose among us.

Ever seen a lynch mob? This is how one starts. Someone innocent is going to get hurt, the outcome of most lynchings, and hysteria will be replaced by regret. But by then it will be too late, and those that think they are righteous today will have innocent blood on their hands tomorrow.

Well said, sir, well said.