Congressman Rogers (MI) Has a New Widget on Facebook

I'm not sure if this is unique to my Congressman, spreading across the Members.  Congressman Mike Rogers (R - Lansing, Michigan) added a tab to his Facebook page that allows his friends to activate an application that is consituent oriented and interactive.

As with all Facebook apps, I was required to grant it access to my information in order for it to embed in my page.

http://apps.facebook.com/mikerogers/

Headers include: Home, News, Tweets, Videos, Tell a Friend

He also includes an option to participate in a poll and engage with his constituent services staff.  His widget can be shared on multiple social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogger and others

This could be the latest in Congressional outreach to constituents on Facebook.  As a lobbyist engaging in social media for advocacy, there are many ways this kind of application could be used to influence the thinking of your Congressman or to use it as a model for dedicated advocacy efforts.

I've added the Mike Rogers widget to the right sidebar of this blog so you can see it in action.

How Do Politicians Raise All That Money Online?

Take a look at Slatecard a "utility to support and enhance Republican activism."

Congressman Joe Wilson has turned to Slatecard in the wake of his "You lie" outburst during President Obama's speech to Congress last week.

Slatecard has created a simple, convenient interface for online fundraising.

From Slatecard.com:

ABOUT THE UTILITY


Slatecard is a utility to support and enhance Republican activism.

"Slatecard" is Slatecard.com PAC. Slatecard.com PAC is an independent, federally registered political action committee (PAC) which acts as a "conduit" to raise money online to help Republican candidates for federal office in compliance with the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA).

It is no secret that Democrats are far ahead of Republicans in converting their online presence to offline support. One website which the Left has used effectively since 2004, is ActBlue.com (ActBlue PAC), a site which provides a tool for activists and committees to raise funds for the candidates and causes they support. In fact, millions of dollars have been raised through the site since 2004.

It is our hope that Slatecard will level the playing field for Republican candidates and causes by providing an innovative platform for use by the Right kind of activists.

Our utility is available for use by all candidates running for a Republican federal office and we hope to make this service available to state and local candidates where possible in the near future.

Using a commercial vendor to handle our transactions, we are leveraging some of the lowest available rates on the market, which means that by contributing to candidates through Slatecard.com PAC, a larger percentage of the donation will actually end up going to the candidate. Soon, we will work to integrate with PayPal to offer more options to our users.

In addition to supporting candidates via this site, Slatecard has created an opportunity to fund their own commpany through the mechanism below.  Basically the donor can offer to "tip" the site providers by adding a percentage or designated amount to the contribution.

Slatecard is a platform that leverages the power of the Internet to better connect Republican candidates with grassroots activists. Slatecard is a volunteer effort, and we need your financial support to pay for bandwidth, continue our work, and improve our services for the community. Please consider supporting Slatecard with a donation today. We will continue to make you proud.

No Tip
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Other Tip Amount :
Is this tip monthly?

You can use the power of the Internet to support a candidate supporting your issue.  I'll profile other portals in a later post.

Twitter to the Rescue of Congressman Joe Wilson

Last week during President Obama's speech to the nation regarding his health care insurance proposal, Congressman Joe Wilson (R - South Carolina ) blurted out during a quiet time "You lie!".  This action was heard clearly by other Members of Congress in the room and the entire viewing public.  A camera focused on Congressman Wilson at the time quickly published the video and it spread throughout news outlets and the web immediately.

Before the outburst, Congressman Wilson had basically no opponent for the 2010 election, but literally overnight an opponent reportedly raised $400,000 online.

Wilson subsequently hired a profesional PR person to take to Twitter in his defense.  David All, a consultant and former capitol hill staffer has taken to the airwaves with pro-Wilson tweets.

Follow Wilson on Twitter @CongJoeWilson
Follow All on Twitter @DavidAll

Following are several Tweets from @DavidAll in defense of Wilson from September 10 to September 13.  Follow them both to watch this play out.

RT @wesleydonehue: RT @mashable Joe Wilson’s Payments Provider Reports DDoS Attack http://bit.ly/1FZjV

Fox News: "Hackers imperil Wilson campaign web site" http://bit.ly/mTaIO #TechGOP

@taxplaya Just for the record, that BlackBerry @CongJoeWilson uses is his campaign BlackBerry and not official.

After Fox News Sunday, @CongJoeWilson drops a Tweet http://twitpic.com/hl4mc

RT @mattklewis: "I am not going to apologize again." - Rep. Joe Wilson on Fox News Sunday. #tcot

Tune in or TiVo: @CongJoeWilson live on Fox News with Chris Wallace at 9AM EST. Please RT

@mattklewis great job on Fox News today. Hope you have a swell Birthday tonight.

National Review Online: "[@CongJoeWilson] is telling the truth, and President Obama is not." http://bit.ly/Oolb3

Hey @jaketapper CBS disagrees with your take: "Does Joe Wilson Have A Case On Health Care, Illegal Aliens?" http://bit.ly/FVsIR

Politico: @CongJoeWilson "I will not be muzzled" http://bit.ly/oW7pz #tcot

Hey @JakeTapper "Obamacare won't cover illegal immigrants? Yes it will, says Congressional Research Service" http://bit.ly/zIWEQ

RT @CongJoeWilson: Over 8,500 Americans are standing with me against the liberal attacks. Join them at http://bit.ly/3Euh28

@jaketapper I'll ask Congressman Wilson for a response. DM me your email address to send response.

AUDIO: @CongJoeWilson Speaks Softly with @RedCounty http://bit.ly/Br7de


I'm a fan of both Andrew Breitbart and Mike Flynn so yeah, I'm digging http://biggovernment.com #TechGOP

Stand with Congressman Joe Wilson - donate today at http://slatecard.com/

[fixed link] Support Congressman Joe Wilson with a donation http://bit.ly/37F838 (plz RT and take action

Get more analysis at Mashable.

Want to Know a Congressman? Know www.Congress.org

If you want to see what the hottest issues are for advocates looking for relief from Congress just check out Congress.org  As a part of the Roll Call family, Congress.org is a central location for action alerts published by their Capitol Advantage clients, relevant advertising by coalitions and corporations around major issues, and the ability to email your Member of Congress and whatever issue is on your mind.

Congress.org is really a one-stop-shop for those seeking information about Congress, specific issues, and legislators.

 Congress.org allows users to:

• Identify and contact elected leaders in Congress, the White House and state legislatures
• Post letters online and see what other Americans are saying to elected officials
• Create and post "Soapbox" action alerts to enlist others on your issue.
• Have letters printed and hand delivered to Congress.
• Find and contact local and national media by ZIP code or by state with the "Media Guide".
• Have your representatives votes sent to you by weekly email.
• Search alerts and take action in the "Issues and Calls to Action" area
• As a client, get your action alerts posted there and on Yahoo!, MSN, AOL and other sites.

If you're running a low cost advocacy campaign, take advantage of the free opportunities available to you on this site.

Find Foreign Public Policy Influencers

Do you need to know what foreign countries are doing in Washington, D.C.? What impact are they having on your member of Congress?

Check out the Foreign Lobbying Influence Tracker and get some answers.

An explanation from the site below:

Filings under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) provide far more
detail on how lobbyists interact with government officials than those required
by the Lobbying Disclosure Act; they contain information on efforts by foreign
governments and organizations to influence U.S. policy on trade, taxation,
foreign aid, appropriations, human rights and national security.

Since May 2007 the Justice Department has maintained a Web site that posts image
files [pdf] of FARA disclosures online, but none of that information is
available in a digitized format. Thus, it is impossible, for example, to see how
many times the office of an individual member of Congress has been contacted.

With the Foreign Lobbyist Influence Tracker, you can now find out with ease
by selecting any member’s name from the pull-down list.

You can search their database by member of Congress contacted, country, client or lobbying firm. You can also search by "contact issues" as reported by lobbyists.

You never know when this information might be needed - this is a great source to research how foreign governments influence the United States

Using Keywords for Your Advocacy Effort

Pump up the traffic around your blog post and advocacy effort by trolling for hot keywords and working them in somehow to your messaging.

This can be a naked attempt to get publicity, or more subtle to really make your message relate to the latest headlines. Talk about what everyone else is talking about and bring attention to your effort at the same time.

So, let's take a look at some keywords now. One obvious spot? Google Trends.

Google keeps track of the top search terms and posts them for your information. Google makes money off of the trending keywords by selling them to you as part of their AdSense service. You can use this information for free by working a top trend into your story.

As I'm writing this, "Cash for Clunkers" is a trending topic. Everyone wants to check and see if their old rust bucket qualifies as a Clunker and nets them $4500 toward a new ride.

Since this program is a product of Congress and political in nature, I figured out a way to work it into this blog and would connect it to an active online advocacy effort if possible.

How can you creatively work keywords into your next effort?

General Motors Volt Blunder?

Uh oh, hope this doesn't become General Motors PR disaster: RT @FOX2News GM's 230 MPG Claim for Volt Challenged: http://bit.ly/qxgR1

Turns out the 230 Miles Per Gallon claim for the Volt is based on the EPA standard for calculating that number. The EPA uses a weird, convoluted formula based on a 51 mile test track -- and the Volt can go 40 miles on no gas at all.... So, that means the other 11 miles use just a tiny smidgen of gas and GM has extrapolated that to gallons.

This is all true and does make complete sense once you understand the math. But, does it pass the American smell test?

Be sure to link your public affairs and public policy statements - it's crucial that GM win over the hearts and minds of the American consumer and voter right now as they sit in a precarious, government owned position. Congress and the President can give them the smack down practically overnight -- just ask former CEO Rick Wagoner.

Grassroots e-Advocacy Systems

CapWiz vs. VoterVoice

According to the CapWiz website, 85 percent of Members of Congress and a growing portion of state legislators use Web forms instead of e-mail to receive constituent communications.

That means mass emails with only a link to the website of your Member of Congress are unlikely to be successful since targeted respondents won't want to deal with the hassle and won't always know what to say - therefore likely not to complete the messaging.

Both CapWiz and VoterVoice are designed to work seamlessly with Congressional offices to make sure your message gets to the intended recipient. If you're considering an e-advocacy system, make sure you check out both of them.

When Will My Congressman Be Home?

Find the schedule of the U.S. House of Representatives here.

Congress begins its summer break today and the American people are letting them know how they feel about health care reform.

Advocates across the U.S. are ramping up coalitions and district-oriented print and electronic media campaigns to make sure constituents keep the pressure on.

How do you feel about health insurance reform?

U.S. Congress on Twitter

Is your Member of Congress on Twitter? This is a great new way to access and influence policy makers.

Many sites are beginning to catalogue lawmakers online... Here's a great one for Congress:

http://tweetcongress.org/