K Street Cafe

Corporate Blogs on the Economic Crisis: “What Crisis?” (BlogWrite for CEOs)
Debbie Weil takes a brief look at how many big name companies might have missed an opportunity by not saying anything in response to the bailout legislation.

With bailout passed, lobbyists look to get in the game (The Hill)
With all the reports that K Street had little effect on the bailout legislation, lobbyists are now poised to help decide the fate of the $700 million dollars.

ROI Proof Point: Social Media Improves Reputation, Boosts Customer Satisfaction (Blog Council)
A study by Avanade reported that companies saw both an increase in both sales and reputation due to their use of social media.

After the first House bailout vote went down in flames, I posted a K Street Cafe entry suggesting that it was ideology – not the flood of emails and phone calls to congressional offices – that determined the outcome. I noted that it was not fear of voter backlash that motivated legislators, as 77% of the “no” votes came from House members who had nothing to fear since they won their last election with more than 55% of the vote. In today’s Washington Post Outlook Section, writer Eve Fairbanks offers more data to support this theory by pointing out that none of the freshman House Republicans, who are closely aligned with the conservative Republican Study Committee, voted “yes” on the first bailout vote. She suggests it was conservative ideology that dominated their decision-making process.

So what turned it around the second time? Certainly the tax sweeteners and higher FDIC protection limits motivated some, but there was more evidence in the weekend papers that our K Street Café colleague, Colin Delany, said it perfectly with his blog entry last week: it’s all about relationships. Those people who built a relationship with a member of Congress and communicated their interest in the legislation influenced the outcome. This is a crucial lesson in grassroots advocacy: there is a significant difference in legislators’ minds between those people with an opinion and those with an interest. READ MORE »

Crossposted on Mediafuturenow.com.

My colleague Brad Fitch writes in the K Street Café about the bailout plan, “What’s Driving Citizen Outrage?”.  Fitch takes a smart look at the factors underlying the passion, and recognizes a true “grassroots” advocacy campaign when he sees one.  In fact, the bailout may be one of those seminal – and rare – political events where the citizenry is truly engaged in an uncoordinated explosion, and Fitch cites the 2006 immigration debate, the 1998 Starr Report and the 1989 Congressional pay raise as the only seriously comparable recent examples.

Wired magazine makes an analogous point in its coverage of the case, in “Online Bailout Outrage Jumps to Streets, and Into Lawmakers’ Inboxes”.  It seems that the major advocacy groups organizing massive email, letter-writing and telephone campaigns are being eclipsed – at least this time around – by the virality of individual journalists and bloggers and websites launching often comical but all-too-effective pitched battles.  As just one example, Wired mentions BuyMyShitPile.com, a parody site organizing collections of junk for submission to the government to also be redeemed in the junk mortgage bailout.  (As of this writing, BuyMyShitePile claims stated value of its “junk” assets at $801,501,210,139.11.) READ MORE »

Find Out Who Is Looking for You Online (Brand Curve)
With more people using the internet everyday, watching your brand has never been so important. Ziggs.com offers users the chance to know instantly when their organization or name is being searched for.

Why Aren’t Americans Buying the Bailout? (Time)
Can the lack of success in passing a bailout resolution just be the work of bad PR? Amanda Ripley examines how Treasury Secretary Paulson, the White House, and Congressional members could do a better job at communicating about the bailout plan.

“The Hill” reports today that the bailout vote in the House this week was a “Crushing Failure for Lobbyists.” Hill offices are reporting a huge surge in constituent communications.    Even earlier this week, I posted a blog that showed an increase in constituent communications as a result of free media coverage of the story.  However, a quick analysis of the voting patterns for this week’s House votes suggests it was not grassroots pressure, lobbyists’ arm twisting, or even fear losing election that drove members.  It was good-old-fashioned “conscience.”  These folks just did what they thought was right.

READ MORE »

It seems like everyone in Washington is focused on one thing: the financial bailout. Over the course of the past week, conservatives and liberals have done battle to shape the message. Think tanks, non-profits and other interest groups have debated policy proposals in hopes of finding a solution — or preventing one.

Then yesterday came a 10-minute YouTube video called “What Caused Our Economic Crisis?” posted by TheMouthPeace. It quickly found its way onto right-leaning blogs, including the popular Hot Air and Power Line. Even the Drudge Report linked to it yesterday. READ MORE »