Check out Perspctv:

An exploration of internet activity in reference to mainstream media. Gain a unique Perspctv on the US Presidential Elections.

This project presents different perspectives in our world, including that of Mainstream media and user-generated content on the Internet. Explore the similarities and the disparities, hear the many voices that have emerged and choose which view, if any, makes the most sense to you. What we think vs. what they say we think -- All the chatter on the Internet, all the traditional news media coverage, and all the pollsters -- Perspctv brings it all together in a simple and elegant manner -- and gives a unique "dashboard" picture of the elections at any one given moment in time, totally un-biased.

Karl Rove and Max Cleland spoke to over 100 online political consultants today in Washington, DC during Yahoo's The Rise of Citizen 2.0 event. Yahoo's Citizen 2.0 is not much unlike IPDI's Poli-fulentials , Roper's Influentials, or -- as Cleland noted -- the "attentive elites."

They're news-hungry voters with a heightened sense of civic responsibility and a penchant for online discourse. They’re involved in their communities and are the people "who get my friends to pitch in." They're more likely than others to agree with phrases such as "knowing what is going on politically is the responsibility of every citizen" and "the Internet empowers groups of people to get together and act."

For most of us in the audience, the presentation was an elaborately-delivered (think Tom Cruise as Frank T.J. Mackey in Magnolia) compilation of overused Pew research points and carefully-selected stock photos.

Clearly, we are not the intended audience. Those who would find this presentation helpful are those who still think internet users are 12-year-old kids in their mother's basement posting visceral blog comments in virtual echo chambers. In other words, Karl Rove and Max Cleland.

Blog this and blog that
Blog it all and blog a blogging brat
We don’t want a campaign that looks just like that
I don’t want a campaign that looks just like that

I am not a self-hating blogger, though I am a fan of Captain Kirk and the Sex Pistols. Personally, I think blogs are swell. I know bloggers. Bloggers are friends of mine. But online campaigns are not just about bloggers. However, after reading so much mainstream press coverage about Politics 2.0 lately (for example, in Mother Jones this month), one might conclude that the sun rises and sets only on blogs and the bloggers that write them. There is so much more to online campaigning that we do ourselves a great disservice when we narrow our focus too much on blogs.

The news is buzzing today as Fred Thompson has quit "Law & Order" in order to launch a presidential bid. He has also indicated he plans to use the internet extensively in his campaign. In a blog post to Pajama Media last week, Thompson wrote, "So, I hear you all have been talking about me." And thus begins his online conversation with voters. Clearly, the tone is intimate and personal, just as a blog post should be.

And it seems he really does understand the power of the internet to transform politics.

"Whether or not the Internet can elect any particular candidate in any particular race, it’s clear that all of you and our many friends across the blogosphere and the Web are part of a true information revolution. That’s why so much of my effort has been focused on talking to Americans through this medium. By empowering individuals and building communities, the Internet provides a way of going around the inside-the-beltway crowd to reach people in numbers unheard of not that long ago."

In a discussion about the recent French presidential election at the Personal Democracy Forum unConference this past Saturday, Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry presented an interesting thesis: not only did Ségolène Royal's 'net-centric strategy fail to win a majority at the polls, but her campaign's emphasis on citizen participation may have actually backfired entirely by undermining her perception as a leader and by leaving her dependent on a fatally unrepresentative group of voters.

A friend sent me a link to a very good post on how PR firms should approach bloggers. It's sort of a "what to and not to do list". While aimed at people doing corporate PR, it is certainly applicable to campaigns as well. If you're thinking of opening your campaign up (and you should be), it is sage advice for you to follow.

Blogs are community-oriented web properties where readers are encouraged to engage in conversation. It's not supposed to be a one-way street like the mainstream media. This is why it's important to keep an informal, conversational tone when responding to the blogger and readers. Constructed and flat statements will be called out as "spin" and you will be accused of not addressing the issue. Remember, companies and organizations are made up of humans, so act like a human, not a computer delivering a line of programming.

This is well worth a read for anyone who interacts with bloggers - be it the candidate or the communications guy.

We're pleased to announce our newest feature: Technorati tracks, a series of dynamic charts that show how often bloggers are mentioning the presidential candidates over the last 30 and 90 days. The charts are broken down by party, and we've also included a third set showing how bloggers are also talking about prominent non-candidates like Al Gore, Newt Gingrich, Wesley Clark and Michael Bloomberg.