The CQ Financial Group

Earlier this month I spoke at the Social Media Marketing National Conference in Orlando.  The conference itself was over twelve hours of real estate marketing ideas you can implement right now.  Each speaker was a recognized expert in their field and I left with my head spinning.  This post is part of a series in which I will share what I learned.

By now most of us have heard the term Social Media Marketing.  It is variously described as the future of prospecting, a revolutionary version of networking for a 2.0 world, the miracle of permission based marketing and - if I remember correctly - a cure for the common cold.  Do you ever feel as if there is some tremendous movement sweeping through the industry and no one has stopped to explain it?  You hear all the sizzle but what’s needed is for someone to actually throw a big, juicy steak on your plate.  Well I hope you’re hungry because Brian Brady worked the grill for hours at the Unchained Conference in Orlando and he did not disappoint.  Not only did he serve up the meat of the matter, he cut it into bite size pieces and made it easy to digest.

His very first statement set the tone for the rest of his presentation, but regular readers of mine will not be surprised by it: “Marketing is an Obsession.”  I couldn’t agree more, although I might add more: “Marketing is More Than an Obsession… It’s a Passion.”  He goes on to lay out the basis for marketing in a nutshell:

• New customers are the life-blood of a practice
• Farming new customers produces new customers
• The Internet allows us to automate our Unique Selling Proposition

Think about the power in that last point.  Automating your USP and reaching an exponentially larger audience with no extra effort or cost is a magical formula.

The Five Pillars of Social Media Marketing (with my notes)

1. DECLARATION OF IDENTITY - Here I am and I am and here’s what I do.  Don’t hide your light under a bushel.  There is no point to marketing if people don’t know how they can use you or why.
2. IDENTITY BY ASSOCIATION - You are judged by the company you keep.  This is true in all aspects of life but can be utilized advantageously on-line.  Make purposeful decisions about what groups you join and who you associate with; the perception of who you are can be greatly enhanced.
3. CONSUMER GENERATED CONVERSATION - By declaring your identity in well chosen places, you open yourself to contact by consumers.  Either directly, through forums or in question & answer format, the consumer will talk to you if you are listening.
4. PROVIDER GENERATED CONVERSATION - This is what you push out; the answer to the question, the story that relates a benefit, the information that is useful.  This is your opportunity to really shine.
5. OFF-LINE CONVERSATION - The secret!  This is the step missed by so many.  The first four pillars will enable you to acquire prospects, but this game is a contact sport.  The whole point of marketing is to cause the consumer to take action.  This reminds me of a little retail wisdom I heard from Home Depot’s founders.  They said “we didn’t spend all that money paying for advertising and buying products just to have the consumer walk away because the check-out line was too long.”  When someone walks up to your register with money in their hand… engage them!

Setting Traps on the Internet

You want to be where your potential clients can find you and engage you.  The easiest way to find that place is by asking previous clients where they go on the internet.  Once you know, show up and build a profile.  Your profile is pure marketing, by which I mean a golden opportunity to share your USP and not a place to hammer consumers with sales gimmicks.  Keep track of your profiles, revisit them from time to time and make sure they are all up to date and expressive.  Connect with everyone you know.  Be an active member of the community (both online and off).  Another idea Brian shared is to update your status bar on Facebook.  (What’s that?  You’re not on Facebook yet?  Your clients are…)  Also comment on other people’s status bar updates.  Again, be an active part of the community.

Goals

So what are the goals of social media marketing?  Brian points out the primary goal is get people to your landing page, your blog or website.  This is your office… your home.  Once there they can get to know you and transform from a cold call to a warm lead.  You would like them to subscribe to your Provider Generated Conversations.

• RSS feed is OK
• email subscription is better
• e-zine subscription is way-better

If you are doing it right and providing useful information to people you’ll get what’s called a full data dump.  In other words, the consumer will share all of their relevant information with you.  This allows you to start moving them into your community and practicing Mayoral Marketing.  Just don’t forget to continuously feed the community with good ideas.

The Ubiquitous Road

Ubiquitous \yü-ˈbi-kwə-təs\ - from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary: existing or being everywhere at the same time : constantly encountered .  Here are a number of the best places to practice your social media marketing according to Brian:

• LinkedIn - go to the “answer questions” section and get involved
• Meetup - whatever your interest, it’s out there
• Facebook - average age is now over 35 years old
• Zillow - another opportunity to answer questions for potential clients
• My Space - younger and hipper than Facebook - source of the next generation of buyers
• YouTube - real estate’s use of video will be widespread in the coming years

In the end, Social Media Marketing is all about being in front of your prospects, consumers, clients and community on a regular basis.  It is the process of creating your own community of raving fans by being where they are, making sure they know who you are and giving them answers and information they can use.  Consumers have the power in the real estate business relationship.  They can choose to learn about you (or not learn about you) as they see fit.  They reject most forms of “push” marketing (cold calls, email spam, flyers on the door step, etc.) and are out there - in the various mediums just mentioned.  Imagine a potential client stumbling across your front doorstep… make sure your porchlight is on and your door is open.  Maybe even offer them a steak.

Earlier this month I spoke at the Social Media Marketing National Conference in Orlando.  The conference itself was over twelve hours of real estate marketing ideas you can implement right now.  Each speaker was a recognized expert in their field and I left with my head spinning.  This post is part of a series in which I will share what I learned.

Greg Swann is famous, if not infamous, throughout the RE.net world.  To give you an idea of his reach: the term RE.net was coined by him.  He is the creator of the BloodhoundBlog, a nationwide industry blog with a host of expert contributors posting multiple articles each day.  Their are tens of thousands of people reading the blog at any one time and the comments are at least as informative as the posts.  Greg’s philosophy is one of absolute free market activity and it is based on the watershed leap in humanity handed down to us by the Greeks.  Greg’s philosophy boils down to one, concise statement of freedom… which, much like dessert, you cannot have until you have finished reading this post.

Greg pointed out that most civilizations will do just what is needed to survive and no more.  When faced with a new problem they will do just enough to overcome it but again, no more.  The Greeks were the first culture to come along and reach for more than just surviving; to become, as Greg wrote: ”a doer for the sake of having done, a thinker for the sake of having thought, a poet for poetry’s own sake.”  We, each and every one of us, has that opportunity.  We are free to succeed and we are free to fail.  We are free to control our business and we are free to believe others control it.  But we are not free from making the choice.  Either you choose to recognize and more importantly acknowledge that you alone are responsible for your thoughts, actions and results or by definition you cede control of them to someone else.  The only true wealth in the world, Greg shared, is intellectual capital.

Here then, are ten things Greg suggested you do - all of them FREE - to increase your intellectual capital immediately (with my notes in italics):

• Start your own weblog.
  • does not have to be perfect
  • does have to be updated frequently
  • does have to be on topic
• Comments are fine if you just do not want to blog. (called comment marketing)
• Blog all of your listings.
• Don’t spin your wheels in the RE.net echo chambers. (other agents are not your audience)
• Good at weblogging?  Build a blogging network.
  • PTA
  • Local handymen
  • any group of interest to you
• Use LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.
• Start a ding-dang Ning group (don’t know what it is? Google baby…)
• Leave your scent trail all over Zillow and Trulia’s trees.
  • post pictures of homes in your farm on Zillow
  • answer questions in the forums
  • make sure all of the above links back to you (linkation, linkation, linkation)
• Post a profile and make it great (marketing opportunity)
  • say what you would say if in person
  • use pictures
  • make it a part of your scent on Zillow, Trulia, etc.
• Don’t sabotage your business plan with internet irresponsibility
  • remember there is no privacy - it does not exist
  • your clients are out there - don’t write it if you wouldn’t want them reading it

Now for dessert.  If you accept ownership of your own production and embrace the exploding information age, you will learn it is not the Geek who inherits the world - it is the Greek who will inherit the world.  Or, as Greg serves it up in his one, concise statement of freedom: “You will never have to take crap from morons again.”

Random Thoughts
A day and a half since I left Unchained Orlando, but my head is still spinning.  Maybe it was Orlando - the home of Disneyworld - that added to the surreal nature of the experience.  If you haven’t been there, Orlando is beautiful in a Disney kind of way: everything is clean and bright and just a little plasticized.  Maybe the buildings all use the same 7/8 scale that Disney uses, or maybe Unchained was just oversized… hard to say.

Over the next few days I am going to share a few of the gold nuggets I panned from the rapid flood of information that was one long, intense, ecstatic day at Unchained.  But not today.  Today I am still sifting and understanding.  Today I have only themes and simple data - points of interest that do not connect into a greater whole.  For new information to infiltrate and impact our daily activities it must be processed and that is where I find myself: clarifying the headers, organizing the outline and slowly expanding the void with pages and pages of ideas handed to me while I was there.  Bloodhound Unchained in 36 hours.  A blur of activity, a multitude of speakers - each sharing freely and every last one of them speaking much too quickly for my longhand chicken scratch - and laughing.  Laughing so much at times my sides hurt.

Dark Theme Emerges
The one theme I find over and over again is most assuredly not on Greg or Brian’s agenda, but the results speak for themselves.  Allow me a few words on most of the speakers and tell me if you see a thematic element:

• we opened with Greg Swann discussing the Greeks and the disciplined violence that was the Spartans
• you had Brian Brady sharing the dark secrets of being a Ninja in social media marketing
• Teri Lussier warned of a fatal addiction to the Tweet drug
• there was Kelley Koehler exhibiting the cool, detached efficiency of a hit man targeting Google
• Mitch Ribak covered 100mph marketing and proved that speed does kill the competition
• we were exposed to John Rowles’ killer app
• and finally, Eric Blackwell explained how to make the organically grown poison known as SEO

Is it just me, or was there a message here?  A call to arms, so to speak, that our competition did not (or could not) heed.

An Outsider’s View
These notes and those to follow are “an outsider’s view from inside the pound.”  Why?  Because I have a lot more in common with most of you reading this than I do with the speakers with whom I shared a stage.  Take a look at the people who spoke at this event: SEO experts, SMM inventers, Tech giants and Real Estate innovators.  This is the deep end of the RE.net pool and I try to stay out of it.  My area of specialty (such as it is) might be called the Passion of Marketing.  In that regard I try to be a very big fish in a relatively small pond.  I am what you might call a disciple of the Dan Kennedy school: take everything they will give, devour it, digest it, apply it and use it… boots on the ground and skins on the wall and all that.  I share all this so you know where I am coming from when I tell you to invest in yourself, invest in your business and invest in the next Unchained event.   The fee is ridiculously low.  (If I were running Unchained the cost would be higher by a factor of 8.)  Since I am not running it I will gladly pay what they ask.  But if you go, remember this secret:

Get Inside the Pound
Here you go, the secret to Unchained: find a way to spend time with the people behind this thing.  Go to lunch with them.  Offer to buy them dinner.  Stalk them in the hallways!  I had the great privilege of bunking with Greg Swann, Brian Brady, Eric Blackwell and Teri & Jaime Lussier.  It was like TWO Unchained events at the same time and gun to my head (there’s that violent imagery again) I couldn’t tell you which gave me more information.  If you have the opportunity to attend the next Unchained and they offer “Breakfast With (fill in your favorite speaker)”… take it!  Pay for it!  Just bring your pad and your appetite and I guarantee you will double your return.

In an earlier post I laid out how my distrust of conspiracy theories is being severely challenged by our government and what appears to be a naked power grab. I am loath to continue in this vein for fear of being labeled the nut job who writes about Area 51 and Men in Black. But my tin foil hat fits well and the strange shenanigans continue unabated at the government level.

WASHINGTON – The former chief risk officer at investment bank Bear Stearns Cos., which nearly collapsed in March, is now a senior official of the Federal Reserve division that supervises U.S. banks.

Michael Alix, who worked at Bear Stearns for 12 years and was its senior risk manager since 2006, was named a senior vice president in the bank supervision group of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Fed announced. (emphasis mine)

Read full story here.

So, just to make sure I am getting this straight: the senior man in charge of assessing risk for a company that… failed miserably in its risk assessments (costing billions) will now “help oversee the financial safety and soundness of banks.”

What?

We (the taxpayers) pledged $29 billion to backstop the sale of Bear Stearns to JP Morgan and the government hires the individual originally tasked with preventing such meltdowns and puts him in charge of evaluating bank risks?

Each time I find myself with tin foil hat in hand, I think it only prudent to end the post the same way I did that first one: I am no longer confused… I am scared. Are you? Are you paying attention?

(This post was first published here.)

I am not, by any stretch, a conspiracy person. I think the probability of a conspiracy succeeding is inversely tied to the number of people involved. That makes me especially dubious of government conspiracies. The bottom line for me is this: people are smart, groups are dumb. If you want to understand something just follow the money.

But I am getting a little scared.

You may have heard about the various bailouts and financial manipulations the government is engaged in lately. It has been in the news. There was a $750 billion bailout, followed by another $500+ billion bailout. A number of investment banking firms were bailed out (and, curiously, some were not) while AIG continues to be handed money. Banks are being force fed money and there are more stimulus packages on the way. All done, we are told, to save us from a world economic collapse.

But is it true? This week the Fed lowered the fed funds rate… again. Lowering the rate didn’t do a damn thing a month ago, so why are they trying again? Here’s a better question: Why are they lowering the rate at all? Lowering the fed funds rate effectively lowers the “cost” of money. When do you lower the cost of something? When their is a demand problem. From everything you have read, do we have a demand problem or a supply problem? We are being told that everyone needs money and no one will lend it. So why in the world would you lower the price of money?

Let’s leave that alone for a minute and move on to the credit crunch. As I mentioned previously, the world economic collapse is precipitously close and liquidity is the problem. “No one is lending money.” “Commercial paper has dried up.” “Our financial system is grinding to a halt because cash is being hoarded.” I have not taken the time to actually go out and find these headlines and link to them. I trust this is now such common wisdom you will take it on face value. But take a look at the following graph:

That represents the loans, in billions, flowing between banks. It is near record levels! Money is not flowing between banks? I don’t get it. Alright, let’s leave that alone for a minute too.

What about commercial paper? What about the actual short term debt that allows companies to function. This is the greatest problem we have, right? We are being told that if the government can not get this money flowing again quickly there will be a devastating effect on the economy: companies closing down, unemployment going up, recession turned in to depression and so on. Sounds dire doesn’t it? But take a look at this graph:

Yes that’s right. Here again we are looking at record levels!

Take a closer look at the source for these graphs… the Federal Reserve. The same Federal Reserve that is telling us the sky is falling is publishing information (albeit not with any fanfare and not easily digestible) that contradicts the very statements they are making to justify their actions.

So lets summarize: we have the Fed lowering the cost of something that is already in high demand. We have the government printing and pouring billions of dollars into some businesses that are already lending each other money at record rates… and parsing others out to corporations who have secured “most favored” status. We have the Treasury forcing billions into banks that are already lending money to each other at record levels, whether they want it or not… and taking ownership shares in those banks.

Is it just me? Or is this an old fashioned power grab? Could there really be a conspiracy to move us to the “one world economy” non-sense that is slowly bringing European nations to their knees? I admit, I am one of those weird people that follows economics and the markets. I “get” this stuff. But I don’t mind telling you that what I am seeing and what I am hearing does not make sense. I am no longer confused… I am scared. Are you? Are you paying attention?

(These graphs were first brought to my attention on the must-read Coyote Blog.)

(This post was first published here.)

David Shafer is a frequent commenter over on BloodhoundBlog and his insights often make me think. We do not always agree, but I always listen to what he has to say. He recently posted an interesting and (typically) well written article entitled Credit Default Swaps; The real financial WMD. You can imagine from the title his take on these instruments. Part of the article quotes from a recent 60 Minutes segment on credit default swaps called The Bet That Blew Up Wall Street which is a hatchet job… I mean fair and balanced investigation for which this particular news show has gained such renown.

I commented on this article to the point that it was obvious I was writing a post, which brings us up to date. I do not agree with the popular sentiment regarding CDS’s and I definitely do not agree with the simplistic view put out by sources such as 60 Minutes that imply derivatives are nothing more than gambling. The problem is not with the tool but rather the hand that wields the tool (and no doubt, some of the hands at the helm of the credit default swaps market belonged to real tools, if you know what I mean).

Read this very carefully: Credit Default Swaps serve a very legitimate and important purpose. Derivatives are a must in the market place and here’s why: they provide a hedge on risk. The ability to hedge risk is an extremely important aspect of our markets. Without it equities would be lower, rates would be higher and capital would move more slowly. Derivatives are NOT some bastardized form of gambling. The suggestion by 60 Minutes and others that they should be outlawed only reflects their rudimentary understanding of how markets work.

I’ll give you an example using a derivative called options, which were my area of specialty as a floor trader.

ABC company insures the debt of XYZ company, allowing XYZ company to borrow desperately needed funds for expansion, research and other job creating endeavors from a large pension fund that would not otherwise have bought XYZ’s bonds (lent them the money). In turn, ABC company short sells XYZ’s stock, thus hedging their risk. That way, if XYZ does default on their debt obligations and ABC has to pay the pension fund themselves, they recoup much of their losses in the profits made from shorting XYZ’s stock (which has obviously tanked after defaulting on their debts).

This, by the way, is what made the recent ban on short sales so laughable. Congress, in all its market ignorance, tries to help companies find liquidity by removing one of the mechanisms that allows them to get liquid. But I digress…

Let’s go back to our example and let’s say that ABC company does not want to short the stock. There may be many reasons for this: the cost of carry is too high, shorting the stock may send the wrong sell signals to the market at a time when XYZ is trying to grow and ABC is insuring that growth and so on. So how does ABC hedge their risk? They buy puts in the options market (a derivatives market) which allows them to make money should the stock go down. Again, this “derivative” that is so maligned has been instrumental in helping a company grow and adding jobs to the economy.

With that understanding of the possible good to come from a derivative, let’s take a look at credit default swaps. These were basically insurance policies written by one company to “insure” or raise the credit rating of another company so that the latter company could borrow money. Very reminiscent of our previous example, isn’t it? The difference being that instead of shorting stock or buying puts to hedge risk, they simply carried the risk. “Ahhh,” you say, “but that is a big difference.” Plus, there is a big problem arising from that difference: with no regulation there is no minimum reserves required of the insuring company like there would be with a formal insurance company. There was no way to know if the insuring company - the one trading on their AAA credit rating - could in fact handle a claim (never mind multiple claims).

So how in the world did all these financial giants expect to participate in this unregulated market? What was supposed to be the regulating aspect? Once again we get to point our tired fingers at the Credit Rating Agencies. THEY FAILED AGAIN. If they had been doing their job (instead of just collecting a fee), they would have looked at a company that was over-extended (didn’t have the reserves to justify the default swaps they were doing) and lowered that company’s rating (hey now, there’s a novel idea). That would have ended the transaction on the spot. But none of this happened. The press has not investigated and - other than appearing before a Congressional hearing a couple of days ago - there have been no repercussions for those ratings agencies that were asleep at the wheel while the whole train barreled down the tracks.

One last thought: an easier way to fix this problem than counting on the ratings agencies who have shown themselves to be completely untrustworthy. Utilize an open exchange for these products. Again, regulation does not solve the problem nearly so cleanly or simply as just putting these transactions out in the open. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (there’s my bias again) is made up of multiple open outcry options pits. Every trade is called out for anyone to do and every transaction is posted and recorded transparently. No specialist system (like the NYSE) to create legalized theft and no back room shenanigans such as existed with the credit default swaps thus far. In an open exchange a company over-extending themselves would be clear for all to see and the market - just as the ratings agencies would have done had they valued their responsibilities rather than the warm embrace of bribery - would have ended that particular company’s growth in credit default swaps.

(This post was first published here.)

Over the past couple weeks I have been reading every real estate flyer I could find. I am sure many of you are asking why I would submit myself to such torture… and you would be right to ask. If I had to guess, eight out of every ten flyers I read were sheer torture. How familiar does this sound:

Just look at all the room in this lovely 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom ranch style single family residence with attached garage. Enjoy 1742 square feet of flowing space with enough room for parties or quiet solitude overlooking your own private backyard. Hurry, this one won’t last long!

Did you just call that home a “single family residence?” Why are you repeating the bedrooms and baths? Is that information not available somewhere more appropriate? Who are you talking to when you look up over your slide rule and say 1742 square feet? Appraisers? Contractors? How many people do you think know the difference between 1742 square feet and 1648? Or even 1700? “Honey, stop the car! This house has that extra 42 square feet we have been dreaming about.” Please STOP… or you won’t last long.

Most of the real estate marketing I see starts like this and goes downhill from there. The reason is simple: this is not real estate marketing. Unfortunately, most agents do not know the difference. I attribute some of this to the poor copy writing we are inundated with via the television and a lot of it to the fact that marketing is just not taught, or at least not taught well.

THE BIG FIVE
Over the next few posts I am going to discuss real estate marketing. The list of potentially innovative ways to market a home are never-ending. Many new ideas are shared right here on BloodhoundBlog. I do not hold any illusions of being so creative myself. But I do understand the basics of marketing and I am quite adept at borrowing great ideas from other people. With that being said, in the next couple of posts I am going to discuss the five basics everyone should be doing:

1. MLS - Usually viewed as a data sheet rather than the opportunity it really is
2. Flyer - Reread the example… enough said
3. For Sale Sign - Nine times out of ten it fails at the only two purposes it has
   1. Market the property that is for sale
   2. Differentiate the agent selling the property
4. Brokers’ Caravan - For those who still have access, this is often a missed chance at very effective direct marketing
5. Single Site - Normally a static web site regurgitating the same boring data found in the MLS… with the added benefit of poorly taken pictures

Before any further posts discussing the Big Five, I just have to share with you… the SECRET.

THE SECRET
No, not a movie about attracting wealth by thinking (as much as I strive to join the ranks of nationally known success coaches, the answer to life’s problems is not found in a yoga pose). I am talking about the secret to successful marketing. Ready? Drumroll please… the secret to every successful marketing campaign is realizing that it is a campaign. You are no different than a politician planning a fund-raising campaign or a general planning a military campaign. There is an objective and there are various methods (volunteers / military branches) that must be coordinated. If they are not coordinated the campaign fails, homes are not sold, elections are lost and good men die. Too dramatic? So how do we go about creating a campaign? A true, coordinated marketing campaign. It all begins with three simple questions.

THE THREE BASICS OF COMMUNICATION
Before you start any marketing campaign you must answer these three questions:

1. What is the message or theme?
2. What is the medium?
3. Who is the audience?

What is the message - Most agents fail at step one. A marketing campaign starts with a theme or a unique selling proposition. Something that makes the house “sticky.” Sometimes it may jump right out at you. (I recently saw an Open House with an eight foot tall miniature of the Eiffel Tower in the front yard. Now that is a hook you can build a campaign around.) But most of the time you have to tease it out; this is a creative process! Start by asking yourself

• Is there anything unique about this home?
• Is there anything special about the sellers?
• Is there a compelling story in this house or even behind why the owners are selling?
• Who is the IDEAL buyer for this home?
• Is the neighborhood special or unique in some way?

The answers to these questions will allow you to create a narrative - a story. This is the compelling, sticky motivation that moves people through your various marketing pieces and leads to that all important “call to action.”

What is the medium - Most often we use words, but pictures, videos, sounds and numbers are all at our disposal. Look at the theme you have developed and choose a primary way to construct it. How can you best tell the story? Remember that spoken words communicate more than written words. Pictures communicate more than both. Videos can incorporate words, sounds and pictures. But don’t forget that a good story holds attention better than a poor story no matter what method is used. A mix of mediums, so long as it is not distracting, may often work the best.

Who is the audience - This question merits a lot more thought than it is usually given. Your primary audience is normally potential buyers, but that is not always the case. Sometimes you are marketing to other agents, other times the audience is homeowners who may or may not list their home with you. Sometimes you are talking to an audience that is not in the market to buy or sell, but with whom a relationship is desired. Not only do the audiences differ, but so too does their attention. Are you showing, sharing or telling? Is your audience live, on the street, on the internet or simply reading? These all affect the length of your narrative and the message you are getting across. In the end, all of your marketing campaign methods should be driving the audience member further down the information chain. Ultimately, you want them to arrive at a single site or web site (you do have those, right?) where they can really get caught up in your message. It is here that your most powerful “call to action” occurs, but how they get here depends a lot on who they are. Think about the focus of each medium you use.

NEXT TIME
Now that you have a theme and you understand your story, you have decided on the medium and made a list of potential audiences, you are ready for Step 1. (No, it is not the MLS.) Step 1 is the Single Site for your new listing.

Next, we will go over single sites and signs. Upcoming: MLS, flyers and the Brokers’ Open pitch.

(This post was first published here.)

Although this post discusses the election in general, it is not meant to instigate a general discussion of the election. It is… a non-political post on politics.

In talking to various people about the upcoming presidential election and their preferences, I was stuck by an odd response I kept hearing - in various forms - over and over again. I decided to do an extensive, double blind study - exhausting all resources in order to generate a valid conclusion. Following this study, I now believe we are witnessing a new election dynamic (or at the very least a dynamic not previously seen in our life time).

Editor’s Note: By “extensive” I mean I asked anyone who walked into, out of or near my office doorway. I did not actually go the whole distance and get up off my seat. Also, by “double blind” I mean to say neither I nor the person I interviewed had a clue what we were talking about. I imagine my idea of “exhaustive” needs no further explanation…

In all seriousness, when I meet someone voting for either candidate I ask them a straightforward question: “Why are you voting for that candidate?” Even though I spoke with a full spectrum of ideologies, I heard a similarity in all their responses. If the person was an Obama supporter they would provide answers such as “four more years of Bush… disastrous deregulation by the current administration… conservative duplicity with Wall Street” and so on. If the person was a McCain supporter they would provide answers such as “tax and spend Democrats… redistribution of wealth… lack of liberal strength in the face of terrorism” and so on. I rarely got an affirmative answer with regard to their candidate of choice. In other words: they were not voting for someone so much as voting against someone else.

That people cast their vote for someone they are not particularly excited about is not new. Nor is casting a vote solely in opposition to the other candidate. What is groundbreaking (and, so far as I know, not being reported) is that this year, for the first time ever, the percentage of people voting against the other party appears to be greater than the percentage voting for their party. A strange little dynamic: a populace divided not by what they believe in but rather by what they do not believe in.

• Does this reflect a jadedness now become pervasive?
• Is it indicative of a society operating mostly on fear and anger?
• When one votes for a candidate and that candidate loses, it is not so difficult to envision uniting behind the new leader for the greater good of the nation. But when one votes against a candidate who subsequently goes on to win, well… that is a very different perspective indeed. It leaves little room for reconciliation.

I am not sure what the ramifications are when a nation crosses this tipping point in elections; when a majority of voters cast votes to reflect their enmity rather than their alliance. I don’t know what affect it will have, but somehow I doubt it will be good.

Last Monday Tiger Woods returned to Torrey Pines in beautiful San Diego, but not to golf. Instead he caddied for John Abel, winner of the “Tee Off With Tiger” online sweepstakes sponsored by Buick. This is such a great picture that I can’t help but fill in some dialogue. Mine is below. What do you hear them saying?

Abel: “This looks like a tough one Tiger. What would you do here?”

Tiger: “Well, I would push this putt along a path eleven inches left of the true line, with just enough touch to clear the fringe but still allow the natural slope of the green to pull the ball back and down, dropping into the hole dead center… I have no idea what you are going to do.”

AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi

(This post was first published here.)

With a little over a week to go in this election, we can finally all come together in agreement on one issue.  Whether you are voting for McCain: the logical vote, or voting for Obama: the emotional vote, or voting third party: the non-viable vote (unfortunately) - one thing has become clear.  The mainstream press has given up all pretense of being unbiased in their coverage.  They are blatantly shilling.  Whether we like the candidate they are whoring for or not, any respect we could have is gone.  The fourth estate has lost all legitimacy.

This final nail in the coffin was delivered by CNN earlier this week.  By all accounts, CNN has been as neutral as possible during the election.  They appear a little left of center by most accounts, yet they have been relatively even in their coverage.  What respect they deserved is now gone too.  On Tuesday night, Drew Griffin interviewed Governor Sarah Palin.  Watch the video at about 1:25 in and listen to the question Mr. Griffin asks of Governor Palin.  She is visibly shaken by it:

 [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4AIoJTK8ug&hl=en&fs=1]

Now please read the actual paragraph that Mr. Griffin is quoting from the National Review.  It was written by Byron York (not a difficult fact to find out Mr. Griffin) :

Watching press coverage of the Republican candidate for vice president, it’s sometimes hard to decide whether Sarah Palin is incompetent, stupid, unqualified, corrupt, backward, or — or, well, all of the above. Palin, the governor of Alaska, has faced more criticism than any vice-presidential candidate since 1988… (full article here)

The first and last lines change the meaning a little don’t you think?  To say Mr. Griffin quoted Mr. York to Governor Palin out of context would be an understatement. The National Review article now has an Editor’s Note that reads in part:

Editor’s note: Byron York’s recent article in National Review on Sarah Palin’s time as governor of Alaska became a campaign issue Tuesday when CNN’s Drew Griffin distorted its meaning in a high-profile interview with Palin.

You can, of course, Google all of this and you can read people’s outrage.  You can even see the National Review author himself express dismay that his words were so misconstrued.  But what you won’t read anywhere (at least at the time this is posted) is a retraction or apology from CNN.  Apparently, they are content with their journalistic integrity… and that is the saddest comment of all.

(This post was first published here.)