"1984" - Hillary Clinton Running Dangerous Campaign Against Barack Obama

FLASH: Hillary Clinton sounds like George W. Bush on Iraq.

This week marked the begining of politics in the 21st Century. Yes, I know it's 2007, but it took a good seven years for us to get to the point where one powerful video quickly seen by many can turn a Presidential campaign. That's what this "1984" video -- which to date no one knows who made -- is doing. Here's the video:



The video places Hillary Clinton in the interesting role of the controlling, demonic, anti-democratic establishment using the famous 1984 commercial that introduced the Apple Machintoch to the World during the Super Bowl. While the Clinton camp certainly doens't like the depiction, it's doing everything it can to make Senator Clinton look very much like the person represented in the 1984 spoof video.

The Clinton campaign has shown a desire to control and destroy. Control not just their message, but attack anyone who would make a statement that might even indirectly harm the Senator's Presidential bid. That person is Senator Barack Obama. If the Clinton campaign hasn't said it's surprised and threatened by Senator Obama's rise to power in the 2008 Presidential race, they're certainly acting like it.

The Clinton camp has done everything from try to potray movie mogul David Geffen as Obama's finance chairperson -- he's not -- to recently attempting to claim that Senator Obama's wasn't against the war entirely. That's a rough road -- the hardest off all -- because Senator Obama never came out in full support of the war, whereas Senator Clinton did.

Now, with opposition to the war at an all time high, she stuck between a rock and a hard place and not sure of how to get out. So, like any cornered beast, she's aiming for what she sees as her greatest tormentor -- Senator Obama.

What the Clinton Camp's doing is actually great for Senator Obama's run, because they consistently place him in the role of her challenger -- right now she's on top, but barely. And one rule of marketing is that if you talk about your competitor too much, people will eventually go to them and not you.

It explains in part why Senator Obama's gaining in the poles, although another explaination may lie in the recent Zogby pole, which claims that 46 percent of those polled said they would never vote for Hillary Clinton, and Senator Obama has the fewest anti-votes among women.

Think about that one while your watching "1984."

Giants work Buy-Back Of Eli Manning's Contract

Giants exercise buy-back of Manning's contract- see my note at the Bottom
BY ARTHUR STAPLE AND BOB GLAUBER

Giants fans have complained about the team's unwillingness to spend in the free agent market, but they've invested heavily in their own players.

They not only re-signed center Shaun O'Hara to a five-year, $19 million deal just hours before the free agency signing period began on March 2, but they also spent big money to make sure that Eli Manning remains their quarterback for the next three seasons at least.

The Giants exercised a "buy-back" of Manning's contract earlier this month, Newsday has learned, to keep Manning from becoming a free agent at the end of the 2007 season. Newsday incorrectly reported that Manning's contract had been extended through the 2012 season.

Manning is still under contract through 2009, but the buy-back was a costly one.

According to league sources familiar with Manning's contract, the Giants gave him a $5 million buy-back bonus, as well as a $3 million roster bonus. His base salary for the 2007 season will be $6.45 million. It increases to $8.45 million in 2008 and $8.95 million in 2009. The six-year, $54 million deal in July, 2004, but the deal would have voided after four seasons because Manning had achieved play-time incentives in his first season.

Giants sources last night confirmed that the move was made, and that the team had planned the transaction well in advance.

A team source said the money allocated to Manning has not been a factor in the team's reluctance to spend big on free agents. The source indicated that there were simply not enough quality players available in free agency worth pursuing, and that the huge contracts earned by some players was not in line with what the Giants believed their value to be.



And My slant: This is Gigantic(no pun meant!) for the Giants front office, as Eli would have been a Free Agent after this season. For all the crying fans are doing, for better or worse Manning is the Future of this offense, and they should make sure he's happy.

Fox News "In Focus" A Love Fest For Barack Obama - Telecast Gives High Marks To Senator

I'm watching Fox News "In Focus" where they ask the question "Will Wall Street Back Barack Obama." What I expected to be a conservative bashing of the Senator was anything but.

All of the panelists, including Steve Forbes, the Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Magazine gave Senator Obama high marks for being a fresh face on the poiltical scene. And at least two of the panelists were quick to bash the idea that Senator Obama would be too liberal for Wall Street. But all believe that it's time for the Senator to address specific economic policies. Steve Forbes thinks that he will have to be more specific here at some point.

They also focused on Hillary Clinton and how she would react to Senator Obama's popularity. The Fox panelists observed that her campaign is "ruthless" and a "machine" and would take its shots at Senator Obama, but one panelist said that Barack was tough enough to take it and keep on going.

But that aside, it was a refreshing Fox newscast. I'm really excited that the Senator can win the Presidency. The campaign should get a clip of this telecast and have it copied.

CNN Trying To Ignore Barack Obama -- Why?

I am watching Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer right now and even though Senator Barack Obama drew a crowd of over 15,000 people in Oakland and held a massive fund-raiser at the Mark Hopkins in San Francisco, there was no mention of him in the discussion of presidential candidates on the program.

CNN didn't even report where Barack Obama was going to be on the campaign trail. They inforrmed us of Hillary Clinton's fund raiser in New York this evening and the events of five other presidential candidates. But CNN didn't even take time to report that Barack Obama didn't have a scheduled event for Sunday, and they've done that for other candidates in the past.

And when Wolf asked Donald Trump about the presidential election he didn't ask Trump for his view on Barack Obama.

It must be asked why is CNN trying to ignore Senator Barack Obama? Is it that they don't want him to win because he's Black? Hillary Clinton is not vastly ahead in any poll at all. It seems CNN has no problem focusing on Obama when someone brings up bad news -- and that doesn't stick at all.



Again, what's up? I thought CNN was supposed to be fair and balanced, and not Fox News!

"Online Marketing Buzz" - A New Blog

Since SBS' now has SBS-ON, I decided a new blog on Online Marketing -- see the caps -- was a good idea. It's designed to track trends in Internet marketing both to share and for SBS to use in its own work.

It's going to be a fun ride with this one. Check it out. I'm already a Twitter.

I'll have to report that online marketing is growing faster than the total rate of understanding of those who do it.

Twitter - Born In San Francisco

OK. Just when I thought the Bay Area was starting to lose it's dominance in all things online, we have Twitter , which grew out of the South Park area of The City, near AT&T Park, where the SF Giants play ball.

As to what Twitter is, to me it's a massive fad idea that's so simple I wish I'd thought of it. It's place to tell the World what you're doing. Period. That's all. Or as one Twitter employee put it "it's just a medium, and its relative worth lies in what's communicated."

Yep.

Twitter is a product of Obvious corporation, which reports that it's charge is to to create interesting things that matter to the world—and a great place for creative, smart people to work.

Nice.

Twitter's an interesting online social network that's all too perfectly viral. It makes me wonder what's next. My current charge is to figure out how better to mate our simulations with our blogs and message boards. I'll figure it out.

Zennie Abraham At Tadich Grill

I think everyone has a photo they think really captures who they are. For me, this is it. It was taken at one of my favorite restaurants, the Tadich Grill in San Francisco. It's perhaps the oldest eatery in San Francisco, and the food's the best. Always good quantity and quality. But what I like most is the history of the place, where it's served as host to so many San Franciscans and visitors of note and not, too. Regardless, everyone has to wait their turn!

If you go, get any seafood dish. The pasta's excellent, too!