The harbor’s so beautiful sometimes that I just can’t resist stopping by after I drop off the kids at school…

Here in Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District, there is no sign of intelligent use of social media for campaigning, but times are changing in the rest of the nation…

“Each election cycle sees social media become a slightly more potent force in U.S. politics — but its effects are still relatively limited, according to panelists at an event organized by Politico and Facebook and held at the George Washington University.A recent GWU/Politico poll found 89% of respondents said they had never directly interacted with a politician through a social network — compared with 2% who say they did once, 7% who say they do it occasionally and 2% who say they do so frequently. GWU professor Matthew Hindman noted that he expects these numbers to increase by 2012, as more young people who grew up with social technology reach voting age.

But Facebook’s Adam Conner says asking about direct engagement is deceptive. Rather than asking how many people have directly engaged a candidate through a social network, Conner says it would be better to study how many people have gotten information about a candidate through their Facebook newsfeed because one of their friends supports that candidate. “That’s where you get the viral feedback loops,” he said.Most campaigns are spending less than 5% of their budgets on their online efforts, said EngageDC’s Mindy Finn, who served as Mitt Romney’s online strategy head for his 2008 presidential campaign– though for some ballot initiative campaigns, that number can climb as high as 15%.

Part of the problem is that right now most social-media efforts for campaigns are just “window dressing,” said Hindman. Candidates have Facebook and Twitter accounts just so they can say they have them — not so that they can accomplish any specific goals with them.That could change, however, as more candidates who are personally comfortable with social tools run for office, noted Finn and Conner. Finn pointed to Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, who has a personal Twitter account, but also has an official campaign account run by staff. This allows Perry to have an authentic voice on the network. At the same time, his staff members have a channel for pushing out their updates in a transparent way.” Source: What’s next for politics and social media? | SmartBlog on Social Media

Personally, I’ve been very frustrated by the failure of the RNC, the RPW, and specific campaigns to embrace social media. I vented some of that frustration in a post on my political blog called “The Awesome of Roger Roth”. Until campaigns are willing to spend more than 5% of their budgets on social media, I think you can expect more of the same…

Rabbi Brad Hirschfield recently wrote…

“Like pretty much everything else, God can be found on Google. And this week, with the help of Google Street View, you don’t even have to search for images of the Divine to find you. This image, captured by the Street View feature of ubiquitous searcher (a fact about Google which may hint at the search engine itself is increasingly God-like, if not actually God) has been interpreted by thousands as a glimpse of God captured on camera. Of course others have suggested that it is more likely bird poop on the camera lens. Whatever it is, there is a lesson here in when and why we see/think we see God. It comes down to admitting that we all find the God or no-God for which we are looking. There is proof of either the existence or the non-existence of God. Their constant debating to the contrary, that is something upon which both deep believers and ardent atheists ought to agree.” Source: Finding God with Google - Windows & Doors

You can go to the source and read the rest of his post, but just in case, here’s his conclusion…

“Instead of each side engaging in a debate whose real purpose is to keep each side from asking any questions about its own views, by focusing on demolishing those of others, I would suggest a new approach to this debate. Let each side stop talking about proofs and dis-proofs and speak instead about the results of belief and disbelief in their own lives and our assessment of the impact of God in the world in which we live. For pretty much all of us, it is those experiences which govern our conclusion.”

50+ mph winds, cold and rainy. Sigh. I guess winter is just around the corner now…