Calling All Politicians: Stop Being Anti-Social! Be Social By Design!

What does the term “PC” mean to you? Politically correct? Wrong! “PC” means POLITICALLY CONNECTED! How connected are you to your constituents? The number one way to get real feedback and converse with the folks who elected you is through SOCIAL MEDIA!

The number one fail in political social media right now, and I don’t mean to be harsh, is @JoeManchinWV. The man who made me fall in love with politics isn’t following a soul on Twitter. I spoke with Senator Oliverio (Mike_Oliverio) last night, a future U.S. House of Reps member, and mentioned he might want to change his Facebook picture. Delegate Doug Skaff (dougskaff) asked me how much he should tweet.

With the youngest and sexiest United States Senator in office right now, West Virginia politicians need to know how to better utilize social media (or new media, whichever), to communicate with their constituents. Goodwin doesn’t even have a Twitter account.

The most recent political social media development in West Virginia, in my opinion, has been Speaker Thompson (@RT4WV) using his Facebook page to post statements regarding his views about what’s going on at the Legislature (@wvlegislature). Mannix Porterfield, a reporter, even asked the Speaker a question on his page and Thompson replied! He’s effectively using social media to communicate with both the media and constituents.

So all you politicians in the great state of West Virginia and across the United States, when you’re ready for my class on political social media, give me a call, 304.993.8464.

$160,000 for shoes? I’m in!

The lights keep flashing, the camera keeps rolling, but the movie just isn’t turning out the way he thought. And with West Virginia in the national spotlight, I bet Governor Manchin (@JoeManchinWV) wishes we could cut to a commercial break.

One bad camera angle: At a rate of approximately $30,000 per day, the West Virginia Legislature (@wvlegislature) failed to pass a bill both the state Senate (@wvsenate) and the House (@wvhouse) agreed upon. Overall, this special session cost approximately $160,000, http://bit.ly/dx8T6Y (story by Daily Mail (@charleywest) reporter Ry Rivard (@ryrivard).

Another bad angle: Today Manchin is expected to make a proclamation for a special election. If he had done this originally, West Virginia could have saved almost $200,000. While it’s obvious the Governor attempted to go about this with as much legislative support as possible, it just didn’t happen. So W.W.M.D (What Will Manchin Do)?

Please understand that I am not bashing Governor Manchin, I deeply respect the man, worked for him when he was Secretary of State, volunteered on his first gubernatorial campaign, and dated a close member of the Manchin family. But from a PR perspective and as a tax payer, I’m just confused. And I would rather my tax dollars be spent on shoes than four days of a session with no real solution. Speaking of shoes, Senator Chafin (@Senator_Chafin), Senator Browning, and Delegate Doug Reynolds (dougreynolds16) have the best shoes of any legislators I’ve seen.

Taking a step back, with an obvious constituent outcry for an election to fill Senator Byrd’s seat, I can’t help but wonder if Governor calls for a special election and runs (which we know he will), how much the very special session that didn’t produce any very special succession legislation hurt him? Guess we’ll find out in the coming weeks and months!

Carte Goodwin Makes Politics Look Hot

With Governor Joe Manchin’s recent appointment of Carte Goodwin to fill Senator Byrd’s United States Senate seat, I can’t help but wonder how much the media will play up the new U.S. Senator. He’s handsome, well-connected, and the first of his kind; he’s the youngest U.S. Senator. Carte Goodwin is already the new face of West Virginia, but the more I think about it, Governor Manchin’s appointee is more than that. Could Carte Goodwin be the new face of American politicians?

During an election, voters tend to cast their ballot for the candidate they feel best represents them. And, no offense, but what does someone twice my age know about what I want and what issues are important to me? What policy needs do I share with my grandparents? If given the option, I would vote for someone I can relate to who understands the needs of my generation over someone who’s been in office for years and years. Historically, voters tend to choose a more attractive candidate, regardless of their politics. Remember Kennedy and Nixon’s debate during the boob tube revolution in politics? Kennedy was so much nicer to look at.

Handsome enough to be a boy-band pop-star and more attractive by far than Scott Brown, Goodwin will surely make the front page of newspapers and be on the cover of magazines. With Senator Rockefeller and Governor Manchin behind him, he’ll be sure to work well alongside current U.S. senators, but he also attractively appeals to Gen X and Gen Y. In other words, Carte Goodwin makes politics look hot.