Over the past year, the Macedonian town of Veles (population 45,000) has experienced a digital gold rush as locals launched at least 140 US politics websites. These sites have American-sounding domain names such as WorldPoliticus.com, TrumpVision365.com, USConservativeToday.com, DonaldTrumpNews.co, and USADailyPolitics.com. They almost all publish aggressively pro-Trump content aimed at conservatives and Trump supporters in the US.
The young Macedonians who run these sites say they don’t care about Donald Trump. They are responding to straightforward economic incentives: As Facebook regularly reveals in earnings reports, a US Facebook user is worth about four times a user outside the US. The fraction-of-a-penny-per-click of US display advertising — a declining market for American publishers — goes a long way in Veles. Several teens and young men who run these sites told BuzzFeed News that they learned the best way to generate traffic is to get their politics stories to spread on Facebook — and the best way to generate shares on Facebook is to publish sensationalist and often false content that caters to Trump supporters.
ok-cleek
I guess I could use some rearranging
Some post mortem thoughts are taking shape for me: I think all this election “means” is that we must nominate more charismatic figures. Gore and Hillary weren’t beaten because the nation is filled with a latent army of firebrand leftists. There is no data to suggest that at all. They were probably beaten because they are fundamentally uninspiring technocrats. The kind of boring, steady people who make for good stewards of a largely prosperous nation.
So if that charismatic figure is Bernie, great! But that charismatic might be Cory Booker. And if it is, we’ve got to live with it and band together, liberals and leftist and moderates. Because there aren’t enough of us singly to pull on the levers of power.
You’re a smart dude. What do you think?
i think that’s 100% right.
without his charisma, Trump is nothing – just another old Breitbart-reading idiot white guy. the press loves them a showman, though. and he delivered a show.
i have no idea how to use that notion, though. political talent, policy chops, and charisma is a rare combination.
“I have no idea how to use that notion, though. political talent, policy chops, and charisma is a rare combination.”
Audition. I think we’ll know it when we see it. I knew it when Obama gave his 2004 speech.
I remember asking a friend about band photos. How should we do them? How do we avoid all the cliches? Dress normally? Dress cool? Studio? Practice space? Brick wall?(no) Train tracks? (no!) Smile? Glower?
He said that it didn’t really matter. If your band has cool people in it, they will look cool no matter how you photograph them. I think this is almost exactly applicable to big, national political contests.
definitely. somehow, magically.
wish i had a jar of it.
i hope the next Obama shows up in the next couple of years… or at least some semi-Obamas show up in a lot of Senate races.