My business partner, Ed, and I both love politics – local, state, national, world. We may be on opposite sides of the tracks for the most part, but we both have a passion for it. Add in our love for social media and our great partnership that is Yatmedia, and you could say we monitor a broad spectrum of political social media that is on the internet. We wanted to give you some sure-fire tips that will absolutely help any candidate fail digitally for any election – no matter what size.

1. Do not bother with a website. Seriously, who the heck is on the internet these days? Such a waste of time!
2. Forget about having a Facebook page. There are only about 800 million people on there – probably not any of your voters.
3. If you do decide to get a Facebook page – make sure your neighbor’s cousin’s kid is speaking on your behalf. I am sure he will get your political message out clearly to the masses.
4. If you are fortunate enough to have enough money in your war chest to hire a political consulting/PR firm – by all means have blind faith in their social media. An 18 year old intern might be running it from a bar on Friday night. They need to get their feet wet sometime, might as well be with your political future.
5. Ignore on-line stuff written about you, bloggers and forums. Who reads anything on-line anyway?
6. Make sure to tend to your social media less and less as you get closer to the election date. Starting out the gate with enthusiasm is what matters, not how you finish the game.
7. Do not tie your social media presence into any of your printed material or your website. Certainly, there is no need for anyone to find it.
8. Have your website done by the friend of the neighbor’s cousin’s kid’s friend. She likes computers and certainly knows the standard for a professional political website!
9. DO NOT implement any social media strategy into your political campaign! Your time is valuable, stick with traditional high dollar stuff!
10. 5. Do not hire a professional social media consulting company. After all, social media can’t be that hard, your mother is on Twitter and Facebook and your Uncle has a You Tube account. And certainly any monkey can write a well-thought out piece for mass mailing.

For the record, Ed and I have seen very few political campaigns do a great job with social media, especially for state and local elections. It is very much under-used and is usually a haphazard strategy not properly incorporated into the overall plan. If you need some help getting your social media campaign for your political campaign or small business going, contact greta@yatmedia.com today and she promises to not give you the same advice she did in this post!

c/p at Yatmedia

There is a lot of political poo-flinging in St. Tammany right now, but I would expect nothing less here. There also seems to be a movement to get some local incumbents out. If signs were to win elections, the incumbents would win -the streets is littered with them. But hopefully the people of St. Tammany are smarter than voting for someone based on name recognition alone (please tell me they are). When it comes to the on-going “good ole boy network,” one simply needs to play an easy game of connect the dots to figure who is tied together (hint – clumps of signs in targeted property areas). Most children are savvy enough to draw the conclusion that they are all related somehow:)

Many of the jobs being campaigned for are low paying which should bring a red flag of questions when studying a candidate. What would this candidate gain from this position if elected or elected again? Is there an ulterior motive to them gaining this position?

Sooooo….how about those newbies with low budgets, such as Pat Phillips and Maureen O’Brien, walking doors and busting their humps to get some signs up, fliers printed and making a true grassroots effort? Will they get your vote or be over-looked because they do not have political experience? Is that a bad thing?

In a perfect world, each voter will take time to research each candidate. That would probably involve some time to Google them, visit their sites, visit local news station sites and NOLA.com to find out more about them.

Vote early and vote often….kidding…make your votes count!

Get your sample ballot here.

If you want to play connect the dots with campaign contributions, click here.

Everything you need to know about voting in St. Tammany can be found here.

By the way – if you want to play a fun game I have heard many are playing – go click around to see who is paying their fair share of property taxes here. Also, head on over to NOLA.com and type in property assessment and the names of some candidates. Just saying…

Update: Podcast is up.

PTS/PTSD, Louisiana News & a Veteran’s non-profit sound like the perfect combination for another successful radio show this Saturday. Yay me – for packing everything I love into one hour!

The top of the hour I’ll be interviewing Janet & Tony Seahorn, authors of Tears of a Warrior. I met the Seahorns at the Military Order of the Purple Heart Convention last month. They are truly committed to helping others while sharing a combination of: Tony’s personal story from combat, their story of living with PTSD in their family and an abundance of scientific and practical knowledge. Do not miss their amazing blog either. I was very glad to read Janet’s recent post where she has decided that that she is probably no longer going to refer to it as PTSD anymore, but PTS. Janet writes, “I no longer choose to call this a “disorder”. It seems to me the more I learn and understand this phenomenon, the more I believe that PTS(D) is the minds/body’s incredibly creative way to deal with an unusually horrendous life event.”

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who has, knows someone who has or wants to get a better understanding on PTS/PTSD.

My second guest is the ever-entertaining and news generating, Chad Rogers of The Dead Pelican. Louisiana news is never boring and Chad will bring us up to speed on the important as well as stupid stories of the day/week.

For the non-profit portion of the show, Veteran’s Airlift Command will be featured. This is a wonderful organization and I’m honored to have Walt Fricke, their Chairman, CEO and Founder on the show.

When: Every Saturday 9:00 – 10:00 AM Central
How: AM 690 WIST for New Orleans & the Gulf Coast or livestream on your computer.
Call in: 888-880-WIST or (504)260-0690 @kissmygumbo on twitter or email me gretaperry at g mail.com

Podcast is up – click here.

Update: Tea parties, Acorn, Health Care and New Orleans Recovery all in one hour!!!!!!

Update: Here is the direct link to the livestream to listen live.

Wow – do I have a jam-packed show for you. Opening the show with Sharon McCullar from Shreveport. She is the mother of 2 Marines and just attended the 9/12 party in DC. I can’t wait to hear her story and her impressions of this movement. Next is Kevin Kane, President of the Pelican Institute for Public Policy. We will be discussing their report on healthcare. Lastly, for the non-profit portion of our show, Dr. Monteic Sizer, President of Louisiana Recovery Corps.

AM 690 WIST for New Orleans & the Gulf Coast or live on your computer here. 9:00 – 10:00 AM Central. 88-880-WIST

Covington Holiday Inn: 1-3 U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., and U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson & Dr. Daniel “Stormy” Johnson are scheduled to speak.

New Orleans: West End Park 11-4

Funniest comment on NOLA.com regarding Tea Parties

Posted by dubbiewobby on 09/17/09 at 6:37PM

They don’t have tea parties in Livingston Parish, they have beer parties, tea parties are a little gay. The people down the road used to have meth parties but they finally blew up their car, just before the new Shake and Bake method was discovered.

We will be having beer parties all weekend, drive by and we will be glad to protest (or drink to) whatever you wish (if you bring some beer). I tell you what, there will be about 100,000 people on the LSU campus this Saturday, they will be drinking a lot of beer, you may find a few drinking tea but all they are protesting is the other team. I plan to do some serious protesting.

My motto on my other blog is, “We don’t drink the kool-aid, we pee in it.” I’m not into bashing people, not my style. I’m not nasty about politics either. But…when I see something that doesn’t sit right with me, I will call it out. Sarah Palin has certainly taken enough grief lately (sad about that), she didn’t need any more unnecessary jabs. Apologies ahead of time Sarah – I do like you and respect you as a person, politician and Blue Star Mother.

On with the post……soooo….I’m on Twitter this afternoon and see this Tweet from my left-wing friend @yatpundit

RT @charyl: I eagerly await the multiple Red State diaries screaming about her mistreatment of the flag. http://bit.ly/NL7Cv

This tweet brought me over to Balloon Juice and then to The Daily Dish which brought me to the picture that bares scrutinizing, even by me, a conservative who like Sarah.

I recently did a segment on my radio show segment (half way through) about flag etiquette with John Donovan of Arrgghhh!!!. This was not using your brain Sarah. No, it is not the worst thing in the world, but it borders on disrespectful. When you are in the public eye and everyone is waiting for you to mess up – this one screamed “d’oh.”

Yours truly would be happy to grace the cover of Runner’s World some day and would certainly be honored to have a flag hung properly in the background. And yes, I’m still envious of Sarah’s great athletic shape.

Others talking about this Argghhh! and Blackfive

Uncle Uncle…as one of the few conservative women bloggers in the state, I find it impossible to “skirt” the issue of Stormy Daniels for another minute. My friend The Sniper wanted me to weigh in on this. Since he does not live in Louisiana and he is a sniper, I’m obliging him with a post. I’m going to give you my opinion (shock and awe moment here) without research (no paycheck – no research – lazy blogger here- hire me someone).

First off, as a woman who has the most beautiful and intelligent friends on the planet, I find it highly unlikely that any of them (on either side of the aisle), would choose Stormy for candidate. That would be like hiring a Playboy Centerfold as a nanny! Women are petty with this crap and yes, myself included. Oh….this is about politics…I see…hard to remember that. Well, it is as freaking obvious as the nose on your face that this porn star didn’t wake up one day and decide, “Hey, I’m done with the adult industry and think I will run against David Vitter for Senator.” She may be intelligent, she may have good political ideas, but I bet you a boob job that this was not her own thought even if she says it was. Nope…my little brain tells me that someone is behind this movement in order to shake up Vitter’s election. Is she being used? Will this create a media circus and draw away from serious politics? My friend Chad at the Dead Pelican has some interesting perspective on this and nobody should surprised that something might not be Kosher here. To not leave you hanging, unless Stormy promises free breast augmentation for anyone who voted for her, David Vitter will get my vote in 2010.

c/p at Louisiana Conservative

Having always called myself a social chameleon, politically I’ve always considered myself…well…unique. Why did or do I have to be like everyone else? I’m proud to be an independent thinker who likes to pick and choose where issues measure on my personal sliding scale of importance. How can a Jewish girl from MA, raised by liberal parents who also vote based on who they like, become a registered Republican in her adult life? Seems improbable, but my first step was registering myself as an Independent for the sake of rebellion (yes I was a rebellious teen with crazy hair and piercings – so this seemed par for the course). It took me getting through seven years of college, where I really could have cared less about politics, to meeting my husband and entering the real adult world of political conversation that brought me up to speed. Marrying a military soldier, or should I say, marrying the military, was a quick wake-up call to how important politics in the world suddenly was to me. In haste, this person who only cared about athletics, now had some new interests to explore. I was like the proverbial child in the political candy store, grabbing for all the issues with zest and gobbling them up voraciously.

This past weekend on my radio show, my topic was originally about fitting into a political mold but evolved into people’s changing politics. An overwhelming bunch of e-mails and comments were gathered from the internet and most were from the changing political views of conservative people I have known through my internet life. One person said that Obama said he would bring about change and it appears he has, for good or bad. According to my non-scientific study with my internet friends, many have changed and continued to do so on the heels of them being frustrated with their party and/or being unhappy with the current administration. Most my research was done with conservatives (just who I hang with on the internet more). I wonder if those on the left are still on their honeymoon or if they are noticing changes as well?

What did I learn from my show? Well, that I am not the only American who is on a personal journey to become comfortable with my beliefs and views on various topics that make up our society. I firmly believe in less big government, fiscal responsibility and the need for a solid military. As long as I can go to the polls, it will most likely be as a registered Republican. Unlike many with strong opinions, I’m willing to admit and accept flaws within my own party and truly can respect opposing views. Who knows where that will land me in the world of talk radio, certainly not as a pure politico (blech – phooey), but maybe as an average citizen who has the ability to be open- minded and respectful of others? But let me tell you, there are some things you will never get me to budge on…you’ll have to debate me to know what those are:) But…never say never!

Never drink the stuff as I’m purely a coffee girl. This Wednesday, yours truly with the rugmonsters in tow, will be heading to Baton Rouge for a “tea party on the Capital steps. I try and teach the kids both sides of all the issues and want them to be independent thinkers and not brainwashed “sheeple.” We’ll be chatting about this a bunch today as I want them to make signs for the event. Princess Whinalot is more concerned about what she should wear as she understands she may be on TV (LOL). Don’t miss my Louisiana tea party roundup either!

Scott Ott has some inside information on the Obama Administration’s tea party scheming that you must read!