UK: will a TV debate cause the end of bipartisanship?

Nick Clegg just blew it!!! The whole british political system is threatened to collapse! Why? Because Labour and Torries have accepted to modernize the old traditional political campaigns.

Yes. The country is on the edge of massive political changes because of one single reason: the tv debate!!! Brown and Cameron were not ready for that. Especially Brown who should have never accepted to go on a stage and put himself on the same level as his contestants.

Brown appeared ill at ease (his lack of charisma is not hot news!) but worst than that, unprepared. An opportunity Cameron and Clegg brilliantly took.

To be honnest, I think that Cameron lost it too. He was much better than Brown… maybe as good as Clegg. But by the end of the day, the debates showed that Clegg and Lib-Dems were nothing to be affraid of. A serious guy, knowing his business as well as the two others.

So why not giving him a shot? We’ll see…

Brown/Cameron/Clegg debate

The closer the election, the hotter the heat gets!

French president banishes his top spin doctor over affair rumours

Nicolas Sarkozy has blackballed his chief spin doctor from key Elysée meetings after his disastrous handling of rumours about the French president’s marriage.

The president has shut out Pierre Charon – who has been called the French Alastair Campbell – from daily strategy sessions with his chiefs of staff at the Elysée. The development comes as political insiders claim that cracks have emerged in his inner circle of aides.

Mr Charon has served by Sarkozy’s side as one of a small group of die-hard male loyalists, dubbed the firm by the president’s second wife Cécilia.

Mr Sarkozy was furious at his handling of what has become known as “l’affaire Twitter” – rumours that the president was having an affair with Chantal Jouanno, his ecology minister, and that his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, was in a relationship with Benjamin Biolay, another musician. All have denied any infidelity and Mr Biolay yesterday took a French TV news channel to court for violating his private life by referring to the rumours. A verdict is expected on Friday and his lawyer promised further court action.

When the rumours first surfaced on the Twitter micro-blogging site and the internet in February – and were relayed in the foreign press – the president brushed off the reports.

Mr Charon re-ignited the affair last week by claiming it might have been a foreign plot from “financial movements” to discredit the French leader.

Rachida Dati, a former justice minister and a fallen presidential favourite, was accused by Mr Charon of having either started or spread the rumours. Mr Sarkozy is reported to have abruptly cancelled her car and bodyguards. Miss Dati strenuously denied Mr Charon’s claims and promised to sue anyone repeating them.

The president is also reportedly unhappy with his powerful chief of staff, Claude Guéant, the Elysée’s secretary general, for last week declaring that Mr Sarkozy “doesn’t want to see Rachida Dati anymore”.

The exchange of insults has not gone down well with many within Mr Sarkozy’s UMP party, who fear the whole affair is further splitting the French Right.

“The only useful thing (Mr Charon) can do is to retire,” Jacques Le Guen, a UMP MP

Mr Sarkozy’s approval ratings are at all-time low – down seven points to 31 per cent according to a poll published yesterday.

Aristotle Crowns Democratic and Republican Dream Teams at AAPC Hall of Fame

The Oscars of Politics was taking place at the American Association of Political Consultants Pollie Awards in Phoenix, Arizona last week and Aristotle, a leading non-partisan provider of political technology serving thousands of candidates, political parties, PACs and grassroots groups worldwide, gave out special honors to Democratic and Republican Dream teams during the Hall of Fame awards ceremony on March 26, 2010.

“Campaigns are continually employing new strategies and technologies to enable the political communications process and when possible garner dramatic results,” said John Aristotle Phillips, CEO of Aristotle during the award luncheon.  “The credit for these results can often be traced to the behind-the-scenes campaign staff and political strategists for whom excellence is a habit. Today, it is my honor to recognize some of the best talent out there on both sides of the aisle at the Pollies, a well-established and prominent industry awards program.”

During the Hall of Fame Luncheon, Phillips recognized the following individuals with a special Aristotle award. In total, 23 Aristotle awards were presented to these talented political staff that serve as the political spokes in the campaign wheel.

The Aristotle Democratic dream team award winners include:

Campaign Manager: Jill Alper, Dewey Square Group (Grosse Pointe, MI)

Fundraising: Kimberly Scott, ConklinScott (Washington, DC); Robert Kaplan, Robert Kaplan Company (Los Angeles, CA); and Andy Szekeres, 3PG Consulting (Denver, CO).

Legal: Joe Sandler, Neil Reiff & Steve Hershkowitz; all of Sandler, Reiff, and Young (Washington, DC)

Media/Press Relations: Bud Jackson, The Jackson Group Media, LLC (Alexandria, VA) and Julian Mulvey, DevineMulvey (Washington, DC)

Compliance: Xavier Martinez, Martinez & Associates (Escondido, CA) and Brett Smiley, Campaign Finance Officers, LLC (Providence, RI)

Opposition Research: Lorena Chambers, Chambers, Lopez, & Gaitan, LLC (Arlington, VA)

Voter Contact: Liz Welsh, Executive Communications (Louisville, KY) and Marty Stone, Stone’s Phones (Washington, DC)

Polling: Mark Mellman, The Mellman Group (Washington, DC); Margie Omero, Momentum Analysis, LLC (Washington, DC); and Mike Testa, Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group (Washington, DC)

Web Design: Matthew Alvarez McMillan, Buzzmaker (Washington, DC)

Direct Mail: Liz Chadderdon, The Chadderdon Group (Washington, DC); Jim Spencer, The Campaign Network (Boston, MA); and Kevin Geary, The Baughman Company (Washington, DC)

Mobile Campaigning: Adam Ruff, Blue State Digital (Washington, DC)

The Aristotle Republican dream team award winners include:

Campaign Manager: Ross Grogg, McWaters for State Senate (VA) (Virginia Beach, VA)

Fundraising: Jessica Sams (Orlando , FL)

Legal: Jason Torchinsky, Holtzman Vogel, PLLC (Washington, DC)

Media/Press Relations: Hector Barajas, CA Republican Party (Sacramento, CA)

Compliance: Paul Kilgore, Professional Data Services, Inc. (Athens, GA) and Lisa Lisker, Huckaby Davis Lisker (Alexandria, VA)

Voter Contact: Aris McMahon, Advantage Inc.(Arlington, VA); Debbie McCall, Cardinal Communication Strategies, LLC (Los Angeles, CA); and Michael Rule, DCI Group (Phoenix, AZ)

Polling: Whit Ayres, Ayres, McHenry & Associates, Inc. (Alexandria, VA); Robert Popper, The Tarrance Group (Alexandria, VA); Jim Burton, Public Opinion Strategies (Alexandria, VA); and Chris Wilson, Wilson Research Strategies (McLean, VA)

Web Design: Jay Williams, The Stoneridge Group (Buford, GA) and Bill Carney, Inspiration WebWorks (Lansing, MI)

Direct Mail: Dan Hazelwood, Targeted Creative Communications, Inc. (Charleston, WV); John Brabender, BrabenderCox (Leesburg, VA); Walter Lukens, The Lukens Company (Arlington, VA); and Kathleen Patton, American Mailing List Corporation (Manassas, VA)

Mobile Campaigning: John Craig, Purple Forge (Ottawa, Ontario)

“At Aristotle we put a special emphasis on recruiting talent and recognizing accomplishments,” Phillips said. “We are proud to support the Dream Team Aristotle Awards at the Pollies and look forward to continuing this tradition of recognizing excellence throughout this election cycle. Indeed, we are supporting 4 unique awards programs this year to demonstrate our commitment to this industry and the talent that supports it.  With this type of recognition we ensure that talented individuals in politics get the recognition they so justly deserve.  Many of these outstanding award winners will employ Aristotle tools and technology in 2010 and 2012, and we are proud of the support we offer to these talented strategists, communicators, fund-raisers, and outreach coordinators.”

Aristotle will soon be announcing the Aristotle API (Application Programming Interface) Awards at the 2010 Politics Online Conference, April 19-20 in Washington, DC.  Aristotle has been providing programmers with access to Aristotle code to independently create programs that interface with the company’s advanced Campaign 360 technology.  A patent has been filed relating to the Campaign 360 technology that provides powerful new data-mining tools. Later this year, Aristotle will honor the best political programmers who created these interfaces for the iPhone and other applications.  In June 2010, Politics Magazine and Aristotle will present awards to 45 young political operatives worldwide, all less than 35 years of age, during the annual Politics Magazine Rising Stars of Politics Awards Sponsored by Aristotle.

Aristotle was also a proud sponsor of the 2010 Campaign & Elections Reed Awards.  For more information about the Pollies dream team award winners or applications for upcoming awards visit www.aristotle.com/excellence.

About Aristotle

Aristotle is recognized as a global pioneer in political technology, providing indispensable tools to those who seek to use the Democratic process to influence decisions at the ballot box.  Every occupant of the White House — Democrat and Republican — for more than 25 years has been an Aristotle customer, as are most U.S. Senators, most members of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Democratic and Republican state party organizations. For information about career opportunities or for client inquiries, go to www.aristotle.com.