Friday night Gov. Warner threw a very expensive party for YearlyKos attendees. Some people wonder if it reflects poorly on his judgement, that he lavishly throws money around. I think this may have been a very effective use of marketing dollars and a very sharp strategic move. Think about it this way: if Gov. Warner has now established himself in the front of the pack, and grabbed onto a great big piece of the mindshare of the blogosphere, for only $70,000 (or whatever it cost), then GOOD FOR HIM – it shows he knows how to reach the audiences he needs to reach, when he needs to reach them. It’s called “marketing.” If there’s anything the Democrats need it’s marketing know-how, and if it means we get to eat free sushi, all the better.
Compare this to the cost and effort that would be required to achieve the same results using other means. How DO you get the attention of the blogoshpere? Do you set up local or regional meetings with bloggers? Think of the travel costs, time and staff that would take. Then there’s the fact that he would have to fight tooth and nail with all the other candidates along that road.
With one well-timed event, Warner established mindshare – he got it done, he’s on our map.
But wait, there’s more!