Oakland Mayor's Race: Jean Quan, there are no "minor" candidates

Get it?  Huh?  

Now that the Oakland Mayor's Race has reached its second season and is heading toward the November election, we have candidates and groups trying to push what they see as "minor candidates" as Oakland Councilmember Jean Quan said Wednesday, out of the way.

 But Councilmember Quan is really wrong, and this blogger's disappointed that she made the statement because with New Media and IRV, there are no minor candidates.

This blogger is consistently disappointed at the display of the amazing levels of both hubris and, frankly, stupidity that have come to mark the media strategy in the Oakland Mayor's Race.

Newspapers are not the number one source of information today in politics: the Internet is. But the people who run their election campaigns in Oakland, as well as those producing the forums, don't seem to get that. They think that by their actions in excluding talking to all of the candidates, or by some campaigners raising a lot of money, or by calling an editor at a print newspaper, they automatically will be the "major candidate."

No.

Here's an example, as of 8:16 AM PDT. Go to Google.com and type "don perata oakland," then scroll down. Now, the fourth result is a website called "Anybody But Perata for Mayor of Oakland." And the first blog post asks if The San Francisco Chronicle is promoting Don Perata "on the sly," because Perata's photo was right at the top of the article.

To be fair, the reason why I've used Oakland Mayoral Candidate Dr. Terrance Candell's photo on my last blogs is that he's not getting the coverage some of the other candidates have received.  Joe Tuman, who I personally think has a good shot at this thing, has media friends to help him, like at Channel 2 and at KPIX where he worked.   Someone has to serve as the leveler, and Iv'e worked to play that role.

Money does not equal internet exposure

The point is, even with all the money Perata's spent on staff and to some degree the Internet, this problem in online reputation management that's presented by the ease of finding a websire like Anybody But Perata for Mayor of Oakland is the result. Just because Don, Jean, and Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan raise money, don't think it's necessary to win a campaign. It's not, nor is the impact of print media as important because it's almost non-existent.

The rule of the Internet as the source of information today is matched by the use of Instant Runoff Voting to create a brand new playing field. There are no minor candidates here and anyone can beat the other person.

The key is in how often the candidate appears online. I say that to each and every one of the people running for Mayor of Oakland, but save for a few of them, it goes into one ear and out of the other and I just laugh.

The other candidates want to leave it to the media, and then try to influence the media. You know what I mean; like making a call or email to the Chronicle about "that Zennie" or something.

Think I don't know, huh.

The bottom line is this: as long as both the candidates and print media insist on living in the 20th Century and not the 21st Century, who wins the Oakland Mayor's Race will shock them.

Paying attention, Jean?  There are no minor candidates in Oakland.

Stay tuned.