And the Race Goes On

Today, former Republican front-runner Rudy Giuliani and Democratic candidate John Edwards dropped out of the race for president, leaving only four candidates with any reasonable chance of winning the election in November: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Mitt Romney. Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul, I do apologize for omitting you from my elite list, but let’s face it: your poll results have been looking rather bleak.

Not to disparage any candidates, but for the sake of expediency, let’s pretend for a moment that the primaries are over. Hillary Clinton and John McCain are the victors in their respective primaries. On the left side, we have a female, on the right, a male.

In a manner eerily similar to the presidential election in France last spring, we have a female who, for the first time United States history, is leading her party in a close race for the presidency. In France, Ségolène Royal, a Socialist, ran in the presidential election last year, opposite of Nicolas Sarkozy, a member of the Gaullist-conservative UMP party. Sarkozy was the ultimate winner, but only marginally; in the second and final round of the election, he won 53% of the votes, she, 46%.

Final results aside, Royal’s political presence in France spurred controversy comparable to the current goings-on in the United States. French critics grumbled over newspapers who referred to Royal by her first name, Ségolène—a similar predicament faced by Clinton in American newspapers.

Throughout recent decades, these two politically powerful females from two globally powerful democratic nations have made headlines. Never before in either France or the United States has a woman reached such a political summit as Clinton or Royal.

Whatever the results of the 2008 February primaries may be, the legacy left by powerful female political candidates is undeniably intriguing. Who knows what sort of implications this may have for the future of women in politics everywhere?

What makes a blog?

Blogging can have a profound effect on an array of public relations purposes. From crisis management to brand management, from press releases to getting press, blogging is a hotbed of communication action. Blogs are ubiquitous and convenient, and for now, they're here to stay.

However, its pervasive presence might be the blogging phenomena’s only downfall. According to Forbes.com, the number of blogs worldwide will increase from 22 million in 2005 to nearly 1 billion in 2010. The astronomical number of blogs poses a problem for any public relations initiative online. In order for a public relations blog to be successful, it must stand out among the millions of other blogs. The question is: how?

After reviewing numerous “how to blog” sites, I have narrowed down the suggestions to two key conclusions:

Forget the Fluff
According to Amber Simmons, bloggers should pass on the overused, clichéd terms in their entries and simplify their message as much as possible. A concise message is a powerful one. Less, in the blogging world at least, really is more.

Design with Style
Poor design choices can “cripple” a website, according to online copywriter Nick Usbourne. In the cutthroat field of public relations, stiff, unusable interface designs simply cannot compete with attractive, user-friendly blogs.

Of course, these suggestions represent only two foundations of a successful blog. A blog, especially one of public relations, requires frequent up keeping and rejuvenation. If neglected, it will fall into the online abyss of forgotten blogs, perhaps never to make an impact for your organization.

Welcome

I'm a senior at Southern Methodist University double-majoring in French and Corporate Communications. I am starting this blog for my Advanced Communication Skills class to try to learn the best practices in PR and communications. I am excited to update throughout the semester. Please feel free to leave feedback or comments!

Check out our class site at http://smuccpaclass.blogspot.com/.

Stay tuned!