Andrew Hyde lives in Boulder, Colorado and travels frequently.

Be Political

I just changed my avatar on Twitter to a Obama (see right).

Last week I was told by a strategist to never talk about politics on my blog, twitter or in public for that matter.

I couldn’t disagree more.

Here are my rules I stick by:

  1. Be Political.
    Get to know the issues.  Everyone should vote.  Everyone.  No Exceptions.  If you don’t like a candidate, race or initiative, feel free to leave it blank. Be part of the process, if it isn’t effecting you now, it could in the future, relying on you not paying attention.
  2. Respect Others.
    I have plenty of friends from all sides of the political spectrum.  I respect every one of them.   You should too.  There is something that makes them feel the way they feel, support the person they support.  That is a reality that you are not going to change short term.  Embrace it.
  3. Don’t Vote Party Line
    The biggest area I see the US democracy going wrong is party line voters, those who only vote for Democrats or Republicans no matter what.  “Holding your nose” and voting for a candidate you don’t believe in because you feel it is better for the party is destructive.
  4. Don’t Hide
    If you are a supporter of any candidate in the race, don’t hide it.  Embrace it.  That is how this process works.  Don’t feel like you need to be abrasive, or even argumentative.  If someone is overly forward with you about showing your support, remind them that more that one side is part of a democracy.
  5. Support Humor
    Satire and humor are one of the best things we can use to gauge the stories between the stories. 

Blogging changed how politics is done.  Twitter and FaceBook have changed it even more.

So whoever you support, be proud of it. If you don’t know who you are supporting yet, talk to your friends. 

This election serves up a pretty distinct choice, and mine is for Obama.  Ever since his DNC speach in 2004 I have been a fan, and supported him since the day he announced his candidacy.

  1. Leadership for Change
    Obama has lead an amazing campaign, staying positive and on the issues.  One of the best run campaigns I can remember.  He has an amazing ability to lead, and with a majority in the House and Senate, will have the opprotunity to do just that.
  2. Technology Platform
    I love his platform on this.  In his acceptance speech, he called out the need to help small businesses and startups, something near and dear to my heart.
  3. His Team
    His campaign team is amazing, with the best design, development and implementation of a people powered media strategy.  Look at his iPhone app as an example.
  4. Questionable Judgment by McCain
    Palin is a heart beat away from being the leader of the US and putting together sentences is a challenge.  No business is going to flourish with a leader like that.  Put that choice with an aging McCain and that leaves me nervous.

I will be participating in early voting in Colorado, and would love to put a big group together to vote.

All will be welcome.

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Andrew Hyde

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Comments

13 responses to “Be Political”

  1. Ryan Graves Avatar
    Ryan Graves

    Andrew – I agree with everything you say here about why someone should support their candidate and if not chosen should be active in the process to get to know the issues. I strongly agree with the fact that voting down party lines is terrible (lame). Personally, I believe that the ebb and flow of politics is best for the growth of our country. So, I to will be voting for Obama, as I believe in his change campaign. It is what is needed. Also, we'll be airing the interview you did with Dave Cohn on our startup spotlight site http://actionstalk.com ” target=”_blank”>http://actionstalk.com later this week. Great work on startup stuff and keep it up. Check out my blog if interested. http://ryanagraves.com ” target=”_blank”>http://ryanagraves.com Talk to you soon bro. Cheers.

  2. joshua strebel Avatar
    joshua strebel

    "Last week I was told by a strategist to never talk about politics on my blog, twitter or in public for that matter." That strategist = fail. Be genuine, be yourself, warts and all.. Being real will get everyone a lot farther than all the PC facade bs.

  3. Rob Blatt Avatar
    Rob Blatt

    I think that strategist was someone that views blogs as the wild west of content. Provided you're not an idiot, people won't treat you like one. It's the golden rule that people seem to forget when they pop on the internet.

  4. micah Avatar
    micah

    You know I dont vote. You know why. The primary reason being that it drives me nuts that people get all "world changing" every 3.5 years. Fuck being political. Be a world changer daily. Vote with your actions every day. (and by you, I dont mean you, I mean people in general). Do good every day. Make a small difference in someone's life TODAY, everyday. There will be a million posts just like this one. All with merit, all with heartful goodness behind it. But voting wont make the world a better place. Action will. Be active, fuck the political.

  5. Andrew Hyde Avatar
    Andrew Hyde

    Am checking out the blog, thanks and let's keep in touch.

  6. Tom Markiewicz Avatar
    Tom Markiewicz

    You make great points, but the problem with most people is that they don't follow your rule #2 – be respectful. I'm very interested in hearing thoughtful and interesting commentary and info from all sides of the political spectrum, but what I don't care for are attacks on candidates and parties. Additionally, most people are simply not open minded enough to listen to all sides even if they've made up their minds. This is where people start alienating others and the likely reason why the strategist said to avoid political commentary on your blog. For many, it may be safer to keep quiet. It's sad and I don't necessarily agree with it, but it's likely true.

  7. Brian Blood Avatar
    Brian Blood

    You mention Obama's wanting to "help small businesses and startups". I don't know anyone worth his salt in the small tech biz market who looks to the Federal Government to help them solve problems and get things done. Why is it a PLUS that he wants to "help" us? How about get out of our way and lower my taxes. The way tax policy works, there will be a lot of small biz owners who get hit by his "$250,000" line in the sand for tax cuts/hikes.

  8. Andrew Hyde Avatar
    Andrew Hyde

    1) Strong economic times help startups. I believe that with having a strong leadership front with a committed congress will lead to just that. 2) Having the people who have worked on his campaign, which is a startup that has done amazing things, on policy. They get tech, they get design, they get grassroots. 3) Most startups don't make the $250k, and those that do generally have expenses that cut their tax burden to be very minimal. And more… but those are the ones that stand out to me.

  9. Andrew Hyde Avatar
    Andrew Hyde

    I love being overly respectful and getting a weird look. One of the best things to do when talking politics.

  10. Andrew Hyde Avatar
    Andrew Hyde

    Agreed, but through the governing body is the quickest way to be world changing… or the most change we see is from the governing body.

  11. Andrew Hyde Avatar
    Andrew Hyde

    It actually was a guy I look up to, big blogger… very weird to me. Thinking about this more, it is all about what your blog is about. Gadgets? Might not want to talk politics, yourname.net? Talk it up.

  12. Andrew Hyde Avatar
    Andrew Hyde

    very true, great mantra there.

  13. Jared K. Avatar
    Jared K.

    "there will be a lot of small biz owners who get hit by his "$250,000" line in the sand for tax cuts/hikes" Need more data, please. "A lot" doesn't mean anything to me. Do you have numbers and sources to support that claim? I'm curious to know if it's true or not. Does the SBA keep track of that information? In my circle of small business owner friends, I know of *very* few (maybe less than 2%) who would be above that number. And those that are above it tend to be *well* above it, to where they would be in the 39% bracket anyway.

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