The WaPo Non-Endorsement

They call it a chilling effect.

That's the terminology in constitutional law. What influence, what change in behavior will the statute or decision have.

AWS was the pioneer in cloud computing, and is still the market leader. Yet under Trump, the government contract was given to Microsoft.

Bezos does not want to let that happen again.

Let me bring it closer to home... Anybody who has ever blown the whistle re sexual abuse in the music business has never worked again. They may have gotten a big check, they may have some minor job in a private office, but working for the big boys, and it's usually boys, that's history.

All of which is a good reason not to vote for Trump.

But none of these messages are reaching those not already converted.

So how do you change minds?

Trump going on Joe Rogan is a master stroke.

Joe Rogan has 14+ million listeners to each of his podcasts.

Think about that, Harris was on CNN the other day and reached 3.3!

You see everything today is about identity. Joe Rogan's podcast is not successful because of the guests, but because of the host. Ditto "Call Her Daddy." And this same paradigm explains why you can have a hit and be unable to sell tickets. And it's also a reason why Harris's campaign is challenged.

The last two cycles were about social media. But X has turned into a right wing cesspool and only oldsters who know who they're going to vote for are on Facebook and all the Democrats are doing is complaining. Is this any way to win an election?

Now the power is in podcasts.

To tell you the truth, I think Bruce Springsteen appearing at a Kamala rally hurts her more than helps her. The non working man working man is abhorred by those on the right. They see him as a left wing shill. The media is controlled by Springsteen fans. Kenny Chesney can sell out stadiums across the country, Bruce does not even go clean in every arena.

We're living in a changed world and all those in control of the narrative refuse to acknowledge this, because then they'd have to look at themselves and change course.

Seth Godin wrote a brilliant column this week:

"How to Avoid Strategy Myopia"

https://t.ly/2sThz

The route to future profits does not always go up, up, up! Adobe changed from a sales model to a subscription model and revenue went down before it went up.

"But polishing yesterday's work isn't useful if the world is in flux. When we focus on improving the efficiency of our current plan, we inevitably miss the opportunity to develop a new strategy in response to new conditions."

This is today's record business. Contracting to make Wall Street happy. Polaroid made Wall Street happy before it went out of business. Instant photography was a gigantic market until digital photography came along and killed it. The indies are eating the majors' lunch these days. How are they reacting? BY PUTTING OUT FEWER RECORDS!

And with less money, the indies are making more urgent recordings, nailing a feeling as opposed to reworking a song written by committee to fit a radio format that doesn't mean much anyway.

The WaPo is not the only paper that has refused to endorse a presidential candidate. The "Los Angeles Times" has taken the same route. The paper wanted to endorse Harris, but its owner said no. Because he sees pulling away from Harris and leaning towards Trump by the other tech titans, and that's how Patrick Soon-Shiong made his money, in medical tech, and he doesn't want to end up on the wrong side of the divide.

Elon Musk is talking to Putin! How powerful does that make Biden and Harris look? Not very.

Now is the time to let your freak flag fly, now is the time to be an individual, now is the time to own your identity. Joe Rogan may have been boosted by TV and the UFC, but Alexandra Cooper doesn't have this CV. She started at Barstool Sports and has risen to the top on her identity, her personality. That's a star, not someone who has a hit record and then tries to rip their audience off with perfume and overpriced merch.

And Elon Musk knows that controlling the narrative is everything. That's what he's got with X. Unlike the owners of the "New York Times," Musk is a mega-billionaire. Used to be publishers' power was in the ink, not their bank account. And more people are rooting for Musk than either the Yankees or the Dodgers. He's playing his own game. That's today's world, you invent the game, then you play it. This is why Trump is so successful. He's not playing the usual game, he's not playing the Democrats' game, and therefore he can't be beaten in his efforts. Every day there are articles in the news about Trump's heinous behavior. If anything, that EMBELLISHES his image. It's the opposite of Springsteen for Kamala. Springsteen is a shill adding his imprimatur to a traditional candidate. And sure, Trump is only for himself, but everybody knows it. What you see is what you get, unvarnished.

Trump controls the narrative. Because he refused to play the old game and made it all about him. How do you compete with this? By creating your own identity and establishing your own narrative. Instead, we were told by Democratic insiders that Biden was up to the game, when nothing of the sort was true. They were hiding him in a world where everybody is exposed all the time. Biden and his wonks were showing their age, they're still living in the last century.

There is a lot up for grabs in this election. But somehow, the Democrats and the "New York Times" have not done a good job of convincing people this is so. And therefore tech titans are hedging their bets, even publishing icons. They don't want to go down with the ship. And it's all in plain sight.

That's what Trump ushered in. Nothing is taboo anymore. If your handler says not to do something because it will offend people...chances are they're living in the past. You've got to lead, and if you're trying to appeal to everybody, you lose. I don't listen to Rogan, I've tried him out, he's not my thing, but that does not mean double digit millions are not tuning him in every day.

The politicians have become pawns. Trump wouldn't even have become president without the salesmanship of Mark Burnett.

And despite her insanity, Marjorie Taylor Greene keeps getting elected.

Good for Kamala for going on Howard and being on "Call Her Daddy" but the problem is Howard has left the bros behind, he's got a more upscale audience these days, more intellectual, to his credit. If you want to reach the bros, you've got to go into the lion's den, and be unafraid in doing so.

Everybody's so scared. Bezos, Soon-Shiong. This is where politicians can shine, because it's not about the money, it's about control of the narrative, policy, power.

But just like everything else in America politics is solely about the bucks today. Bezos and Soon-Shiong don't want to sacrifice any, don't want to risk any.

You know these people. The ones who won't take a chance, who won't lead.

Don't be afraid. Own your identity. Evidence it.

It's the only way to win.


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