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Archives for July 2016

Zignal Labs Charts Response to Hillary’s DNC Speech, Tammy Haddad Interviews Zingal’s Michael Venet

July 29, 2016 By WHC Insider

Haddad Media CEO Tammy Haddad caught up with Zignal Labs’ Michael Venet on Facebook Live, who demonstrated their famous smartboard, which charts social media mentions graphically. You can check out their conversation below.

Zignal Labs tracked millions of mentions on Twitter during this year’s RNC and DNC. According to Zignal’s Anthony York, Zignal “tracked about 6.4 million media mentions of the RNC, compared to more than 9.7 million mentions of the Democratic Convention,” making the DNC the drew much more interest online than the RNC.

Zignal created a chart that shows the most mentioned moments of the DNC:

DNCTotalIssues

They also calculated which DNC-related Tweets were the most popular:

Screen Shot 2016-07-28 at 8.49.15 PM

Filed Under: News Media Tagged With: DNC, Michael Venet, RNC, Tammy Haddad, Zignal Labs

DNC Day 2: Zignal Labs Measures Impact of Democratic Stars’ Speeches

July 27, 2016 By WHC Insider

The second night of the Democratic National Convention saw some of the Democratic Party’s heaviest hitters take the podium. Bill Clinton, Eric Holder, Madeleine Albright, Howard Dean, Barbara Boxer, Chuck Schumer, and Tom Harkin, were among the top billed speakers of the evening.

Zignal Labs’ Anthony York says that, “Zignal Labs tracked more than 1.9 million mentions of the Democratic gathering — more than any night of the Republican convention. Whether that translates into votes or momentum in the polls remains to be seen. If last night belonged to the current first lady, Tuesday was the night for the potential future first husband. Former President Bill Clinton was the most mentioned of Tuesday’s speakers.”

Zignal created an emoji chart to calculate the most used emoji in reference to Clinton’s speech:

DNCTuesdayEmojiCloud (1)

You can learn more about Zignal Labs and read their work with The Washington Post’s Daily 202 newsletter here.

Filed Under: News Media Tagged With: Bill Clinton, DNC, Zignal Labs

Volta Insider: Rachel Greenberg Reflects on DNC Day One

July 27, 2016 By Rachel Greenberg

Bill Clinton speaking at the DNC, Photo courtesy of Haddad Media

Bill Clinton speaking at the DNC, Photo courtesy of Haddad Media

Monday, July 25th was an exceptionally trying day for Democrats. After the media storm that followed the news that emails from top staffers in the DNC had been leaked, and the resignation of Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, things were off to a tumultuous start.

In the one-step-forward-two-steps-back relationship the Clinton campaign has with Bernie Sanders supporters, it is not surprising that some Americans don’t believe that the Democratic party is not deeply polarized. It is underestimated just how much Bernie Sanders has influenced not only the Democratic party platform, but also on the success of Hillary’s campaign. Throughout the primary season he pushed her to craft a more progressive agenda and in doing so changed the narrative of this election.

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Delegates on the floor of the convention hall, Photo courtesy Haddad Media

But in the larger picture, in the words of Donald Trump, the Republicans have a movement and in the words of Bernie Sanders, the Democrats have a revolution. The distinction between the words is telling, and speaks to the longevity of their respective party platforms. Movements come and go, but a revolution is something people seldom forget.  Regardless of who wins come November, either or both of these attempts to change establishment politics will challenge the current course of Washington.

You can check out more of my convention coverage here.

Filed Under: Volta Insider Tagged With: DNC, Rachel Greenberg, Volta Insider

Zignal Labs Breaks Down DNC Day One Speeches On Twitter

July 26, 2016 By WHC Insider

Zignal Labs, the data analytics firm that charts the social media response to political events and news, has come up with some fascinating ways to calculate the online reaction to the Democratic National Convention’s speeches.

According to Zignal’s Anthony York, “The opening of the Democrats’ convention in Philadelphia attracted more interest on social media than last week’s GOP convention. Zignal Labs tracked 2.4 million DNC mentions on Monday, compared to about 1.6 million mentions during the opening night of the GOP gathering in Cleveland.”

Zignal’s emoji-cloud charts captured which emjois were used most during First Lady Michelle Obama’s rousing primetime speech, which many called the highlight of Day One:

MichelleEmoji

Zignal also analyses the reach of particular twitter users and is capable of charting the reach of individual tweets. They found that Bernie Sanders’ convention tweet got 5 times more Twitter mentions than Hillary Clinton’s top tweet:

Screen Shot 2016-07-25 at 8.35.03 PM

You can learn more about Zignal Labs and read their work with The Washington Post’s Daily 202 newsletter here.

Filed Under: News Media Tagged With: DNC, Twitter, Zignal Labs

Masters in Politics: Reince Priebus Slams Debbie Wasserman Schultz for Email Flub

July 26, 2016 By WHC Insider

The hosts of Bloomberg Politics’ Masters in Politics podcast Tammy Haddad and Betsy Fischer Martin caught up with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who is in Southern Philadelphia this week to crash the Democrat’s big show with a converted boxing studio replete with “rigged” arcade games, to talk about the departure of Debbie Wasserman Schultz from her position as Democratic Party Chair.

Priebus admits that he worked well with Wasserman Schultz but doesn’t hesitate to condemn what many viewed as an intrusion into the outcome of the Democratic primary. “I think it was a fraud that they committed upon their own base. It’s a fraud that they committed to the Democratic voters and actually a fraud upon the American people.”

The RNC chair still believes an investigation is necessary for the Democrats to come out from under this scandal.  “It’s not what national parties are supposed to be doing. It should be an investigation as to who or what entity hacked into their emails”.

Priebus was quick to note that nothing similar happened under the RNC’s watch, essentially calling the ousted chairwoman’s emails a rookie mistake. “Number one, I don’t think that’s happened to us, number two, we weren’t doing things like that. I know our staff well, and number three, if someone had those views they wouldn’t be dumb enough to put it in an email. I’m kinda like a second Chief of Staff, the way I operate in the building, so I know those things didn’t happen.”

You can check out the full interview here.

 

Filed Under: Masters in Politics Tagged With: Debbie Wasserman Schultz, DNC, Masters in Politics, Reince Priebus

Volta Insider: Paul Manafort and Reince Priebus Storm the DNC

July 25, 2016 By Rachel Greenberg

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The Republicans have set up camp in enemy territory at a boxing arena in South Philadelphia where they will host a series of press conferences during the week of the DNC. Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager, Reince Priebus, Chairman of the RNC, and Sean Spicer, Chief Communications Director of the RNC spoke on the record and organized a brief Q&A for the audience. Responding to questions about the DNC WikiLeaks, claiming that the Trump campaign and the RNC will not have the same problem, and do not have any involvement. The theme of their setup was “Enough” complete with dice, cornhole, and other games all “rigged” for Hillary to win as well as a poster with a “setlist” of her scandals dating back to the 1980s.

You can check out more of my convention coverage here.

Filed Under: Volta Insider Tagged With: DNC, Paul Manafort, Rachel Greenberg, Reince Priebus, Volta Insider

Washington Insider: Sen. Chris Coons at the DNC

July 25, 2016 By WHC Insider

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WHC Insider and Bloomberg “Masters in Politics” co-host Tammy Haddad spoke with Sen. Chris Coons on his colleague in the Senate, Tim Kaine, who was picked as Secretary Hillary Clinton’s running mate. Sen. Coons also weighed in on the DNC email scandal which forced Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz to step down as Democratic National Committee Chair.

You can watch the full video here.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

EXCLUSIVE: Manafort and Priebus Deny Any Possibility Trump or RNC Hacked

July 25, 2016 By Rachel Greenberg

The Republicans have set up camp in enemy territory at a boxing arena in South Philadelphia where they will host a series of press conferences during the week of the DNC. Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager, Reince Priebus, Chairman of the RNC, and Sean Spicer, Chief Communications Director of the RNC spoke on the record and organized a brief Q&A for the audience. Responding to a question from Tammy Haddad, CEO of Haddad Media, Paul Manafort and Reince Priebus denied any possibility of the Trump campaign or the RNC being hacked.

The theme of their setup was “Enough” complete with dice, cornhole, and other games all “rigged” for Hillary to win as well as a poster with a “setlist” of her scandals dating back to the 1980s.

You can watch the full video here.

Filed Under: 2016 election, News, News Media, The White House, Washington Insider

Volta Insider: Rachel Greenberg Reflects on RNC 2016

July 24, 2016 By Rachel Greenberg

RNC Reflection (rachel)

When I landed in Cleveland last week, I had 14 pages left of Game Change.

I didn’t know what to expect, had never been to a convention before, and while the collective conjecture of a “total shitshow,” was amusing, it was not helpful. That prediction proved accurate for the first 48 hours, then escalated in the final two days, even before Ted Cruz took the stage Wednesday night.

It was mid-afternoon when a crowd assembled around the entrance of the Q, Cleveland, Ohio’s center of gravity during the RNC. I abandoned my laptop and armed myself with a camera, running outside to see what all the commotion was about. At first it was just the media, aiming their massive black cameras over each others heads and inching closer and closer to a supposed protesters. Then there was the cops, a – of them, yelling for the press to move back and some sort of liquid was sprayed, forcing those in front of me and behind me to press backwards without dropping their equipment. I ducked out of the way after the man in front of me stepped on my foot.

The crowd had grown at this point, but maintained a humble volume. There was no roaring chant, no clear message. I looked around, wondering what the point of this demonstration was. I stood on my toes, trying to read the signs placed in front of the entrance.

They read:
“REVOLUTION – NOTHING LESS.”
“AMERICA WAS NEVER GREAT.”

I heard whispers of an attempted flag burning. But where was the smoke?

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Protestors at the RNC, Photo courtesy of Haddad Media

Behind me a train of police swept by, escorting three men with three-tiered signs. Sporting phrases like “The Pope is the Antichrist!” On their tail was a much shorter man holding up a piece of canvas which had “End the War on Drugs” sprayed in red and black ink.

I stepped back to the sidewalk to try to get a clear shot of what was going on. The masses were evenly matched with police, who maintained all the composure of a statue. Patient but firm, they sought order in squads of 5 or 6. A loud crack tore a hole in the murmurs and whistles as one of the signs snapped and fell two feet from where I stood. I discarded the recovery of the asset for the sound of some SJWs who looked like they hadn’t showered in at least 5 days.

“Go home you nazi scum! Go home you nazi scum!” They cried.

At this point, I was just confused. The flag burners were communist and the evangelicals, however dramatic, were far from anti-semitic nationalists. I learned later that the lady who had attempted to burn the flag had accidentally set herself on fire. It had to be the most ineffective protest I had ever witnessed.

I also found that this convention celebrated an ineffective use of language. The speeches lacked clarity, having resembled poorly written high school essays in both accuracy and flow. It was as if the whole convention had adopted Trump’s staccato speech pattern and on-the-spectrum scream. The only speeches that didn’t fit into this category were those of his children, Tiffany, Don Jr., Eric, and Ivanka. His children strike me as closeted democrats, or maybe they’re just normal republicans. I might have too much faith in language and fail to understand the appeal of these “outsider” tactics aimed at the disillusioned. But is “dumpster fire” the kind of locution the American voter wants to hear from a potential president?

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Police outside of the Quicken Loans Arena, the site of the RNC, in Cleveland, Ohio, Photo courtesy of Haddad Media

In Niccolo Machiavelli’s book The Prince, he questions if it is better to be feared or loved.
“A prince should inspire fear in such a fashion that if he do not win love he may escape hate.” He writes.

I don’t think Donald Trump has read this book, and if Paul Manafort has, he certainly isn’t applying that principle to Trump’s campaign.

On Monday morning, I sat in on a Bloomberg breakfast hosted by Al Hunt, where 15 reporters sat around a table and asked Mr. Manafort about the week ahead. He talked circles around each question brilliantly. His plan followed a disregard for the numbers; their plan to gain the loyalty of the Republican base and bring in people who have never voted before does not seem realistic for the general election. Trump will sway almost no Bernie supporters, maybe a few independents, but millennials and college educated women still despise him.

They can paint Donald Trump as a savior in a dark, dark world, like the light at the end of the establishment-built tunnel, but a win for the Trump campaign just isn’t very likely.

When I landed back home in Washington two days ago, I was happy to find the White House was somehow still standing. And I resumed to add a copy of Double Down was sitting in my Amazon cart.

I guess this ineffective, confusing, “dumpster fire” of a world will just keep spinning, no matter what happens.

You can catch more of my reporting from the conventions for my podcast, Volta Insider here.

Filed Under: Volta Insider Tagged With: Donald Trump, Rachel Greenberg, RNC, Volta Insider

Mark Halperin Moderates The Main Event: Nicolle Wallace vs. David Plouffe at Uber RNC Lunch

July 24, 2016 By WHC Insider

RNC Bloomberg Politics and Uber host Lunch with Nicolle Wallace and David Plouffe

The campaign veterans debated and discussed the phenomenal success of Donald Trump’s candidacy and the challenges ahead. Niki Christoff, Uber’s head of federal affairs introduced the breakfast which also included an appearance by Mark McKinnon, producer and host of Showtime’s The Circus.

Guests included Mason Harrison and Steve Hilton of CrowdPac, fresh off his Brexit victory, pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson, Bloomberg Masters in Politics podcast co-host Betsy Fischer Martin, journalist Dave Wiegel, and media mavens Kevin Madden, Steve Clemons, Zeke Miller, Megan Murphy, Robin Sproul of ABC News, Ted Johnson of Variety, Polson Kanneth and Craig Gordon.

Tech was well represented by Erin Egan of Facebook, Susan Molinari of Google, Amber Cottle and Becky Tallent from Drop Box.

Filed Under: News Media Tagged With: Crowdpac, David Plouffe, Eric Egan, Nicolle Wallace, Niki Christoff, Susan Molinari

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About White House Correspondents Insider

Exploring “behind the scenes” of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

We track the White House Correspondents’ weekend and all the activities around it, from journalists and media companies to the White House and politicos.

Tammy Haddad is Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief of WHC Insider and CEO of Haddad Media.

White House Correspondents Insider is not affiliated with or approved by the White House Correspondents’ Association, which is a registered trademark of the WHCA.

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