Applebee's America vs. Living Liberally

Update: I realize I should have given this a little more introduction. This podcast is about a book - Applebee's America - co-authored by a republican strategist, a democratic strategist, and a journalist for the AP. The book tackles the idea of "values consumers" and how corporations like Applebee's have exploited community values to lure in customers and create profit. It then extrapolates how the political parties can use these practices to reach voters. What it's really talking about isn't necessarily values in the Republican "Family Values" sense, but rather the idea that you need to talk to people where and how they live - in the communities and lifestyles in which they move and operate. This podcast looks at the book from the Republican perspective. (Take this description with a grain of salt. It's in the mail, but I've yet to read the book).

Hat tip to Kevin, who managed to send this to me even though he's vacationing in Turkey. Why he's reading GOP.com in Turkey is beyond me . . .

Applebee's America (10 minutes)

This podcast is complementary to Fred's podcast of a Robert Putnam speech (below), as well as a conversation the two of us are having about "Living Liberally," or organizing the progressive movement by lifestyle and community involvement rather than policy issues.

The podcast is sort of a mash-up of Putnam and Malcolm Gladwell. Its interesting to hear the conservative take on these new (or rather very old) social trends and organizing tactics. Especially since, in some quarters - voter datafile integration of "lifestyle" factors and organizing faith communities - they are way ahead of progressives.

Applebee's America (10 minutes)