There's only so much crowing a Texan can take before wondering why everyone was up in arms over Virginia debating a law that Texas had already set into place. And I wasn't alone. Former Texas Observer journalist Abbey Rapoport asked this morning over at The Prospect "Where Was the Outrage Over Texas's Sonogram Law." The Texas Tribune's Emily Ramshaw also remarked at the different reactions to the law, bolstered by a Saturday Night Live skit and Virginia's battleground status.
It got me wondering if everyone just slept through the last session, so I turned to the internet in an effort to rationalize some of this with data. Below is a chart showing Google search insight over the last year. You can see that the red line, searches for "Texas sonogram," peaks somewhat during the legislative session and again when the bill was being debated in court. But the search trends and interest in the Texas Transvaginal Corridor were nowhere near as drastic as they are for Virginia's.

I decided to narrow down my focus to Texas to see what our best and brightest were really interested in during the last few months. So I threw in some other search terms that I thought might be more reflective of the general interests of everyday Texans.
Well, that was a bad idea.

If this is starting to depress you, take heart: only one in three Texans have access to and use the internet, according to a 2010 Census report. But actually, that's not very comforting either because it very well may be one of the reasons there was a considerable lack of hoo-rah surrounding the Texas Republican majority poking around in women's hoo-hahs.

We're the third lowest state in the nation in the number of individuals using the internet, beating out only Mississippi and West Virginia. Whereas nearly seventy five percent of Virginians have access to and use the internet, which is right around the national average, we're about ten points behind. There's a definite virality behind our political process these days and if more than half of all concerned citizens are not able to be a part of the process, then it's no wonder word isn't making it outside of the violet echochamber of Austin.

Obama offered a compromise yesterday that allows women who work for religious organizations to continue to receive access to contraception by requiring their health insurance providers to offer it for free. Of course that caused people to cry "Cop out!" and "Obama caved again!" all over the internet. I got a phone call from KVUE reporter Mark Wiggins asking if I'd go on camera to talk about the issue. The clip, and my thoughts on the matter, are below (transcript and video also here).

I'm not sure when "compromise" became a bad word in politics but we need to stop making it into one if we want to have any progress in our political system. If you value women's health and religious freedom, this is a win-win.

Raise your hand if you've heard of Pinterest.

Chances are, if you're a woman, your hand is up right now.

Chances are, if you're a man, you are either rolling your eyes because you've heard of it and are sick of hearing about it or you are a little confused.

Pinterest has exploded onto the scene as the new up-and-comer, particularly after it was announced that Pinterest is driving more traffic to websites than Google Plus, You Tube and LinkedIn combined. I've been watching the Pinterest frenzy with some interest, as it's one of the first self-expression networks that women dominated before men even knew what was happening.

Naturally, that has caused some (male) pundits to discount Pinterest's staying power.

Regardless of where you stand on whether or not Pinterest is the Next Big Thing, there's no doubt that it's A Big Thing Right Now which means it's time for all you politicians to climb on the bandwagon, rosin up your social skills and start putting it to use. Here are a few tips to get you started.


Use Pinterest to Inspire
It's an aspirational platform. People are pinning items that they may never buy like dream homes and dream vacations because people aspire to certain things. A popular type of pin lately has been inspirational quotes and affirmations to help motivate the pinner. Nothing goes better with politics than some inspiring rhetoric, so start creating graphics with quotes from your most recent speech or press release and pin them. Compelling words and phrases grow legs when they are surrounded by beautiful imagery.


Use Pinterest to Show
One reason politicians have had so much success with Twitter is because they can give insight to their constituency as to who they really are. Love him or hate him (okay, strongly dislike him), Rick Perry has carved out a comfortable space for himself on Twitter simply by tweeting photos of his dopey Labrador named Rory and Lucy, a Dachshund - two characters I thought were his kids until I saw this picture.
There are a lot of different ways photos on Pinterest can help politicians show what they are working on or interested in. One prominent Texas State Senator, Judith Zaffirini, posts Facebook status requests for new books to read. The Senator could create a Books board and start pinning covers and titles of books she's reading or has read. Not only does this help categorize her reads, but it could add another dimension to her already popular reading list while repins from others would propel her reach.


Use Pinterest to Create
The Pinterest community loves how to's. This is an interesting movement from within a self-expression network because most networks do not compel individuals to act. Facebook event RSVPs are notoriously way higher than actual turnout. That's definitely not the case with Pinterest. People are holding "pinning parties" where they get together and make something they saw on Pinterest. A community of people wanting to get their hands dirty and do something can be an ideal demographic for campaigns and political movements -- regardless if they're all women who also like dreaming about Louboutins and J. Crew. They're just as interested in worldly matters, just maybe not in the same way as previous generations. Think DIY yard signs, how to register to vote infographics and "I voted" buttons out of recycled materials. That's change, people.

Does this mean campaigns are going to have to get a little crafty? Yes, probably so. But that's what the world today is about: innovation at the speed of technology. To anyone bemoaning the good ol' days of robocalls and push cards: keep up.