Miami Herald Logo

Miami Beach mayoral candidate makes a splash with Internet chat | Miami Herald

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Site Information
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Herald Store
    • RSS Feeds
    • Special Sections
    • Advertise
    • Advertise with Us
    • Media Kit
    • Mobile
    • Mobile Apps & eReaders
    • Newsletters
    • Social
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Google+
    • Instagram
    • YouTube

    • Sections
    • News
    • South Florida
    • Miami-Dade
    • Broward
    • Florida Keys
    • Florida
    • Politics
    • Weird News
    • Weather
    • National & World
    • Colombia
    • National
    • World
    • Americas
    • Cuba
    • Guantánamo
    • Haiti
    • Venezuela
    • Local Issues
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • In Depth
    • Issues & Ideas
    • Traffic
    • Sections
    • Sports
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Pro & College
    • Miami Dolphins
    • Miami Heat
    • Miami Marlins
    • Florida Panthers
    • College Sports
    • University of Miami
    • Florida International
    • University of Florida
    • Florida State University
    • More Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Auto Racing
    • Fighting
    • Golf
    • Horse Racing
    • Outdoors
    • Soccer
    • Tennis
    • Youth Sports
    • Other Sports
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • The Florida Influencer Series
    • Sections
    • Business
    • Business Monday
    • Banking
    • International Business
    • National Business
    • Personal Finance
    • Real Estate News
    • Small Business
    • Technology
    • Tourism & Cruises
    • Workplace
    • Business Plan Challenge
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Cindy Krischer Goodman
    • The Starting Gate
    • Work/Life Balancing Act
    • Movers
    • Sections
    • Living
    • Advice
    • Fashion
    • Food & Drink
    • Health & Fitness
    • Home & Garden
    • Pets
    • Recipes
    • Travel
    • Wine
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Dave Barry
    • Ana Veciana-Suarez
    • Flashback Miami
    • More Living
    • LGBTQ South Florida
    • Palette Magazine
    • Indulge Magazine
    • South Florida Album
    • Broward Album
    • Sections
    • Entertainment
    • Books
    • Comics
    • Games & Puzzles
    • Horoscopes
    • Movies
    • Music & Nightlife
    • People
    • Performing Arts
    • Restaurants
    • TV
    • Visual Arts
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Jose Lambiet
    • Lesley Abravanel
    • More Entertainment
    • Events Calendar
    • Miami.com
    • Contests & Promotions
    • Sections
    • All Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Op-Ed
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Jim Morin
    • Letters to the Editor
    • From Our Inbox
    • Speak Up
    • Submit a Letter
    • Meet the Editorial Board
    • Influencers Opinion
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Blog Directory
    • Columnist Directory
    • Andres Oppenheimer
    • Carl Hiaasen
    • Leonard Pitts Jr.
    • Fabiola Santiago
    • Obituaries
    • Obituaries in the News
    • Place an Obituary

    • Place an ad
    • All Classifieds
    • Announcements
    • Apartments
    • Auctions/Sales
    • Automotive
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Employment
    • Garage Sales
    • Legals
    • Merchandise
    • Obituaries
    • Pets
    • Public Notices
    • Real Estate
    • Services
  • Public Notices
  • Cars
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Real Estate
  • Mobile & Apps

  • el Nuevo Herald
  • Miami.com
  • Indulge

Politics

Miami Beach mayoral candidate makes a splash with Internet chat

By Christina Veiga

    ORDER REPRINT →

October 28, 2013 05:26 PM

The race to become Miami Beach’s next mayor has made it to the “front page of the Internet.”

Former comedian, pot enthusiast and serious Miami Beach mayoral candidate Steve Berke took to the social media site Reddit on Sunday night for one of the site’s popular Ask Me Anything sessions.

As of Monday afternoon, more than 3,000 users had left comments — both silly and serious — for Berke. The conversation had been voted on more than 60,000 times.

Interest in the discussion landed it on the site’s homepage Monday. Berke shared screen shots that show the post at one point was the No. 1 entry on Reddit.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

“This shows that the entire world is going to be watching this election,” Berke said. “You can’t buy going viral on Reddit. It just shows that the entire country sees my plight as a compelling story.”

Reddit has been described as “the front page of the Internet.” It is a community of Internet users, some anonymous, who vote on the importance of posts, pictures and news stories. The more “up” votes a post receives, the more prominence it is given on Reddit’s homepage. Posts can also be “down” voted, which pushes the post down in the ranks.

Basically, Reddit’s homepage is a snapshot of the most popular things people are reading about, watching and talking about online. Users are called Redditors.

The Ask Me Anything sessions, called AMAs for short, allow Reddit users to send in questions which the host answers. It’s like an online chat room, but more interactive.

While plenty of political figures have participated in AMAs, they’re usually pols with a national reach. That a hometown mayor’s race would generate enough interest to land it on Reddit’s homepage is unusual. Then again, so is Berke’s campaign.

Known for his YouTube videos promoting the legalization of pot, the 32-year old Yale grad first ran for mayor in 2011 as a comedian. In that unsuccessful race, he downed shots of alcohol on camera and surrounded himself with models.

He came back in 2013 with a campaign free of punch lines — Berke says he’s retired from stand up — but now an MTV2 film crew is following him around. Berke says he is the subject of a documentary about the political process.

Berke says he runs an unconventional campaign to encourage voters who don’t typically make it to the polls, and inspire young people to get involved in politics.

His AMA session ran late Sunday night into the wee hours on Monday. After catching a bit of sleep, he was back on Monday.

Comments ranged from weird to encouraging to incredulous. They were sprinkled with profanity (including Berke’s own answers) and many Redditors have usernames that could never be printed in a newspaper.

“I’ve gotten voicemails, ‘I’m a Miami Beach voter. I saw your AMA on Reddit. You have my vote.’... I’ve gotten thousands of dollars in donations in the last few hours. I’ve sold dozens of t-shirts. I’ve had kids write to me saying I’ve inspired them to get involved in local politics,” Berke said.

Berke faces current Commissioner Michael Góngora and multi-millionaire Philip Levine in the race to be mayor. Early voting is already under way. The regular election is Nov. 5. A likely run-off would be held Nov. 19.

Related stories from Miami Herald

miami-dade

Dunn campaign workers: We were paid in cash

October 28, 2013 08:46 PM

  Comments  

Videos

Bernie Sanders set the agenda. But can he win on it?

Congress members tour Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Migrant Children

View More Video

Trending Stories

Patriots owner Robert Kraft is among the hundreds charged in Florida sex traffic sting

February 22, 2019 12:23 PM

Trump threatens to deport Venezuelan military officials’ families that have fled to Miami

February 22, 2019 07:21 PM

It’s about to get easier for legal immigrants in Miami to get their papers. Faster, too.

February 22, 2019 03:14 PM

Government preparing to be sued in 2023, when the Keys stop issuing building permits

February 23, 2019 07:00 AM

National Guard fires tear gas amid Venezuela border tension

February 23, 2019 03:17 PM

Read Next

The Latest: Avenatti: Notion victims are lying ‘outrageous’

People

The Latest: Avenatti: Notion victims are lying ‘outrageous’

The Associated Press

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 23, 2019 04:00 PM

Lawyer Michael Avenatti says it is "outrageous" that R. Kelly's attorney asserts that the four accusers are lying about being sexually abused by the R&B singer.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE POLITICS

R. Kelly ordered jailed on $1M bond at Chicago hearing

Latest News

R. Kelly ordered jailed on $1M bond at Chicago hearing

February 23, 2019 03:27 PM
Women take Catholic bishops to task at Vatican abuse summit

Nation & World

Women take Catholic bishops to task at Vatican abuse summit

February 23, 2019 02:19 PM
Train possibly taking Kim Jong Un to summit enters China

Business

Train possibly taking Kim Jong Un to summit enters China

February 23, 2019 09:57 AM
Government preparing to be sued in 2023, when the Keys stop issuing building permits

Florida Keys

Government preparing to be sued in 2023, when the Keys stop issuing building permits

February 23, 2019 07:00 AM
The Latest: Train possibly taking Kim to summit enters China

Nation & World

The Latest: Train possibly taking Kim to summit enters China

February 23, 2019 08:46 AM
Retired astronaut Mark Kelly kicking off Arizona Senate race

National Politics

Retired astronaut Mark Kelly kicking off Arizona Senate race

February 23, 2019 03:50 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Miami Herald App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Public Insight Network
  • Reader Panel
Advertising
  • Place a Classified
  • Media Kit
  • Commercial Printing
  • Public Notices
Copyright
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story