'08ers And The Blogs
Aspiring presidential candidates are dipping their pinkies into the blogosphere. Real blogging is hard. It requires the candidate's staff to accept some measure of unpredictability and to relinquish message control. Many '08 hopefuls have therefore opted for the option of calling a list of press releases a "blog," which will not endear them to purists.
The most active potential candidate is Sen. John Edwards, whose post 11/04 outreach to bloggers included a private home-cooked meal at his Georgetown manse. That means Edwards knows the biggest secret to obtaining cred in the blog world: treat like them the media they aspire to be and give them access. Edwards is wont to post pronouncements to his site before they appear elsewhere; his "I was wrong" op-ed in the Washington Post was previewed on the blog. Edwards' site contains original editorial content almost every day, although there are quite a few "open threads." Elizabeth Edwards lurks through the comments section and has been known to correspond with posters. Sen. John Kerry has a robust site but no blog.
Ret. Gen. Wes Clark, whose presidential campaign was a weird amalgam of establishment anti-Dean angst and grassroots, web-based passion, personally writes nearly every day on his "wesblog". His most recent: "Ensure Fair Play on Armed Forces Radio." A lot of Clark's content is original, and much of it is proactive, based on his own ideas and thoughts. Along with Edwards and IA Gov. Tom Vilsack, Clark has guest-posted to Josh Marshall's TPM Cafe site. A side note: Clark regularly scores high presidential preference polls conducted by major Dem bloggers, perhaps an artifact of netroots support in '04. UPDATE: Several e-mailers beg me to mention the comments section of Clark's site, which is quite active. [MARC AMBINDER]
The Dems "it" candidate of the moment, VA Gov. Mark Warner has the beginnings of a blog; only two posts since 11/10, however, and none of them earthshattering. Warner's introductory post attracted 49 comments, including a post from "jordan wells" who "can't wait to dedicate all I can to get Mark Warner elected" and a welcome someone who calls him or herself WarnerClark08.
Sen. Bill Frist has been using his blog to solicit feedback from readers about immigration, the Iraq war, and taxes; posts number generally just one a day, and many are taken from the e-mails that Frist sends to his PAC e-mail list. The language of the VOLPAC web staff mimics the boss's cadence: short, clipped sentences. With periods after clauses. For emphases. ("Democrats on the record on WMD. Lengthy look. Very interesting.") Take note: VOLPAC does not censor negative comments. One reader bemoaned the GOP's Iraq war strategy. "Democrats are re-writing history while the Republican Senate helps them write our obituaries...."
Kudos to Frist and VolPAC for keeping the comments open.
Not to define "blog" too narrowly, but wethinks a daily posting or press release in a shell with the word "blog" on it does not quite a blog make. (See, for example, Sen Joe Biden's Unite Our States "blog and Sen. Evan Bayh's All America PAC "blog"; and even Newt Gingrich's "blog")
BTW: Sen. John McCain's Straight Talk America PAC has few interactive elements; it exists mostly to promote the Senator's book tour and travel calendar. Fans can order straight talk tee-shirts in both red and blue. PAC Exec. Dir. Craig Goldman says there are no plans for a blog -- yet.
The other potential candidates have web presences to varying degrees, ranging from a single, unofficial "draft" site for Gov. Mitt Romney to Rep. Tom Tancredo's Team America PAC activist toolsets to a variety of offerings from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, including her official campaign site, her PAC site, her Senate office, and plenty of fans and haters.
For a guy annointed by Sean Hannity and National Journal "Insiders" as the presumed GOP frontrunner, Sen. George Allen (R-VA) has a meager web presence and no blog.
General Clark has a great blogosphere presence, thanks to his many loyal and dedicated supporters who think he's got what it takes to lead this country to a better future. Wes Clark has got more real-world leadership experience than any of the career politicians running in 2008 and that's what makes us trust and respect him.
Thanks for the mention of Clark's blog, but what you've neglected to mention is that Wes Clark maintains one of the most active internet COMMUNITIES..... not just a 'blog'.
Currently, enrollment is over 1000 at CCN (since re-enrollment began in September). In addition, the Clark Community sponsored a 3 day conference this summer in Little Rock with workshops emphasizing grassroots activism and gearing up to help Democratic candidates in 06. Some of the participants came from as far away as Australia, Belgium and Taiwan. The turnout was so enthusiastic, additional breakout sessions and larger venues were required.
Clark encourages and expects member of CCN to be more than key-board warriors. He expects them to get out and work to promote Democratic values.
You are right for being skeptical about some potential candidates 'blogs'. Entries from some of these candidates are often as exciting as press releases. If you want to gauge effectiveness, see what these 'candidates for 08' and their supporters actually DO with their 'blogs'. You could start by 'enrolling' and asking posters what they do.
Come back and let us know what you find out.
Mark Sanford:
sanfordblog.blogspot.com
Heartlandpac.org has a community blog and everyone from Mark warner, to Tom Vilsack have posted there.
Look, Bayh's blog isn't perfect, but to call it not a real blog???? WTF? They've been posting since April, often its original content. I hardly ever see press-release style material there. It has comments. It hardly meets your cryptic little definition of what a non-blog is.
Same with Newt. Newt's blog has been active since December of last year. It's seems to be pretty standard "real blog" fare.
Now if you mean, to say that a "real blog" is one where the public official posts there often, then you should say that there is a group of blogs where the "candidate" posts and there are a group where they don't rather than smearing decent blogs that do a good job of interacting with netizens.
TexasKat -- much respect for CCN. It truly is the best blog out there by far. Of course, the hotline geniuses would fail to recognize it as such.
I'm just amazed at how blogging went from a kind of guerilla movement just begging for attention to a must-have part of a campaign Web site in less than an election cycle.
The Revolution wasn't televised, and now it seems over.
I post regularly on Wes Clark's blog as well as on a few others. However, you don't do him justice when you summarize his internet presence--even though I am glad you noticed that he posts regularly on his blog and obviously writes his own stuff.
Additionally, however, for people who do not particularly like blogs or as another outlet for those who do, there are numerous Clark Yahoo E-mail groups. These are transitional internet mechanisims that proved to be exceedingly useful in getting people actually out there working on things like organizing meetings, block-walking, attending visibility events, attending house parties, writing letters to the editor etc. I belong to several of these Clark Yahoo groups; traffic is so high on some of them that I have to back up email and then delete everything very frequently.
And the extensive network of Clark Yahoo email groups were and still are turned to the advantage of all Democratic races, including for Kerry after Clark dropped out, and including many state and local races.
When you talk about Clark grassroots you are talking about a still-vibrant set of activist choices: blogging, email, fundraising, meetings, book clubs, volunteer activities, seminars and so forth. And nearly all of it, including the vital hands-on, get-out-and-talk-to-people part of it is organized and scheduled via the internet: both via email and blogs.
Senator Feingold has also posted on MyDD and Daily Kos and regularly comes in second to Clark in polls of MyDD and Daily Kos posters.
Joe Biden had a post on MyDD that went over very very poorly.
Thanks for recognizing Frist's blog...I have been surprised by it...they seem to do a decent job...dems are way better at blogging...but Frist tries...if you look a little more...you will notice he comments on people's comments...and I hear actively reads comments
as for george allen...no suprise his handlers haven't let him blog...if we wanted commentary on football we would visit espn...
Mike Huckabee blog: www.mikehuckabeepresident2008.blogspot.com
BSR
Hi, I'm the Jordan Wells you quoted in your section on Warner's blog.
You mention Warner only having two posts. However the PAC's website and blog was only released on the 14th, making 4 posts in the last 4 days.
I truly am excited about the '08 campaign (as you pointed out with my comment). I'm a 15 year old high school student and 2008 is the first election for which I'm eligible to vote. I'm excited to campaign and participate in the political process. I'm very happy to have a candidate like Mark Warner, whos demonstrated leadership in Virginia. As a youth, securing the economy for the future is important to me. Warner's excellent job with the Virginia budget is a perfect example of what this country needs at the federal level.
Sure, I left a corny blog comment, but I am a real person.
Excellent writeup. Thank you. I covered this post over at Politics & Technology.
Kari Chisholm, President, Mandate Media
Hotline should be the first to help inform viewers about the difference between a 2008 hopeful with their own blog and a political action committee with is hopeful their efforts to draft their candidate will become a reality. That is why Americansforrice.com is the only political action committee promoting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for president in 2008. Each and every dollar donated in the past year has been used to buy radio ads in Iowa and then TV ads in New Hampshire and Iowa. We are authorized by the FEC to raise the funds for the promotion of our vision, and for the past year, we have been flying and driving from state to state across the nation. Hotline has been an excellent source to find the latest Condi Buzz, whether by reference to a news item in Houston, or New York, or even Iowa. Chuck Todd has been one of the best reporters of what I call ?Adventures with Team Condi.? Our TV ad which played for the first time on the air was September 27, on Commander in Chief. It was a $4000 ad heard literally around the world, and Team Condi fielded hundreds of calls for interviews with radio, TV, and newspapers. In fact, our New Hampshire state chair Shari Demers took the day off from work on Sept. 28 to handle all the calls. Next, our donated funds were used to buy 2 weeks of ads on WOI-ABC TV in Des Moines, Iowa, including Commander in Chief on October 18, just before the Iowa Repubilcan state dinner on October 22. So, today, we are one year old as the best and only political action committee promoting Secretary Rice. Our website is not a blog, we are a worldwide communication center with archives stored for viewing, a comment board for discussions, and campaign items like Tshirts, polo shirts, and other Condi Gear to offer as a thank you in return for donations. Team Condi is a grassroots effort, financed by our own hard work and money from our own pockets to pay for airline tickets, hotel rooms, and petrol for my Mini Cooper buzzing across the nation. Americansforrice.com has come a long way in only 1 year, and we will be making a major splash in the political pool in February 2006 as one of the key sponsors for the Conservative Political Action Conference. There will be a booth to offer information, Condi gear in return for donations, and a reception.
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