We’ll be on radio
: Remember to turn on your radio Sunday night at 9 for Chris Lydon’s two-hour, live, call-in special Blogging of the President.
I’ll be on, talking as fast as I type. Other guests I know of so far include Andrew Sullivan (the only man known to party with Drudge and Cho — now that is metrosexual), Atrios (I wonder he’ll speak through a kazoo so no one will recognize his voice), Josh Marshall, Gary Hart (now identified as a blogger), Richard Reeves, Frank Rich, Kevin Phillips, Republican strategist Max Fose. Wow. Details on the show here. Chris has a list of stations carrying the show here and will also list details of streaming.
: UPDATE: Longer list of stations here.
Hey, where’s Jay Rosen, Clay Shirkey, David Weinberger, Doc Searls, Glenn Reynolds et. al?
What, the A-list bloggers not invited?
I now see that Ed Cone is included in the discussion, so it looks like I might tune in after all.
I think it will be necessary to show that the web-based support for a candidate does not necessarily produce a candidate who can garner popular support. Howard Dean is now the $40 million golem whose only chance now is to run as an independent which means an automatic Bush win.
The insular nature of niche groups creates a bad environment for grooming a candidate. Insider signals, secret handshakes, screams that only the kool aid drinkers can understand distance the candidate from the general public.
It’s also mistaken to believe that bloggers are any less pernicious than their journalistic counterparts. You’re already seeing blog posts talking about Edwards’ use of junk science to make his fortune in medical malpractice cases. What we’re left with is the very bland and predictable Kerry who is undergoing Dukakisization at this very moment. Bottom line: blogs have done more damage to the Democratic party than most are willing to admit.
Dan H – another New Yorker who knows better
Dan – Dean asked at the first debate how many of the dems would support the nominated candidate. He raised his hand first. If he goes independent that will come back to bite him in the rump. I do not think the Internet harmed the democratic party at all. If anything I think it highlighted a division within the party that the party did not come to terms with during the election year. People are speaking. Are our representatives listening?
DH,
We wanted to invite all those bloggers, but there’s not enough time. Chris is actually friends with Doc, David, Jay, and has interviewed Glenn. When we turn this into a weekly, we’ll be able to have more guests on.
KMK: So Dean is stuck with a $40 mil warchest that he can’t use. If he does struggle through the primaries and doesn’t quit, he still hurts the party. Highlighting divisions is not what I call being very productive. I candidate can’t arise from niches, he has to promise specifics that will box him in. When he was bloggin at Lessig’s site, people were wondering why he wasn’t giving his stance on copyright issues. A politician is better off building broader appeal in the beginning.
MattS: I’ll tune in, but I hope this isn’t going to be a one-sided lovefest for blogging because there’s no evidence that blogging has contributed anything positive to the democratic process compared to traditional journalism. If this is not a critical analysis of political blogging it will be a waste of airtime. I’ve heard too many “Let’s all learn about Web logs” pieces on NPR that are soooo superficial.
Considering bloggers write for free, you should call this series, “Truth or Narcissism.”
Dan H – Too busy making money to blog
Too bad it will not be broadcast in the Atlanta area. So once again I will have to turn to the web for my news.
I’ll be interested to see if Chris Lydon’s thinking has changed after my interview with him. It occurred Monday morning before the Iowa Caucuses sea change that evening.
(Click on my name below for the interview.)
Dan, in the spirit of blogger narcissism, let me quote from my newspaper column (for which I get paid) that runs tomorrow, concerning lessons from Iowa:
“The Internet is overrated as a campaign tool.”
“The Internet is an essential campaign tool.”
I would expect tomorrow’s radio program to take these as starting points.
i answered dan in more detail at my site.
http://radio.weblogs.com/0107946/2004/01/24.html#a1233
Here’s the crux of the problem:
“I’m still uncertain about who understands the new democracy, the new politics.”
(Weinberger points to this piece by David [End-to-end guy] Reed– http://www.satn.org/archive/2004_01_18_archive.html#107495364848573414 )
And I take “new” NOT to be mean “improved in a specific way,” but as in “undefined.” This election is an uncontrolled experiment by a Democratic candidate. No one knows where this is going or how to handle it. Dick Morris would go so far as to say that the Clintons have a hand in repressing it by producing negative news items about Dean. Reed takes some awfully biased swipes at everyone except Dean or Edwards. But I think it goes to show how this “experiment” is increasing division in the direction of the Democratic party.
DH,
We’re running a quip from Jay Rosen.
People are just smart enough to not be happily ignorant.
Virtue never stands alone. It is bound to have neighbors.
Great site! Keep it running!
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