What Edwards and the bloggers might teach us

Submitted by bryan on Fri, 02/16/2007 - 7:17pm.

Ok, yes, there is irony in my posting this. But Salon has a very insightful article re: the Edwards campaign's missteps with two young, brash bloggers. I think the discussion is quite insightful for both the BlogPAC issue and for the Ohio 'sphere as a whole.

First a few choice quotes --

Maybe I'm the one who's naive, but the whole episode made me wonder: What does it mean if liberal bloggers aren't warriors for the truth, but rather for candidates? What does it mean for media, and what does it mean for politics?
...But others seem comfortable blurring the lines between independent commentary and partisan kingmaking. And while it's true that journalists have historically gone off to work for politicians, they don't keep their writing job when they go on the other payroll.

To me, that's the real issue -- accountability. Fine if Sirota and his ilk shill for a candidate. They just have to disclose the relationship (a lesson I learned the hard way).

But what happens if, oh, I don't know, Brown hires Armstrong, who calls his buddy Kos, who starts a fight with Hackett? Would BSB and AOG get added to the speed-dial? The lines are a little too blurry.

So, the real question is what a blog aspires to be -- an independent seeker of truth (the anti-MSM meme) or a counterpoint to the traditional party (the netroots kingmaker meme). It can't be both. And I would argue it can't be the later at all.

UPDATE: Jill at WLST has a thought-provoking post on the issue. It's a good read.

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Not just the blog

Submitted by Mark Adams on Fri, 02/16/2007 - 8:26pm.

But what does the blogger him/herself aspire to? And although I'm not necessarily disagreeing, what IS your argument against the "kingmaker" meme? As a conduit for information from the campaign to the public, and a place where the policy ideas can be thrashed out, a blog serves a decent purpose. In fact, through that process, not only are "truths" found and distributed, but a candidate's truthfulness can also be promoted. Am I missing something here?

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kingmaker

Submitted by bryan on Fri, 02/16/2007 - 8:31pm.

it's really about what the blogger/blog wants more than what the candidate wants in the kingmaker meme. it's the idea that the netroots is a movement unto itself, attempting to take back the party.

why don't i think that's possible? kingmakers like to get paid. they may not know it when they start, but learn soon enough. witness kos' support of a dlc candidate after railing against the dlc for a year. the difference -- money.

the problem, i think, is that bloggers begin to self-censor the closer they get to the party and to candidates -- and their money. in fact, it's the same ordeal that statehouse reporters face. if they write the real story, their sources dry up. if they don't, their credibility dries up.

that's why i think the kingmaker role is antithetical to the partisan audience of most blogs.

what does work, however, is the blog as executioner meme. taking out pols that stray too far from the party line.

there's an old saying that i'm gonna mangle here, but it holds -- 99% of the evil in the world is done for a paycheck...

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Okay, THAT makes sense.

Submitted by Mark Adams on Fri, 02/16/2007 - 11:46pm.

Not that you weren't making sense before. I think you could say that about any endeavor where opinions matter.

For instance, you're not going to be as vocal about how aweful the owner of a company is, when you get promoted to management. You won't be as openly critical of a teacher if you get asked to be their assistant.

Bloggers are just people, nothing all that special, which is what makes the open, democratic process of blogging very special indeed. Self-correcting even. It's not good or bad, it just IS.

And not just money influences things here. If you are associated with someone, your criticism (playing the role of executioner) will reflect baddly on you as well. Who actually says, I support the President BECAUSE he's a loser?

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thanks for putting this up, bryan

Submitted by redhorse on Sat, 02/17/2007 - 2:25am.

the Salong piece is good, makes one think

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Is this about the campaign blogger or the netroots liason?

Submitted by BruceMcF on Sat, 02/17/2007 - 1:51pm.

There may, however, be a tendency to blur Amanda and shakes together.

Shakespeare's Sister was hired to a position of netroots coordinator. She was not a "campaign blogger". So do campaigns that hire a netroots liason ... or in years to come, hire a liason and multiple assistant liasons ... refrain from considering bloggers for that post?

Over and above the "mistake" of running for President in a country where Big Media takes press released from radical right wing hate groups and follows their lead instead of telling the story of how deeply cynical they are ...

... one clear mistake I can find was in publicizing the hire of Amanda as blogmaster. After all, you don't publicize your hire of your database programmer.

Given the bottom-up approach that John Edwards has taken, in hosting an open blog for the use of his supporters, the JRE blogmaster position is of even less real significance than the position of blogger for, eg, the McCain campaign. The only people who really needed to be introduced to Amanda are the user community on the JRE08 supporters blog.

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