Blogs
To those who do not read political blogs (not sure why I'm writing like I have any readers), this post will not be interesting. To those who do read political blogs, it will probably not be interesting either but at least you'll be able to follow along.
I read four "blogs" pretty regularly; Taegan Goddard's Political Wire (Which sounds like a porno movie title), New York City's The Politicker (be cause I love reading comments by City Council staff), the Wonkette (i think it's pretty obvious why I read the Wonkette), and the Daily Kos (many details below) The Political Wire is fantastic; it has become my one of my primary new source, even before CNN or the Sacramento Bee, but still right behind the Seattle Post Intellingencer. The Politicker is fun, too, but too nuanced and proud of itself. And the Wonkette, well I didn't want to do it this way, but Wonkette, I know we don't know each other that well, but I think it's time that we become husband and wife.
And of course, the Daily Kos. Its founder is Markos Moulitsas Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean Jacques Wamutombo Zuniga, but his name is too long and made up to pronounce, so he calls himself Kos. Since the folks who post at the Kos insist on creating nerdly nicknames for political notables, I will call him Daphne Zuniga, or just Daphne. Daphne is excrutiatingly self important, and thinks that because he has several million readers, he should be treated like Tom Brokaw. Hey, millions of people tune into Ryan Seacrest and Jerry Springer each week; Daph.
It's not Daphne that upsets me, although I am greatly entertained when he talks of holding off his endorsement of primary candidates in the upcoming 2006 races or the Presidential contest in 2008. Let's see, how did Governor Dean and Senator Edwards do with that all important Daphne endorsement in 2004? I'm sure Senator Kerry was just devastated when he found out that someone he had never heard of went with the other guy. But I don't blame Daphne, because this blog allows him to be a celebrity. He shows up CSPAN every once in a while, gets shoutouts from those hot Internet girls from CNN, his name gets mispronounced by various pundits, and political candidates beg at his doorstep (to join the growing ranks of Daphne-endorsed losers) This guy is living the capitalist American dream; create an idea, market it, ride the wave as long as you can, and make a boatload of money selling your book. I can imagine why his head has swelled.
Anyway, it's the readers that make me insane. Now, I've been around a lot of democratic activists, both on campaigns and in social settings, and they often can be invaluable. Democrats don't win campaigns unless we have volunteer armies, committed donors, et al. But everyone who has been involved in any campaign knows the kind of activist that I'm talking about. They stroll into the campaign office wearing 37 political buttons. They don't want to do any work. Is there any speech writing they can do? Where's the candidate today? Is there a rally they can go to? Can I have this button? Ooh, donuts. These folks want to talk about Halliburton, and impeaching President Bush, and how Prescott Bush was involved with the Nazis. But even these guys occasionally will pick up a phone or stuff an envelope or knock on a door, if just to waste time until the pizza arrives.
What angers me about these guys in blog form is their insistence that every statement they make is making a difference in the political process. Not so fast, Tom Paine. The fact that you are crowning Senator Feingold as the leader of the Democratic Party and the savior of the United States doesn't make it so. When you write a strongly worded rebuff to Senator Clinton insisting that she rethink her Iraq policy, do you really think that her staff runs into her office and says, "Senator Clinton, Armando has laid out a five point exit strategy for Iraq. Now, I know you've been speaking to a lot of generals, but...."
Further, I find hilarious the constant bashing of the DNC, DCCC and DSCC. All right, the party hasn't exactly done well since 1996, and it's hard to do worse than we did in 2002 and 2004, but is the answer to that to have amateurs running for office and running their campaigns? If the crime rate went up in Cleveland for a bunch of years in a row, does it really make sense to have a bunch of aging hippies join the police force? It's a great fantasy world these folks live in; every congressional seat needs to be challenged because we can win every seat. No we can not. We can't win 90% these seats. Pick your fights.
The blogosphere (that word makes me want to vomit) has done a lot of good in terms of fundraising and message delivery. I have given money to candidates I've read about online and considered working for candidates that I've read about online. But, can you guys get a hold on what your real impact is? Who are you reaching with these blogs? TALK TO VOTERS! Volunteer on a campaign, knock on a door, make a phone call. TALK TO VOTERS!
Oh, and I get the irony in me excoriating people for blogging while writing on a blog.
I read four "blogs" pretty regularly; Taegan Goddard's Political Wire (Which sounds like a porno movie title), New York City's The Politicker (be cause I love reading comments by City Council staff), the Wonkette (i think it's pretty obvious why I read the Wonkette), and the Daily Kos (many details below) The Political Wire is fantastic; it has become my one of my primary new source, even before CNN or the Sacramento Bee, but still right behind the Seattle Post Intellingencer. The Politicker is fun, too, but too nuanced and proud of itself. And the Wonkette, well I didn't want to do it this way, but Wonkette, I know we don't know each other that well, but I think it's time that we become husband and wife.
And of course, the Daily Kos. Its founder is Markos Moulitsas Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean Jacques Wamutombo Zuniga, but his name is too long and made up to pronounce, so he calls himself Kos. Since the folks who post at the Kos insist on creating nerdly nicknames for political notables, I will call him Daphne Zuniga, or just Daphne. Daphne is excrutiatingly self important, and thinks that because he has several million readers, he should be treated like Tom Brokaw. Hey, millions of people tune into Ryan Seacrest and Jerry Springer each week; Daph.
It's not Daphne that upsets me, although I am greatly entertained when he talks of holding off his endorsement of primary candidates in the upcoming 2006 races or the Presidential contest in 2008. Let's see, how did Governor Dean and Senator Edwards do with that all important Daphne endorsement in 2004? I'm sure Senator Kerry was just devastated when he found out that someone he had never heard of went with the other guy. But I don't blame Daphne, because this blog allows him to be a celebrity. He shows up CSPAN every once in a while, gets shoutouts from those hot Internet girls from CNN, his name gets mispronounced by various pundits, and political candidates beg at his doorstep (to join the growing ranks of Daphne-endorsed losers) This guy is living the capitalist American dream; create an idea, market it, ride the wave as long as you can, and make a boatload of money selling your book. I can imagine why his head has swelled.
Anyway, it's the readers that make me insane. Now, I've been around a lot of democratic activists, both on campaigns and in social settings, and they often can be invaluable. Democrats don't win campaigns unless we have volunteer armies, committed donors, et al. But everyone who has been involved in any campaign knows the kind of activist that I'm talking about. They stroll into the campaign office wearing 37 political buttons. They don't want to do any work. Is there any speech writing they can do? Where's the candidate today? Is there a rally they can go to? Can I have this button? Ooh, donuts. These folks want to talk about Halliburton, and impeaching President Bush, and how Prescott Bush was involved with the Nazis. But even these guys occasionally will pick up a phone or stuff an envelope or knock on a door, if just to waste time until the pizza arrives.
What angers me about these guys in blog form is their insistence that every statement they make is making a difference in the political process. Not so fast, Tom Paine. The fact that you are crowning Senator Feingold as the leader of the Democratic Party and the savior of the United States doesn't make it so. When you write a strongly worded rebuff to Senator Clinton insisting that she rethink her Iraq policy, do you really think that her staff runs into her office and says, "Senator Clinton, Armando has laid out a five point exit strategy for Iraq. Now, I know you've been speaking to a lot of generals, but...."
Further, I find hilarious the constant bashing of the DNC, DCCC and DSCC. All right, the party hasn't exactly done well since 1996, and it's hard to do worse than we did in 2002 and 2004, but is the answer to that to have amateurs running for office and running their campaigns? If the crime rate went up in Cleveland for a bunch of years in a row, does it really make sense to have a bunch of aging hippies join the police force? It's a great fantasy world these folks live in; every congressional seat needs to be challenged because we can win every seat. No we can not. We can't win 90% these seats. Pick your fights.
The blogosphere (that word makes me want to vomit) has done a lot of good in terms of fundraising and message delivery. I have given money to candidates I've read about online and considered working for candidates that I've read about online. But, can you guys get a hold on what your real impact is? Who are you reaching with these blogs? TALK TO VOTERS! Volunteer on a campaign, knock on a door, make a phone call. TALK TO VOTERS!
Oh, and I get the irony in me excoriating people for blogging while writing on a blog.
posted by quint at 2:46 PM
5 Comments:
Firsties!!!
w00t!! click my name. Support my husband's grassroots torture campaign.
i have readers???
I used to play football. Doesn't anybody care about that? Good-bye cruel world.
Oh my god, a Pepper Johnson reference! I'm in heaven.
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