Thursday, August 02, 2007
Recruiting bloggers
The Guardian tells us that US presidential contenders including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are heading to Chicago for the biggest gathering of leftwing and anti-war bloggers. All eight Democratic contenders will be present for the second YearlyKos convention, which opens today, in contrast with last year when only Bill Richardson turned up.
Professor Darrell West, who specialises in politics and the mass media at Brown University, said: "I think television is still important but bloggers have gained tremendous influence over the last few years and are beginning to compete with the old media. The bloggers have great importance. They can send information instantaneously. They provide a form of accountability in the political system. The bloggers helped mobilise grassroots sentiments against Bush."
About 1,400 people have registered for the convention, including trade union leaders. In keeping with the spirit of the internet, the event was organised by a staff of just one and a half, helped by dozens of volunteers. Two hundred journalists have signed up to attend.
All the Democratic contenders have internet specialists on their teams. John Edwards, who is in third place behind Ms Clinton and Mr Obama, employs Joe Trippi, a Democratic campaign veteran who worked for Mr Dean. Under him, what was a traditional campaign has become web-driven in an attempt to break the dominance of Ms Clinton and Mr Obama on television and in print.
Will this trend catch on here? Don't hold your breath.
But Bush got re-elected!
We are back to that adage again, 'It's votes that count.'
: 6:21 AM : 3:49 PM<< Home
