Time’s “Campaigning on the Blogs” - Re: John Kerry

[kerrygoddess]

Time’s “Campaigning on the Blogs”
May 9th, 2006 @ 12:04 pm

Time Magazine has an article on political blogs and their use by politicians and candidates. The article notes that “the importance of political blogs is not new,” citing that “Howard Dean’s presidential campaign relied heavily on Internet supporters,” yet they fail to mention that likewise so did John Kerry’s campaign.

While much was said about the Dean blog during the early 2004 election cycle and after, the media never seemed to catch on to the netroots efforts behind the Kerry campaign blog. Likewise, bloggers like Matt Stoller mentioned in the Time article and the Daily Kos’ Markos Zuninga also seemed to turn a blind eye to the existence of Kerry’s netroots.

But, it did exist and those of us involved know full well the power of the blogosphere and our effect on the Kerry campaign. While Dean’s blog often spiraled out of control, the Kerry blog strove to stay on message and those of us involved, believe that staying on message, in itself made a world of difference during the campaign.

As a volunteer writer and moderator for the Kerry campaign during the primary and general election cycle, I watched the Kerry netroots team grow from a small community of committed supporters to well oiled machine that made certain that Kerry’s message not only got out to his netroots, but that the netroots concerns and questions also got back to his staff.

Time notes that “much of the activity” on the blogosphere has been on “the Democratic side, since pols on Capitol Hill see the blogs as a liberal media rival to conservative talk radio and potential 2008 candidates recognize left-wing blogs could prove a powerful force in the Democratic primaries.”

Matt Stoller, of MYDD, tells Time writer, Perry Bacon, Jr., “I don’t think we’re well-liked, necessarily.” And Bacon notes that “bloggers often complain, moreover, about being spoon-fed information they could just as easily get on a senator’s website.” Here in is where I differ with Stoller and other bloggers who make these complaints. Most Senate office send out press releases, speeches, etc., to their press lists which these days include bloggers, long before they update their websites with this information.

The liberal blogosphere can and does serve as a powerful tool to rival the mainstream media and it’s conservative slant through outlets like conservative talk radio, Fox and CNN - the Republican Noise Machine. Yet, in the day to day scope of the blogosphere, few liberal bloggers put out the information literally handed to them by Senate staffers, so still today, much of what our Democratic leaders do on a daily basis goes unnoticed by not just the media but also by the liberal blogosphere. How can we combat the noise machine if we’re so busy questioning whether our Democratic leaders are “being tough enough?”

MORE & LINKS - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=2921

[TayTay]

1. The response to the netroots here has been extraordinary

KG, you have had direct access to Sen. Kerry and to some of his staffers. There was that extraordinary breakthrough with the Senator, Mrs Heinz Kerry and a number of staff people in Boston last year that we are still working through. There will be interns from the netroots in the Senator's offices this summer. We have made a significant advance at the attempt to work with the Senator and 'his people.' This is amazing stuff. (And some of us have yet to get used to it. LOL!)

I think that when people are thinking about Kerry and the web they are still primarily crediting the Senator with that huge e-mail list. They are not thinking through the implications of that and the huge potential of it. The Senator recently used the names on that list to fill Faneuil Hall with real, not virtual, supporters in Boston and did the same for that speech last weekend at Grinnell College. There are fascinating implications for the future, particularly if we can get all sides to talk to each other.

Stay tuned. This is getting really interesting. It is not such a bad thing to fly under the radar and not reveal your hand too soon. There could be some advantages to it. Although, the media should be putting two and two together and realizing that the fundraising letters for the 'Fighting Dems' didn't produce more than $400,000 in two days from nothing. The media often can't see what is right in front of them.

[kerrygoddess]

2. You got that right

People are missing the big picture... but we like flying under the radar!

[karynnj]

3. But as Tay said that may be for the good

It may give us an advantage over any group of supporters who don't have this.

The fact that they absolutely missed how significant the Kerry blog is amazes me - and shows they weren't looking at it. I know that I would have for the most part missed at least 75% of the Kerry campaign if not for the blog. In addition to the blog itself - which made all the key people far more real - the list of media events and the links to online video was fantastic.

I don't know how many people were on that blog and how many people saw the campaign through them. (My husband for example wouldn't have turned CSPAN to see those Oct rallies. It also likely contributed to those of us who developed a severe new addiction - that made us feel we need to hear a billiant tall Senator from MA tell us what the country should do.

I looked at the early Dean site - and it might eventually have become as human as the Kerry blog - but it wasn't then. They also were more likely to try to prove Dean was best by simply insisting on it in multiple posts, rather than just telling stories that in time prove the point.

I assume that some of the candidates will see the value of a blog to provide a community for people who like their candidate. (at minimum, Edwards likely will) I know Clark has a website but it doesn't have the same feel. That the blog was useful is seen by the fact that people here created a very limited, weaker version - it's interesting that the Kerry group is the only one using it's group like this.