Meet the Press had a little segment on presidential candidate blogs this week, with a bunch of people who don’t read or write blogs. The most interesting thing about it was their complete avoidance of political commentary/punditry blogs; it was as if the only blogs that exist are either diaries or fundraising ploys run by the paid staff of cynical politicians like Mad Howie.
There was one interesting question raised about the Internet and politics in general, and it went something like this: to attract attention on the Internet, you have to be extreme, and this has obviously worked for Mad Howie. But to get elected, you need to be moderate. So does “winning” on the Internet necessarily forecast losing the election? My guess is that it does.
Another issue about all this is whether foaming-at-the-mouth candidates are giving the Internet a bad name, and whether that bad name’s deserved. For months the Itologists have been claiming that using the Internet makes people more compassionate and caring, but all the evidence I’ve ever seen about this depersonalized medium points to just the opposite conclusion.
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