Blogging For President 2008

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a good post on Think Progress that detailed all the presidential hopefuls’ web campaigns to date.  As you can see, some of those who’ve thrown their hat in the ring are embracing the power of blogs more than others (current as of Jan 20):

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS)

– Presidential announcement on web

Former Gov. Jim Gilmore (R-VA)

– No known official website

Former Gov. Rudy Giuliani (R-NY)

– Exploratory committee website, no major interactive online presence

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA)

– PAC website

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

– Exploratory committee website, no major interactive online presence

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)

– No known official website

UPDATE: Paul does have a very basic website.

Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA)

– Exploratory committee website, no major interactive online presence

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO)

– Basic website, no major interactive online presence

Former Gov. Tommy Thompson (R-WI)

– Basic website, no major interactive online presence

Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE)

– Blog

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY)

– Exploratory committee announcement made on web
– Will host live online video chats
– Blog coming soon

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT)

– Blog
– Flickr feed
– MySpace page
– Facebook page
– YouTube feed

Sen. John Edwards (D-NC)

– Blog
– Fickr feed
– MySpace page
– Facebook page
– YouTube feed

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)

– Video blog
– Members can post comments, upload video, and chat with each other

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)

– Exploratory committee announcement made on web
– DailyKos diary

Former Gov. Tom Vilsack (D-IA)

– MySpace page
– Facebook page
– YouTube feed
– Linkedln site
– Daily Kos diary
– MyDD diary
– Online listening tour

I think it’s smart for these candidates to embrace the power of the internet to help get the message out there and provide a simple way to interact with constituents.  There are drawbacks, however, as the practice can leave them vulnerable to a new type of political dynamic:  Blog warfare.  One must be very careful to monitor what gets posted on their site, who’s posting it, and why.  The more sites one uses, the greater the vulnerability.  It’s a double-edged sword.  A great example of how the blog can be used against the candidate popped up today on the hot air (complete with a very, um, corny video by Michelle Malkin*).  It appears that Michelle and others have dug up some dirt on John Edwards’ new blogmaster, Amanda Marcotte. 

I’ll expect to see a lot more of this kind of thing as we get closer to ’08.  It will be interesting to see what kind of online battles take place between the netroots and warbloggers of the world, and how it will ultimately effect the race for president.  This is just the beginning.

*Normally, I actually enjoy Malkin’s ‘Vent”, but today this burger was served up with some extra cheese.

Update:  Malkin’s performance is now on youtube:

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