Wednesday, September 3, 2003

Calling Candidates to the Blogspace ...and bloggers to the polspace "Candidates are starting to understand that there's more to the blogosphere than another channel for political advertising," according to weblog evangelist Dave Winer. He is convinced the 2004 election campaign will take place more on the Web than on TV -- if candidates move beyond using the Web to raise money for TV ads and use it for two-way communication instead. To help move things along, Winer has posted a seven-point how-to guide for candidate-bloggers, and is actively encouraging folks to point to it. OK, here it is, in summary form, and with a few comments at the end. Dave says candidates should: 1. Run a real weblog... (Link to material both pro and con.) 2. Get a pied piper...  (Enlist an experienced blogger to get the blog rolling.) 3. Include independent bloggers...  (On the press bus, not just PR people and professional journalists.) 4. Publish advocacy guidelines... (Dave suggests that "the values of the Web" include a spirit of mutual respect and cooperation.) 5. Publish your schedule... (And whatever else can help inform the electorate.) 6. Choice in tools... (Dave says it's important for candidates to be "open to users of all platforms," meaning software platforms, not the political kind.) 7. Speak about democracy...  (Even spend campaign money to buy Internet presence for voters.) Details... Regarding #6, Howard Dean's campaign hq is offering supporters its own "DeanSpace" weblogging network, based on Drupal, an open source content management system. "The Dean campaign made a big mistake, imho, by getting into the software business," is the way Dave puts it, adding that it would be a mistake for candidates to exclude "leading weblog tools vendors" from participating in campaign sites. The Dean folks may have told Dave more than I read on DeanSpace, but after browsing around there a bit, I don't think its pitch will discourage people from trying other systems -- especially ones that are easier to use. Skimming down the blogroll on the official Dean "Blog for America" site today, there seems to be plenty of blogging software diversity, including these blog tools and hosts: http://blogspot.blogger.com/ http://www.blogstudio.com/ http://moveabletype.org/ http://www.weblogger.com/ (Manila) http://www.meetup.com/ ... and more. Double disclaimer: This site runs on Radio; the Harvard Law School weblogs use Manila. Dave started Userland Software, the company that makes both programs. I pay for Radio and was offered Harvard weblog space after putting in my two cents worth at a few meetings there. 2:45:10 PM

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