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The presidential primaries of 2008 may seem like a galaxy far, far away. But according to an article in the Christian Science Monitor today, the residents of Iowa and New Hampshire may already be facing a threat to their privileged position in American politics from a scrappy group of underground rebels, known collectively as … bloggers.
The piece, headlined, “Could blogs trump stumping in Iowa,” by David D. Perlmutter and Emily Metzgar (an associate professor and a doctoral student at Louisiana State University, respectively), advances the radical notion that blogs could be replacing the traditional town halls and caucuses as the political testing grounds of the future.
“Conventional wisdom holds that the main geopolitical focus of any nomination campaign should be the first caucus state, Iowa, and the first primary state, New Hampshire,” they write. “Yet, if the blogosphere is a place, then it is the real ‘first in the nation’ testing ground.”
“Second, the Web in general and blogs in particular have perhaps upset a generation-old tradition of political campaigns,” notes the article. “Previously, those of us living outside of Iowa or New Hampshire were largely left out of the process. The blogosphere helps dissipate this geopolitical claustrophobia.” Along the way, Perlmutter and Metzgar pose some deep and trying questions that cut to the very core of the blogosphere:
-“Are blogs the new Iowa?”
-“Are blog postings new-tech campaign books or speeches?”
-“Are blog videos the same as TV ads?”
-“Are blogs virtual campaign rallies?”
-“Are blogs talk radio?”
We’ve thought about this long and hard, and here are our considered and carefully thought-out answers:
No, no, no, no and no.
The story does raise some other questions, however. For instance: Is there any story about blogs that American newspapers won’t publish? Are we really going to have to read stories like this for the next three years? And what the hell is “geopolitical claustrophobia”? (As opposed perhaps to “cyberspatial claustrophobia”?)
That said, we did see eye-to-eye with the authors on one crucial point.
“The initial response from most of us when we hear the words ‘presidential race’ almost exactly three years before election day 2008 is a groan of disbelief,” they write.
Exactly! So why are you giving us pointless, speculative stories about the presidential race almost exactly three years before election day 2008?
Felix Gillette writes about the media for The New York Observer.