Tuesday, October 14, 2003

John Edwards says he will vote against Bush's $87 billion funding request for Iraq. Edwards says he supports the troops and recognizes our responsibility to rebuild the country, but that Bush must do three things before he gets the money: First, put forward a plan for the rebuilding and self-governing of Iraq Second, engage our allies in a serious way Third, assure the American people that the rebuilding of Iraq will not be exploited as a way to give insider sweetheart deals to Bush's friends That's right, he's still a Senator, he can actually put some muscle behind his words. Comments are welcome over at his new campaign weblog. 5:17:28 PM    comment []

The redesigned John Edwards campaign weblog is up, and it's a big step forward. Comments! Links! First-person posts from Elizabeth Edwards! It's downright bloggy.   The comment function sends you to a fresh page, with the item to be commented upon at the top, instead of displaying a simple pop-up window. I see advantages to this, but it lacks the immediacy of the comment box method.   Now the question is, what will the campaign do with this great new tool? Content is king. It's up to Edwards supporters to help provide it.   I've applied to appear on the blogroll, by the way -- I'm not a cheerleader, but I am a potential supporter, and I like to think I've done a little to further the evolution of this site so far. One test of Getting It is linking to sites that stray off the reservation. 11:09:11 AM    comment []

The death of weblogs is coming. The term "weblog," that is. Self-publishing on the web is just beginning. But the specialized word for it may not last long. I find I'm using "weblog" less and less when talking to non-bloggers. Even smart, informed people don't know the term, and it's just easier to say "Web journalism"  or "the Internet" or "my website." A liberating moment for me came when Dean staffer Matt Gross said last weekend that some large percentage of the visitors to the cutting-edge campaign blog don't know it's a blog. Too much focus on the uniqueness of the form is a limitiing factor. Too many definitions, specifics, and rules about what a weblog is or must be will smother the baby. Just write and post, the name for your activity will take care of itself. 8:48:03 AM    comment []

Todd (Monkeytime) Morman turned 40 yesterday, thereby clearing his blogger's block. Happy birthday to North Carolina's best political weblogger. He says sex got better after 30, and he can't wait to find out what gets better after 40. Sorry, Todd, the correct answer is...nothing. But in just a few more birthdays you do get that AARP card, which brings valuable discounts on a wide variety of goods and services. 8:31:09 AM    comment []

Mayoral candidate Bruce Ashley is challenging incumbent Keith Holliday to post his plans for the next two years on Ashley's own website. It's a nice PR move, just a few weeks late and limited by the following factors: --Holliday got roughly 3.5 votes for every vote Ashley got in last week's primary, making him look pretty much bulletproof and thus immune to such challenges. --If he did post on Ashley's site, Holliday would probably lead with something like, "You need to vote before you jump on me, Bruce," as this morning's N&R reports that Ashley failed to exercise his voting rights in the last few city elections. --Holliday's direction is already clear, and the voters just ratified it. --The barrier to guest-posting is too high. Holliday is invited to contact Ashley's webmasters and supply them with info. Ashley was too busy trying to commandeer the name of Greensboro 9/11 victim Sandy Bradshaw (he's suggested putting it on the City Council chambers, the Melvin Municipal building, and the new stadium) to set up a weblog. 8:19:53 AM    comment []