Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Wired: How the Internet invented Howard Dean. Gary Wolf moves the story forward a bit by getting some face time with the candidate. Dean: "If I give a speech and the blog people don't like it, next time I change the speech." Meanwhile, Jay Rosen unpacks Frank Rich's NYT article on media/DC cluelessness about Dean. Rosen: "(T)here is a big story gathering. We as nation ought to understand it whole. Political journalists should be leading the way. The story: Asymetrical warfare comes home in the form of campaign 2004." 9:18:49 PM    comment []

540 miles, Greensboro to the in-laws' house; 8 hours 15 minutes. I-81 up the Shenandoah Valley. Beautiful, plus you miss Richmond, DC, Baltimore, and the Jersey Turnpike. Secret to rapid travel: send the kids up on a plane with mom (eliminates many pit stops). Worked on the phone. Glad to be here. 9:07:50 PM    comment []

Richard Burr and Erskine Bowles both have campaign websites. Early versions, to be sure -- Bowles says improvements are on the way and a new site will launch soon. Burr's site is mostly boilerplate, but it works as branding -- "conservative Republican business guy" comes thru loud and clear. The Bowles site feels a bit more personal, and he plays up his strong resume. Interesting that he leads with his leadership of the NC Rural Prosperity Task Force (which among other things pushed for high-speed Internet access for rural areas of the state) and only at the end gets to his role as Clinton's White House chief of staff. Both sites allow volunteers to sign up and to give money. No blogs, Meetup, etc. yet for either candidate. 10:25:00 AM    comment []