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Not a nation divided, just a nation deafened

: I've been saying for sometime that we are not a nation divided -- that's just how media and politicians want to portray us because it fits their agendas. The truth is that we all have lives; they don't. So they spend their time shouting at us, deafening us. But they don't represent us.diablo2 free key generator

I'm not alone in this view. In this week's Time, Joe Klein says it's "only the blabocrats":

We are a divided nation, it is said. There is a cultural chasm between the red states and the blue, between the religious and the secular, between Michael Moore's America and Rush Limbaugh's. The "culture war" has become a pillar of the conventional wisdom. But is it real? Is it possible that the great partisan divide is a media-induced mirage, little more than an exaggerated case of squeaky-wheelism? There is plenty of evidence that the very real disputes pushed by political activists and chair-throwing media yakkers—call this the Anger-Industrial Complex—are being carelessly extrapolated to include a far less vehement populace. diablo2 free key generator

Take the Moore/Limbaugh divide. A new Annenberg poll shows that the two infotainers are little more than postmodern tribal leaders: an estimated 8% of Americans saw Fahrenheit 9/11 in July, and an estimated 7% listened to Limbaugh. Their tribes are hilariously antithetical on a range of issues—83% of Rushites support the way Bush is handling Iraq, 87% of Mooreists are opposed; 85% of Rushites support Bush's handling of the economy, and 82% of Mooreists don't. diablo2 free key generator

And yet, these extremist clumps throw disproportionate weight in the public square....diablo2 free key generator

Maybe we're just busy living our lives. A new book by the Stanford political scientist Morris Fiorina, Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America, argues that a closely divided nation isn't necessarily a deeply divided nation.

Amen. diablo2 free key generator

It's deceptive and destructive to insist that we are at each others' throats because it skews the public debate toward venomous trivia and away from matters that matter. And it sets a bad example for public discourse: When I talk about politics and issues with family and friends, we disagree, but we don't bulge veins and shout the way they do on TV. But on TV and too often on the Internet, the shouting is drowning out the reason. This fosters hatred. diablo2 free key generator

Look at the comments under the Tit for Tat post below: I -- evenhandedly, if I do say so myself -- said I didn't care about the efforts to find military gotchas about either Bush or Kerry -- because it doesn't affect (a) the future or (b) our lives. What ensues in the comments is a fair volume of venom spitting. So listen to yourselves, folks: You sound like a bad cable "talk" show. You're not arguing about matters that matter: I'd prefer to you see you go after each other -- or better yet, go after solutions -- on health care in an effort to find common ground for improvement. Or homeland security. Or stem-cell research. Or education. Or tax reform. Not this. All this blab produces nothing but bile. It's not productive. It's not helpful. It just stinks. diablo2 free key generator

Says Klein:

Scream journalism — Crossfire, Hannity and Colmes, the various "gangs" and "groups" of Washington blabocrats assaulting our senses — was always nauseating, but it was more understandable in a world where the most important issue was the definition of the word is. It was the only way to scare up an audience in those days. But this is a different world now. And we are being forced to examine the most serious, complicated sorts of issues—war and solvency—through an anachronistic, irresponsible political-media lens created for more trivial times.

Right. We have real issues in this election, real choices, real questions. But we're wasting time talking about this crap. Worse, we're falling into the media-political complex trap: We are believing our own PR that we really do hate each other. We don't. You know damned well that if you met any of the people you're shouting at, you'd end up having a civil disagreement over beers. diablo2 free key generator

This is not a call for us all to get along. The last thing I want to see is a group blog hug. Perish the thought!diablo2 free key generator

No, instead I'm merely arguing -- in line with Klein -- that most of us on most issues most of the time are not filled with division and hatred; that's just TV. Most of us are getting on with our lives. Most of us care about trying to do what's right. diablo2 free key generator

And so it is time to call media and politicians on their libelous lie about us, the people. We're not a nation divided. They are the divisive ones. I intend to keep calling them on it. diablo2 free key generator

The real division in the end is not red from blue or right from left. The real division will media from audience, politicians from constituents, the powerful from the people. That is the "us" vs. "them" at work here. diablo2 free key generator

: UPDATE: And also I'm not alone in the argument that we've had enough of presidential hatred.diablo2 free key generator

See Namoi Klein in The Nation -- The Nation! -- taking lefties to task for their politics of snark:

It's not that the President is dumb, which I already knew; it's that he makes us dumb.... You know the line: The White House has been hijacked by a shady gang of zealots who are either insane or stupid or both. Vote Kerry and return the country to sanity. diablo2 free key generator

But the zealots in Bush's White House are neither insane nor stupid nor particularly shady. Rather, they openly serve the interests of the corporations that put them in office with bloody-minded efficiency. Their boldness stems not from the fact that they are a new breed of zealot but that the old breed finds itself in a newly unconstrained political climate. diablo2 free key generator

We know this, yet there is something about George W. Bush's combination of ignorance, piety and swagger that triggers a condition in progressives I've come to think of as Bush Blindness. When it strikes, it causes us to lose sight of everything we know about politics, economics and history and to focus exclusively on the admittedly odd personalities of the people in the White House. Other side effects include delighting in psychologists' diagnoses of Bush's warped relationship with his father and brisk sales of Bush "dum gum"--$1.25.

It is as if we have turned over the body politic to a People magazine mindset -- the dark side of People magazine: It's all about personality. It's predicated on the belief that a single famous person actually matters. We might as well pick our winner on American Idol, the way this is going. diablo2 free key generator

But wait: The people, I have faith, are ignoring these fringe fits of feistiness. They're sitting back and asking what is best for the nation and themselves. And they will give their answer in November. All the rest is merely a tabloid nightmare. [via Daniel Radosh]diablo2 free key generator

: See also Radosh's sum-up of various reviews and views of Nicholson Baker's book about a would-be Bush assassin. My take -- not on the book, but on a review of it -- here. diablo2 free key generator

A nation undecided, not a nation divided

: I think the reason the JibJab animation of Bush v. Kerry singing "This Land is Your Land" has become such a hit and struck such a nerve is precisely because it doesn't take sides: It's quite balanced in its amusing disdain for the foibles of both candidates. That, I believe, represents the views of most Americans: We're each evenly divided trying to decide which we can bear better. diablo2 free key generator

On CNN tonight: How we've changed since 9/11

: I might be on CNN with Aaron Brown tonight (standing caveat: that can change) to talk about how we have changed since 9/11 because the 9/11 Commission report is being issued today (and because I was there). diablo2 free key generator

I think it's a great way to handle the story of the release of the 9/11 Commission report today: pulling back to get beyond the sniping and even the nitty-gritty lessons to examine what this all has meant to us as a nation.diablo2 free key generator

I'm telling you this so you can add in what you think in the comment. I'll start thinking out loud here at the same time. A start:diablo2 free key generator

: Fear: The other night, I went to a focus group and heard a woman say that since 9/11, she checks CNN constantly "to make sure there's not breaking news." That hit me hard: We're afraid. When something big happens, it's going to be bad. It could affect us personally. Let no one tell you that America thinks it's invicible (not that we ever truly did); we know our mortality now, we can measure our vulnerability and give it a color code.diablo2 free key generator

: Unity: I hope we have not squandered the unity that 9/11 afforded us; I fear we may have but I won't say it's too late to regain it. This is why I had such problems with the way the 9/11 Commission comported itself much of the time -- looking for blame, finding enemies within -- and that is why I certainly had a problem with Michael Moore and Fahrenheit 9/11, finding the enemy atop. This is about us vs. them and we are not the them, damnit. diablo2 free key generator

: Political shifts: On an individual level, I do believe that 9/11 grayed the blacks and whites of politics for many Americans. I certainly see that in blogs, where I find many kindred spirits. I was a liberal pacifist. Now I'm a liberal hawk. I was against Bush and still am quite unlikely to vote for him, yet I refuse to get caught up in the Mooreish conspiracy theories about the other side in politics. On a national level, I'm not so sure. We're still being portrayed as red-state-vs.-blue at every border. I've argued (on CNN, so I won't repeat myself) that we're really not a nation divided but a nation undecided. But this is all up for debate. diablo2 free key generator

: Anger: I'm certainly angrier, aren't you? When I hear the news yesterday that the bastards have captured more hostages and that the head of an American was found in one of their refrigerators, bile rises. It's all so damned senseless and uncivilized and criminal and, yes, evil. On one of the 9/11 anniversaries, I gave what could be argued was an unChristian sermon in my Congregational church saying that I could not forgive or forget. I just can't.diablo2 free key generator

: Family: We all hear people say this and I believe it in my own life and the lives of people around me: Family matters more since 9/11. I told you long ago that ever since that night, when I was lucky enough to return home, my children have said "I love you" whenever I leave them. They still do.diablo2 free key generator

: Priorities: We also all heard people say that this would change their priorities in life. Apart from some rich folks who were lucky enough to quit their jobs and go find roses to smell, I don't think 9/11 changed our individual priorities. Life still happens.diablo2 free key generator

: Patriotism: I never would have worn a flag on my lapel or my bumper. I do now. Bastards tried to kill me just because I am an American so I'll shout my Americanism.diablo2 free key generator

: Isolation: Are we more isolated in the world? Sure, we are. Some are trying to kill us, others say they hate us, others won't support us. And what is -- and what should be -- the American reponse? F' em. Or at least that's my response.diablo2 free key generator

: Health: My own health has suffered but that has been because of inhaling the dust of destruction. But because of that, I read stories about the many ways 9/11 had an impact on the health of Americans, from depression to sleep disorders. diablo2 free key generator

I have to run now. Will be back in a bit. But please do leave your thoughts in the comments -- thoughts, contributions, not arguments with each other, please. diablo2 free key generator

: UPDATE: Talking with the CNN producer just now, I was reminded of what Bill Clinton said when he introduced the Hunting of the President movie: that "in every hinge point in history we have a fight like we have now.... We will debate as we move to a new concensus about what it means to be an American in a 21st Century world." That is what is happening now: America is changed. The world is changed. We are all trying to figure out what that means and fight it out as part of that process. It's not over yet. We're still digesting the change.diablo2 free key generator

: In the comments, Terry Heaton says:

On the downside, I think our obsession with assigning blame has been heightened. It has translated into a self-serving acrimony that is close to being institutionalized — the likes of which I've never before seen in my life. Blame has its place in any afterthought, but what's happened since 9/11 goes way beyond that. Moreover, I think this has expanded to much wider scope, for we've somehow convinced ourselves that "shit happens" is an illusion, and that if we just manage things well enough, we'll all be safe. We don't trust anybody anymore, and that includes the people down the street, not just those who live in faraway caves.

He's right, I think: Part of the assumption of the 9/11 Commission (more on this soon) is that we coulda shoulda woulda stopped these attacks and that that's government's failure and thus government's fault. The truth is that we can't fully protect ourselves against the insane acts of evil fanatics and we must remember to blame them. diablo2 free key generator

: D Smith comments, perceptively, that we're looking at the past because we're afraid of looking at the future:

One thing I've seen, both in myself and in others at work, is that the whole thing is stressing us all out. We're more distracted, more emotional, more on edge. Many folks, myself included, sometimes have a hard time coping. Even those who are ignoring all this often seem to be doing it from a spirit of desperation. I think this is causing some health problems, physical and otherwise, although of course that's just my impression.diablo2 free key generator

I think part of why there is so much heat and noise about pre-9/11 is because we can't bear to look into the future. There is essentially zero debate on where we go from here (simplistic jingoing and diatribes do not constitute debate). Even the blogosphere is consumed with the past. Nobody knows what's next and we're all too scared to really contemplate it, no matter which side we're on.

: Len Tavernetti says that we are just coming to cope with the idea that we are the big kid on the block:

At the end of the Cold War we were left standing as the biggest kid on the block. We didn't want to be the biggest kid on the block and stooped our shoulders to blend in. On 9/11 a little twirp kicked us in the groin because we were the biggest kid on the block. Now we are standing erect, admitting to all that we are the biggest kid on the block and kicking back. As such we are no longer lovable as "one-of-the-gang." We are having to adjust to being the silently respected biggest guy on the block and foresake being lovable. This is difficult for us to accept.

: Andy says it made us grow up:

9/11 was an awakening to their own mortality for many boomers. We, the safe-coddled-smug-secure-whiney, have had our way for 50 years. The world revolved around us. We invented Sex, Drugs AND Rock-n-Roll. We thought we'd live forever. 9/11 showed that death comes by surprise. We were shown that the world does not revolve about us. That there are people, thoughts, and events that do not consider our pleasure.

: Syndey Carton shows that in the end, the changes are very personal:

As for me, I constantly watch the headlines now. I turn on the news in the morning to make sure my office building is still standing (I live in manhattan). Every time a plane flies over the City, I'm afraid it's going to crash into a building. I cannot believe that flights are allowed over Manhattan. I have trouble sleeping too. I am an ardent patriot and have flags everywhere (there's one in my briefcase that's ready to use at a moment's notice, I carry it like I'd carry a gun if the law allowed). I'm certain that the stress from the fear of another terrorist attack is slowly draining me, but I really can't do much about it.

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A nation undecided, not a nation divided

: I've been arguing for months, since the primaries (here, here, and here), that we are not a nation divided, we are a nation undecided.diablo2 free key generator

Finally -- finally -- I have a story to link to that agrees with that argument. The cover of this weekend's NY Times Week in Review by John Tierney says -- at last -- that this red v. blue war we're supposedly waging is a product of the wishes of politicians. He neglects to say that it is also the figment of the wishful imagination of journalists raring for a fight to cover.

Most voters are still centrists willing to consider a candidate from either party, but they rarely get the chance: It's become difficult for a centrist to be nominated for president or to Congress or the state legislature, said Morris P. Fiorina, a political scientist at Stanford and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.diablo2 free key generator

"If the two presidential candidates this year were John McCain and Joe Lieberman, you'd see a lot more crossover and less polarization," said Professor Fiorina, mentioning the moderate Republican and Democratic senators. He is the co-author, along with Samuel J. Abrams of Harvard and Jeremy C. Pope of Stanford, of the forthcoming book, "Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America."diablo2 free key generator

"The bulk of the American citizenry is somewhat in the position of the unfortunate citizens of some third-world countries who try to stay out of the cross-fire while Maoist guerrillas and right-wing death squads shoot at each other," the book concludes. "Reports of a culture war are mostly wishful thinking and useful fund-raising strategies on the part of culture-war guerrillas, abetted by a media driven by the need to make the dull and everyday appear exciting and unprecedented."diablo2 free key generator

The book presents evidence that voters in red and blue America are not far apart. Majorities in both places support stricter gun control as well as the death penalty; they strongly oppose giving blacks preference in hiring while also wanting the government to guarantee that blacks are treated fairly by employers. They're against outlawing abortion completely or allowing it under any circumstances, and their opinions on abortion have been fairly stable for three decades. Virtually identical majorities of Blues and Reds don't want a single party controlling the White House and Congress.

Right. We're Americans, not extremists.diablo2 free key generator

There's more. Paul DiMaggio, a sociologist at Princeton, says:

"The two big surprises in our research," Professor DiMaggio said, "were the increasing agreement between churchgoing evangelicals and mainline Protestants, even on abortion, and the lack of increasing polarization between African-Americans and whites. Evangelicals have become less doctrinaire and more liberal on issues like gender roles. African-Americans are showing more diversity in straying from the liberal line on issues like government programs that assist minorities."

Alan Wolfe of Boston College "called the culture war largely a product of intellectuals." He said that gay rights could have been a dividing line but that's not proving to be the case.

But now, he says, it will probably be a minor issue. diablo2 free key generator

Opinion on gay marriage and civil unions has fluctuated over the past year, but a Gallup poll last month showed increased support, with more than a third of Americans in favor of gay marriage and about half in favor of civil unions. The long-term trend has been to a great tolerance toward gays. The percentage of Americans favoring equal rights for homosexuals in employment has risen since 1977 by more than a third to about 80 percent today. diablo2 free key generator

Support for gay rights has become especially strong among young voters, which suggests that the trend will continue.diablo2 free key generator

"Gay rights could prove to be the issue that ends the culture war," Professor Wolfe said. "If gay marriage does not become a polarizing issue in 2004 - and it does not look like it will - there are no wedge issues left."

The article goes on to blather rather unhelpfully on possible causes and disagreement; that's what editors think these articles have to do. It's still a good and important and overdue piece.diablo2 free key generator

But there is still a big story to be reported and written here: Are we really a nation divided? And if not -- and I see evidence here that we are not -- then how did this become the accepted wisdom of media and politics? Who benefits from this chronic illusion of internal war? Who helped foster this myth? What questions did reporters and editors fail to ask? When we concentrate on disagreements in a democracy, are we painting democracy as a failure? But when we concentrate on the agreements in a democracy, don't we instead paint a picture of the shared values of the nation?diablo2 free key generator

And why aren't media reporting -- admiting -- today that we are a nation? Just that: A nation. diablo2 free key generator

We are America. Today, of all times -- as others attack us because we are American -- it is vital that we acknowledge our nationhood and define it, not out of patriotism or ethnicity (we have none) but as a matter of principle, the principle we are defending and fighting for. diablo2 free key generator

We are not a nation divided. Hell, we are not even a world divided. Most Americans, most people, are just people trying to get through a day and a life and do the decent thing and improve their future and avoid politics. It is a mistake -- it is a damned and dangerous lie -- to paint the extremists as normal, whether those extremists are of political or religious. diablo2 free key generator

We're not red v. blue. We're Americans. It's the world vs. America. It's Islamic nut jobs vs. America. diablo2 free key generator

There's the story that needs reporting.diablo2 free key generator

Undecided, not divided
: On the radio tonight, I heard that a third of voters decided their votes within the last four days. I'll say it again and keep saying it: We are not a nation divided, we are a nation undecided.
CNN hints that one of the successes of Dean in New Hampshire is a lowered reliance on backpacked outsiders invading the state.
Fox projects Kerry's victory at 8:16.
Could this end up being decided at the convention? When was the last time that happened? Will the networks regret de-emphasizing the Demo confab?diablo2 free key generator

We are not a nation divided.... We are a nation undecided

: A few posts in recent days have grappled with the contention of some that we are living in a more fragmented, some would say balkinized world -- and many blame the Internet for that.
Those who say that are wrong about the Internet, wrong about the natural state of the world in media and politics and marketing, wrong about the current state of American politics, wrong about about the cause for all this change, and essentially insulting to the intelligence and spirit of their fellow man and fundamentally cynical about democracy. Take that!diablo2 free key generator

See Jay Rosen's comment at Davos that the age of mass media is just that -- an age.
And today, Jack Balkin follows up on his eloquent refutal of Republic.com a few days ago by refuting a New York Times story that frets over fragmentation.
The Times says:

The Internet became the ultimate tool for finding like minds and blocking out others long before supporters of candidates began seeking one another out on Meetup.com. With online dating sites where searches can be tailored by age and income, e-mail forums for the most narrow band of subjects, bookmarked sites and even spam filters, the Web allows users to tailor the information they consume more than any other medium. Social scientists even have a term for it: cyberbalkanization.

And Balkin replies:

The article runs together two different kinds of democratic activities: One is organizing followers for a political campaign, where you want people of like minds to get together, the other is engaging in democratic discussion about public issues with people who may disagree (and disagree strongly) with you. These two activities are part of democracy, *but they are not the same activity.* Both are necessary, but it is often difficult to do both at the same time.

Exactly.
In fact, if these fearful critics read citizens' media, they would understand that it is incredibly open: You have to link to that with which you disagree so you can argue with it and by doing so, you send people to your opposition and absorb that opposition's viewpoint in what you write.
But candidate weblogs, as I've said often, are not citizens' media; they are political organizing tools and damned good ones.
Both are important tools in a democracy. Both serve different roles. Neither balkinizes. The organizing tools of the Internet get more citizens involved. The citizens' media tools enable more citizens to be heard than ever before. Together, they are healthy for democracy.diablo2 free key generator

Now as to fragmentation, I've said often that the real revolutionary invention of the last century was the remote control (added to the cable box and the VCR), for that gave the audience the freedom to select what it wanted to watch, not what three network executives wanted them to watch. This is how I put it a few days ago:

The remote control and cable killed mass media like a volcanic eruption; the Internet is the forest that grows in the ashes.

Given choice, the audience, of course, selects from it. That is the natural order of things in news, entertainment, media, products of any kind. And it works in all those areas; it serves the market -- that is to say, each of us -- better: I now get the news in which I'm interested from all kinds of new sources. I consume the entertainment that entertains me, not necessarily you. I buy products more customized to my needs. Given choice, of course we take it. That's not fragmentation. That's progress!diablo2 free key generator

There's just one area in which that does not completely work: elections.
For we can't all have the President -- or senator, or congressman, or mayor -- we want.
Somebody has to win.
In the end, we can't be fragmented, segmented, balkinized there; if we are to be a nation united, we have to end up selecting and supporting the winners.
Now there are those who say that we are terribly divided now. I say they are wrong. Here's how I put it in my Star-Ledger op-ed:

And the truth is: We are not all angry. Despite the way media and politicians treat us, we don't all live on the edges, in our red or blue states, facing each other across some new Mason-Dixon line of left vs. right.
We hear all the time how we are a nation divided. But we're not. We are a nation undecided.
Look at the large number of voters in Iowa who settled on whom to support just a week or even a day before the caucuses. They were looking for a leader to march in front of the positive wing of the party, to stand for something.

We are a smart and caring people in a system that works, and we want to hear various viewpoints and select the ones that fit us best and that give us the best chance of winning. That's politics. That's democracy. That works.
The Internet as well as cable are, in fact, doing a great job of providing us -- those who care -- with a tremendous new diversity of sources of information and viewpoints and opinions. This is incredibly healthy for the democracy.
The Internet and cable are not dividing us. They are informing us.
And we are absorbing this information and these viewpoints and deciding in our own sweet time whom to vote for, as is our right. That's what happened in Iowa. That is what is happening across America in what is now -- God bless America! -- a wide-open race.
No, the Internet is not dividing us. Politicians are. Media dinosaurs are.
Yes, if anyone is dividing us -- or trying to -- it is the politicians and pundits who want to think that we are two-dimensional creatures, easily swayed, uncaring, not bright, not informed, set in our ways, angry, and vindictive. How dare they? How awfully insulting of them. How terribly undemocratic. diablo2 free key generator

Yes, it's true that half of American didn't vote for George Bush and half did. But once he was in office, most Americans -- especially after 9/11 -- wanted to support our nation. Most don't want to see us lose in the war on terrorism or in Iraq. Most are patriotic, caring Americans with diverse opinions. Most aren't angry and divided. We can disagree and argue but we are still one nation. Democracy, after all, is a conversation. (To quote myself once more: Get off the bandwagon and get on the Cluetrain!)
All this is the surest sign not of division but of a democracy, working.diablo2 free key generator

The Internet is the best thing that could happen to democracy. This campaign is the proof.diablo2 free key generator

Op-ed
: The Star-Ledger asked me to write an op-ed about Dean and blogs post-Iowa (which seems like a month ago already, eh?). It's appearing in Sunday's paper. The text is below. I'll put up a link to the Ledger when it's up.
For those who've been reading this blog, much of it is a rehash meant for the nonbloggers still out there.
Click on "more" if you want to see it...diablo2 free key generator

STAR-LEDGER: Sunday, Jan. 25diablo2 free key generator

You've probably heard that Howard Dean built his amazing organization, war chest, and lead in the presidential campaign with the help of those magical, mystery things called "blogs." diablo2 free key generator

And you've certainly heard that Howard Dean has now slipped like a greased banana on ice. diablo2 free key generator

So did blogs hurt him or help him? diablo2 free key generator

The answer, as you'd expect, is yes and no. diablo2 free key generator

Blogs - short for "weblogs" - really aren't anything mysterious; they are merely web pages with updates and links. They serve many purposes. Some give us news (see Command-Post.org); some opinion (see KausFiles.com); some gossip (see Gawker.com); some even on-the-ground perspective from Iraq (see HealingIraq.com). Most blogs reach out into the Internet to share links and new perspectives; most are open and curious. diablo2 free key generator

But the Dean campaign used blogs differently. Dean's blog (at BlogForAmerica.com) was less about links and content and more about the comments shared there by supporters. Those comments and conversation - and get-togethers organized through MeetUp.com - knit the Dean community. diablo2 free key generator

Dean's blog built the organization. It mobilized the troops and motivated them to give big money. It brought together their enthusiasm and ideas (Dean bloggers suggested saving money by using volunteers' extra mobile-phone minutes). It made them feel involved. diablo2 free key generator

It has been said that the blog allowed Dean to build his own third-party organization to take over the Democratic party. It remains to be seen whether that was true. diablo2 free key generator

It also has been said that the blog turned the Dean campaign into a bottoms-up affair, able to hear the voice of the people. That we now know was wrong. diablo2 free key generator

This was not a two-way street. When it comes to the substance of the campaign - to policy and public stances - the Dean blog was necessarily one-way and even propagandistic. That is not criticism. That's just the reality of politics. We don't want a president who shifts with the winds of polls or blog posts. We want a president who stands on principle. So the campaign had to use its blog to impart its principles to its supporters. diablo2 free key generator

And the supporters, in turn, used the blog to defend those principles. Because the comments on the blog were open to all, Dean opponents - known as "trolls" - could come in and argue with Dean positions or just make cracks. The Dean supporters swarmed them like white cells on bacteria, making sure that the party line was not lost. Cleverly, they would vow to contribute more money every time a troll trolled; that silenced the snarks. diablo2 free key generator

The net result was that the Dean blog became insular and self-affirming, amplifying the opinions and attitudes already there. Did the din inside become so loud that it became difficult to hear the noise outside, where the voters were? diablo2 free key generator

Yes.diablo2 free key generator

Well then, did Dean's enthusiastic supporters egg him on to be stronger against the war, louder against his opponents, nastier to Bush? Did they make him lose in Iowa? diablo2 free key generator

No, it's not their fault. Dean is Dean. He is the boss and this was his loss. diablo2 free key generator

On my own weblog at Buzzmachine.com, days before the Iowa caucuses, I said that Dean was losing because he had become Dr. No, leader of the negative wing of the Democratic party. He made this into a campaign about anger, about venting, even revenge. diablo2 free key generator

But anger doesn't build the future. Venting doesn't create a leader. Revenge doesn't find a winner. All that does is make some people feel better, for awhile. diablo2 free key generator

And the truth is: We are not all angry. Despite the way media and politicians treat us, we don't all live on the edges, in our red or blue states, facing each other across some new Mason-Dixon line of left vs. right. diablo2 free key generator

We hear all the time how we are a nation divided. But we're not. We are a nation undecided. diablo2 free key generator

Look at the large number of voters in Iowa who settled on whom to support just a week or even a day before the caucuses. They were looking for a leader to march in front of the positive wing of the party, to stand for something. That is why so many rejected Dean. diablo2 free key generator

Weblogs - the citizens' weblogs outside the Dean tent - could have helped Dean avoid these pitfalls. For the true strength of weblogs is that their links bring you fresh information, diverse perspectives, and the real buzz of what the people are saying. diablo2 free key generator

That is why the first response of those in power - in politics or media or business - should not necessarily be to write weblogs but instead to just sit down and read them. For the first time in centuries, weblogs have given citizens the power of the platform and the printing press. It is their turn to speak, and it is time for the powerful to listen. diablo2 free key generator

In addition to using weblogs to organize his supporters - which his campaign did brilliantly - Dean should have used weblogs to listen to those who were not his supporters. If he had done that, he might have heard the drumbeats in Iowa in time to change. If it's not too late for him, he still can take away important lessons: not to be so harsh and negative, not to assume we're all living in a national funk, and certainly not to scream like a screech owl on speed in a concession speech. diablo2 free key generator

Weblogs can indeed be magical. They can empower the people. They can change the world. But they can't win - or lose - an election. diablo2 free key generator

Only candidates can do that.
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