Bloggers and Politics

John Edwards has chosen to announce his candidacy on YouTube, and Paul Kaputzka has covered it for NewTeeVee, part of Om Malik’s blog. Because of my advanced age and non-technical background, I’m careful which blogs I comment on, for fear of being considered a little old lady with a cane. But if it’s one place where I’m experienced, it’s politics, so here goes.I can’t let my friend Scoble, one of the most honest and open journalists on the planet, get excoriated for leaving his wife Maryam and son Patrick over Christmas vacation to go to New Orleans’ Ninth Ward,, Iowa, and New Hampshire — not exactly top winter vacation destinations.This is ridiculous. I am as pissed at reporters who are in the pocket of politicians as anyone, but just because someone rides on a campaign plane does not put them in anyone’s pocket. For Edwards, who strikes me as an earnest man, this is a way to reach out to new constituencies who don’t vote (young people) and should. For Scoble, it’s a way to document how social media is influencing politics. It wouldn’t matter who the candidate is.