I think this is an example of how JK will reach out as SFRC Chair

[Luftmensch067]

The Huffington Post, one of the fastest-growing independent political sites this year, is launching a World Affairs section.

The new channel shall include analysis from US foreign policy experts and bloggers worldwide. Contributors are expected to include Queen Noor of Jordan, John Kerry and Harvard professor Joseph Nye. Correspondents are expected to represent over 50 countries, and syndicated editorial content will also be featured.

There will always be haters and dolts, but I think JK will continue to gain recognition as one of our finest foreign policy minds as well as a 21st century politician/blogger who is redefining American political communication. I think he will find many new ways to engage in and guide our national debate.

Oops! link here!

[karynnj]

1. That is nice

It is interesting that he is by far the most willing of the DC politicians to partipate on the blogs - and I think you are right. There are few people, politicians or pundits, who have written things that immediately seem common sense and right. An example was the op-ed he wrote on Lebanon - which has always seemed to me to demonstrate what we lost in 2004. So, many chances were wasted in the middle east.

[Muttocracy]

2. good - I bet that will get more readers than SFRC hearings get listeners :) nt

[karynnj]

3. I think you are completely right - on DU, it has often been you and a few other Biden people joining

us. It is true that if there are important hearings on important issues - they will be seen on cable and more people will see them. (The hearings in both SFRC and Armed Services that Petraeous appeared at got significant viewing.) Kerry has spoken of hearings to go after an international solution to Cayman Island like tax shelters. Though the details will be tedious, the idea that the wealthy avoid taxes offends everyone's sense of basic fairness. The hearings themselves may have less resonance, than a Kerry blog blasting the corruption and unfairness and defining simply the solution could reach people. (This is a real non- demagoguery progressive issue - actually fighting with a realistic chance of changing something that is wrong. Kerry is the one who really has fought these issues - not people like Edwards, who simply spoke of wanting to do so)

It can be interesting as it will be an independent, honest voice speaking directly to people. Watching various Kerry speeches and Q&As, especially at colleges, what has always been striking is how often he steps back to explain how we got to where we are or needed background information to understand the issue as the preface to what he then advocates for. (He would have been an outstanding professor if he weren't over qualified and needed to help right wrongs.) He is also remarkably open to hearing comments of others.

These qualities, plus his prominence, could make him a leader in creating a model for how officials can communicate in the changing media. Though the traditional speaking behind the scenes with serious people in the media will still likely be the dominant way ideas get sold, the traditional media is cutting back - often losing some of their most valuable elements as they downsize and the blogs have become far more important.

This Sunday the NYT magazine had an article on the impact of digital media. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/magazine/07wwln-mediu... ) Many comments were interesting - and it is understood that she has a vested interest against the changes in media, but it was also clear that she was missing the more serious stuff available. During the primaries, there were very detailed blogs that analyzed the process that awarded delegates in various states that were more detailed and more accurate than anything I could find in the NYT. I still have not read anything on the potential of high speed rail that comes close to Beachmom's diary or many other diaries on blogs. She wrote that "5 page investigative reports" aren't there, but in fact they are - in fact, they often start with a link to a "5 page investigative report", then give other information that provides additional insight - often including links to primary sources, like a Senate or House hearing video or transcript. This is before considering the advantage of it being interactive - where even more insight and information is posted in the comments.

The multi-media aspect of the digital media alone gives it a major advantage. This Saturday, every major MSM outlet had an article on President - elect Obama's Saturday radio address. All reported the basic elements pretty accurately - a talk is easy to cover. The blogs, though included descriptions - but they also linked to Obama actually giving the talk.

[Muttocracy]

4. you know what made me sad about the big Petraeus hearings?

I mean the one with Crocker that got so much attention last spring. Part of the reason they got so much attention was that HRC and Obama were there. They got attention for asking the same sorts of questions others had been asking for a long time. They both did a great job with framing questions and followup, but I guess I'm just a small-c-conservative when it comes to appreciating more experienced folks in government (for which I get snapped at on DU). But at least the celebrity factor got people watching I guess.

Maybe Obama, Kerry, and other can make government policy more interesting to people. We'll see if it lasts past this election cycle, but it might.

I thought the hearings held a few days before that were more informative and blunt. Hearing William Odum and other retired generals, and Nir Rosen and other journalists and folks who've been on the ground in Iraq was more interesting to me.