The reason why I got into the blogs in the first place was because I saw Jeff Jarvis on C-SPAN with the name of his blog buzzmachine.com listed. He got me into the Iraqi blogs, Sully, TPM and dailykos. The rest, as they say, is history. Jeff is more a Hillary Dem and a liberal hawk, but I do think his commentary on blogs and other happenings on the internet are worthy of a peruse.
Here's his take on Edwards' use of the internet for his announcement:
http://www.buzzmachine.com/index.php/2006/12/28/john-edwards-on-youuuutuuuube/From a media perspective, Edwards got to put his message out there without reporters and gatekeepers. It didn’t get out far without them, though; this morning, he had fewer than 10,000 views on YouTube. I also wish there had been reporters there who’d pushed him on his answers. Instead, we get his platitudinous and oprahesque message: It’s about change — it’s always about change. “We have to accept responsibility. We have to change the country.” Why? How? He gets to put up his own “news” and interviews with himself: “I actually want the country to see who I am, who I truly am. . . . I’d rather be successful or unsuccessful based on who I really am not based on some plastic Ken doll you put up in front of audiences.” Then again, his video lives in a space of other Edwards moments: We see (Ken) John getting made up in he feels pretty, for example, and we see Wal-Mart counterattack.
Will this campaign still be run by broadcast and cable TV and advertising? I fear so. But just as blogs are now simply part of the media landscape — read and used by journalists, pundits, and politicians — so will the video of campaigns be part of the fabric of campaigns: the candidates’ own statements, their own embarrassing moments, and more.
I think the candidate who is able to seamlessly meld all these pieces of the media, be they the MSM, blogs, YouTube, and of course, in person, will be the most successful campaigner. I may be biased but I'm not all that impressed with what Edwards did media-wise. His dKos diary was contentless, his blog announced before he did, and there is a disjointedness between his internet stuff and the standard morning interview stuff. It may well be that his dailykos diary was where he truly blew it. That was the place where he could have put it all together. Still, Jeff has a point that we have no idea whether this is something revolutionary or overkill. Only time will tell.