Joho the Blog
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The opening panel of the Online Politics conference features Gerald Rafshoon, who was Carter's media guy, Doug Bailey, who is the publisher of the insider's Hotline newsletter, and Jacki Schechner, who is CNN's Internet reporter. The moderator is Chuck Todd, editor in chief of the Hotline.

Doug Bailey says that initially, TV ran roughshod over politics. "No one envisioned it as a tool for democracy." [NOTE: All quotes are in fact probably paraphrases. And I'm doing my usually spotty, unreliable reporting.] The question should be not just how we can use the Internet to win, but how we can broaden democracy.

Gerald Rafshoon points to the gigantic increase in how much campaigns spend on media: from $30M each in ($78M in 2006 dollars) the 1978 campaign. In the 2006 campaign, the combined total was $2.2B. "It isn't effective," and it's "generated because of greed on the part of the handlers." "You young people have to take the Internet and make it a force for reforming how people campaign." He talks about the ability of shooting spots for under $10K and posting them to the Internet. "There are so many ways the Internet could aid the political process."

Jacki Schechner says the rules are changing. "Television you watch passively...But on the Internet you have the opportunity to talk back."

Doug: New Internet ads will just be more spam.

Chuck: If you use humor, it will be spread around.

Doug: Video on demand is a powerful tool. You could hear your candidate on the issues any time you want. If you add some humor...

Chuck: What about podcasts?

Jacki: Podcast is a buzzword. We're listening to more entertainment podcasts than political ones. But viral video is great. And that site that told you which candidate suited you was great. That's interactive. That's engaging.

Doug: "In the age of TV, interactivity meant being able to turn you off...Think of the power now available to campaigns to engage you, and you to engage them." TV took the people's participation out of the process. Campaigns stopped spending money on door to door organization. The Internet can put the people back in.

Doug: The public has never been as uncertain about the future of the country as they are right now.

Q: I run a project called Video Voter. How important is entertainment when it comes to blogging?
A: (Jacki) I don't think political blogs are out to entertain. I think there is a market for honest information, but as with any medium, you have to keep it engaging.

Q: The Net's distribution isn't even, so how can it help democracy?
A: (Jacki) The Net isn't as inclusive as we hoped, but it's a start.

A: (Doug) The digital divide is serious.
A: (Gerald) It surfaced in the Dean campaign. Many participants in the Iowa caucuses weren't on line.

Q: What about polls?
A: (The Mystery Pollster) People talk about the commodization of information [I was about to post on that topic!], but commentary still counts.

Q: How do we attract minorities and women to actively participate? And how do we get the media to focus on issues that matter?
A: (Jacki) It's a challenge. I was hired in part to try to get some diversity into the stories. It's a testament to CNN that it's trying to get blog voices that need to be heard. I think CNN is very sincere about it.