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Yes Virginia, There Is A Blogosphere

Technology has a tendency to take root unevenly across the nation, and that is proving to be true with the political blogosphere, too. Political blogs are virtually unheard of in many states, but they are becoming a powerful force in others.

Virginia is an example of the latter, and The Virginian-Pilot has the proof in a laudatory editorial published yesterday. Here is an excerpt:

Last Friday, former Gov. Mark. R. Warner dropped by RaisingKaine.com to answer questions and drum up support for Jim Webb even as future gubernatorial hopeful Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling was preparing to give a speech in person to a bipartisan gathering of bloggers in Martinsville.

The former governor and future presidential candidate's "live-blogging" came a couple of days after Sen. George Allen's campaign started working with the proprietor of the state's most powerful conservative blog, VaConservative.com to hire a blogger and develop a blog "strategy" for the Republican's Senate campaign.

On Saturday, Attorney General Bob McDonnell addressed the same crowd of bloggers Bolling had the night before, followed by U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia, John Brownlee.

The newspaper noted that some people are not too excited by the prospect that the influence of political blogs in the state will continue to grow. They lament blogs' "penchant for fierce partisanship and fact-free opinionizing."

"But judging the blogosphere by its worst members is like judging The New York Times by Jayson Blair, a foolish oversimplification," the editorial concluded. "Over time, blogs will be judged by readers. Those who keep their facts straight and their analysis honest will thrive, while others will wither into obscurity. In the meantime, the more voices that are part of Virginia's debates, the better off we all are."

Posted by Danny | 09:23 AM

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