John Edwards Courts the Tech Crowd in Seattle
Via Kevin at LexBlog: Presidential hopeful John Edwards spoke to the crowd at Gnomedex in Seattle. He got a standing ovation when he left the stage.
One Gnomedex attendee pointed out that the human voice so fundamental to blogs contrasts with the practiced messages delivered by many politicians. Edwards agreed, and acknowledged his own shortcomings in that regard, saying that he can often sense when he is slipping into that mode.
"The problem is that we're so trained and so conditioned over a long period of time that being normal and real and authentic requires you to shed that conditioning," Edwards said of politicians. "It is not an easy thing to do."
I think that's right. I'm sure there are exceptions, but the polticians whose blogs I've read sound like they are reciting their campaign speeches. There's no persona, no sense of human being inside. They are all too predictable, as if three handlers vetted their blogposts to make sure no potential voter would be offended before posting them.
Yet, I also don't think people want to go to politicians' blogs to read posts by staffers. Especially those who just track the candidate on the road with things like "Seattle was awesome. We had breakfast at the Donut Shop where 300 people turned out in chilly morning weather to hear X describe his plan for revamping health care."
I'd be more apt to read a candidate's blog if it revealed something about himself or herself besides policy statements and if it tried to engage, not just inform us.
Maybe John Edwards will be the one to break through on this. He does seem to have a real personality and a knack for telling stories -- probably because he was a trial lawyer. I give him credit for trying.
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