PolicyByBlog

I have written two books that either explicitly or partially deal with war and the media: I don't like to just toss around the words "war" or "battle" indiscriminately where they don't apply. (See excellent discussion of this topic in Deborah Tannen's book on the "Argument Culture"

But I choose to call my book BLOGWARS because I felt the analogy is not strained. Most political bloggers I know take politics more seriously than do most politicians, political reporters, and pundits and political professionals I know: they care.

Sitting, as I did a few years ago, on the Board of the American Association of Political Consultants, getting to know many political workers, from media consultants to congressional staff, I perceived that although they care about issues and ideologies, most do not adhere to them fanatically. For example, Republican and Democratic political consultants, staffers and politicians will have friends across the fence or the chamber. Many view politics as a game or a business. But no rightblogger I know is pals with a leftblogger. I'm sure there are some ideologically driven political bloggers out there who vilify each other and then grab a brew together at the local pub, but I have never talked to them. For one thing, of course, cybercommunities do not tend to have cross-community mixers. There are plenty of incentives and opportunities for a Republican Congressional staffer and a Democratic party worker to have lunch in Washington, to play tennis, or even to marry: a rightblogger in Des Moines, Iowa and a leftblogger in Manchester, New Hampshire are confined largely to sniping at each other, sometimes viciously, online. That is not to say that dialogue does not exist. The political bloglands offer a marketplace of ideas, but we should keep in mind that the vendors in the stalls don't shake hands and go have drinks after a day of heated competition.

Hence this book. There are blog­wars out there: battles for who will hold offices of power, the resolution of vital issues, and over ideas to dominate the minds of the nation. The question of what effect blogs, bloggers, and blogging will have on politics, public affairs, public opinion, and policy-making is, then, one that will affect all of us, whether we blog or not.

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