The elections in 2010 may seem a long way away, but most of the Republican candidates for Governor have already been working the campaign trail for months. At this point, activities like Lincoln Day dinners, community forums, dealing with the press and pressing the flesh with the average voter are everyday functions.
At this site, we've already spent some time looking at the websites and the social media presence (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, blogs, etc.) of each of the candidates. At least a couple of them seem to really get it, and are using these tools to their advantage to engage voters and build support. I'm pleased to see that at least when it comes to Tennessee politics, GOP politicians are making progress in using technology and social media effectively to reach voters.
These Republican gubernatorial candidates have also been reaching out in another new area - with the blogging community. Candidates across the country have recognized and taken advantage of the changing landscape of the news media, new media, and politics. Those candidates that are the most savvy realize that bloggers are not just reporters of the news. Bloggers are also news-makers and sources of news and opinion for the public at large and for news media organizations themselves, with the traditional news media often picking up stories from the blogging community.
The Tennessee ConserVOLiance, an alliance of right-of-center new media activists in Tennessee, is hosting a series of forums to introduce the candidates to bloggers and those bloggers to the candidates. Each meeting consists of the candidate speaking to the attendees for about half the meeting time and then answering questions for the remainder of the time. The candidates are on the record for the entire time, and field any and all questions posed. All of the candidates have been invited to participate. Zach Wamp began the forum in March, meeting three different times with bloggers in each of Tennessee's grand divisions - East, Middle, and West Tennessee. Bill Gibbons followed suit in April. Ron Ramsey is scheduled to do the same in June.
What happened to May? Well, that was expected to be the month for Bill Haslam to take a turn. At least a half dozen emails and as many phone calls have been placed to the Haslam campaign over the last 60 days to line up his forum dates. While the other candidates were eager to participate, to date the responses from the Haslam campaign have reportedly been non-committal. There seems to be a significant contrast between Mr. Haslam's feelings about new media and that of the other candidates.
From that, you can draw whatever conclusions you like.
I can too - because that's part of what new media does. You see, new media - bloggers - do a lot of things traditional news media does, but they often go further . That's by design; that's a transparent part of the goal of new media. They report on events like traditional news media; some express opinions like traditional media; some endorse candidates like traditional media does (either implicitly by their content and slant or explicitly through an editorial board). Many bloggers go even further, however - they're activists working for a cause, and to accomplish something. Traditional news media takes sides, but usually pretends it doesn't. New media takes sides too, but tells you what side it is taking, and then works hard to advance its stance.
This blog, and many others in the Tennessee ConserVOLiance, will report on the forums. This blog, and many others, will endorse a candidate after the forums end. This blog, finally, will actively work to educate people as to why they should vote for that candidate, and will work to generate those votes.
At this point, this "new media activist" is wondering if Bill Haslam is a guy that's ready to deal with the realities of the shifting media and political landscape... and therefore I'm wondering as well if Bill Haslam is the right guy for Tennessee. It's hard to tell when he's not talking to us.
UPDATE 1
A. C. Kleinheider links to this post, and checks with the Haslam campaign which "assures Post Politics that the Haslam campaign is very interested in meeting with the state conservative alternative media". Kleinheider goes on to quote Ken Marrero who reiterates the lukewarm response he's received from the Haslam campaign.
Michael Silence also picks up the story, quoting the email from Ken Marrero that started this conversation.
As of 9:25 this morning, Ken has sent me the following tweet: "I've been in touch with the Haslam campaign this AM. They've agreed to do the Forums in July." He's followed up with an email that says, "I'm excited to let you know that we will be hosting forums with Mayor Haslam in July in Jackson, Nashville and Knoxville. I will likely have those dates across the next week and will get them to you as soon as I do."
UPDATE 2
You should read the follow-up piece at Post Politics, which contains expanded comments from Ken Marrero about the resolution described above.
0 comments:
Post a Comment