Jim Risch, Larry LaRocco and the blogosphere
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A few months back, Lt. Gov. Jim Risch called me because he'd heard I'd written about him on my blog.
Actually, I had made tongue-in-cheek mention of Risch's appearance in The Onion; the satirical news site had quoted Risch explaining the Legislature's utterly fictional (and rather amusing) decision to make English the only language it knows.
Looking to allay Risch's concerns, I offered to e-mail Risch a link to the blog and The Onion article, so he could see everything in the spirit delivered. Risch told me, in essence, that he doesn't do e-mail.
So I can't say I'm surprised that we've had a little clash of cultures in the 2008 U.S. Senate race between Risch and blog- and Net-savvy Democrat Larry LaRocco.
I won't restate the argument Dan Popkey style="text-decoration:underline;"> made in his Sunday column: Risch is taking a risk by leaving the blogosphere and its fund-raising potential to LaRocco. That's certainly possible. To use a tortured football metaphor, Risch seems content to use the GOP ball-control offense of traditional fund-raising and campaigning. Can the spread offense strategy of Internet campaigning put LaRocco in a better position to spring an upset?
We'll see. But the clash of cultures is more basic.
As a relatively new but quickly converted blogger, it hasn't taken me long to see the potential of this new form of community journalism. Much more immediate, much more interactive. I've learned a lot from readers just in the few months I've been writing this blog; I expect to learn much more in the future.
Let's be candid: Newspapers are moving into the blogosphere because it strengthens our paper's Web sites and enhances our appeal to Net readers — the key to our industry's future. Blogging is good business, and I offer no apologies for that.
It's also a component of good journalism, because our readers can easily challenge us, correct us and criticize us — all in real time. I can see blogging making us all into smarter journalists.
By avoiding the Internet, Risch misses out on more than a few good laughs courtesy of The Onion. He misses out on a way to interact with the people he hopes to represent in the Senate.
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Interaction.
I keep hearing George Bush saying that he doesn't make policy based on the polls. The polls, however, directly express the will and the opinion of the people. The message that we are REALLY being given is that the will and the opinion of the people are not even a factor in the decisions of those with power in this country.
By expressing his disconnect, Jim Risch is simply telling us that he is already prepared to move up in our government.
Our elections have all the importance of student body elections in junior high school. They give us all something to do as we elect people who promise us a lot and then never listen to us again.
The problem with polls...
is that regardless of how the respondants answer, regardless of the true results of the poll, those who report the findings of the poll can twist them to their own needs.
Heres a funny but simple way to illustrate my point.
Two people run a foot race. Person A wins, Person B loses.
Truthful reporting would state the facts that Person A won, but by changing the way the facts are reported we could easily say that:
Person B came in second place while Person A came in next to last.
The same thing has been said, but the wording makes it sound as if Person A is the real loser.
Such are the way with polls.