HW 3: Toward a More Participatory Democracy

My whole life I have never heard it said that blogging plays a role in the outcome with today’s politics, and I agreed with that statement. However, after reading David Kline’s essay “Toward a More Participatory Democracy,” I have to change my opinion. In Kline’s essay, he says that bloggers across the country were a major part in the 2004 Presidential elections. He used candidates Howard Dean and John Kerry as his main examples. Facts showed that bloggers that were for Dean went to his blog more than 30,000 times a day. He raised most of his money via blogging. Activists tried to convince more democrats to side with Dean. However, Kline and others believe that this ultimately ruined Dean’s chances. The supporters were too focused on people who already sided with Dean, instead of trying to sway others’ opinions. Kline also writes about John Kerry’s failures online. In his essay, “Toward a More Participatory Democracy,” Kline writes “According to one study, three out of four Kerry campaign emails between March and November 2004 made direct appeals for money, compared with fewer than one in five Bush campaign emails.” That is a staggering differential. Many believe this, along with other reasons, led to Kerry’s defeat in the elections.
I believe that it is very interesting to look at how blogging played an important part in the 2004 Presidential elections. I never realized how powerful the internet, and people, could be. In 2004, I was 15 years old, and wasn’t particularly interested politics. Looking back however, it fascinates me to think that a person out there wrote a blog in order to show their support for Howard Dean, and it turn it grew into a monster. Blogging is turning into one of the most powerful media forces in the country. I think to myself, if blogs can sway peoples’ opinions about a Presidential candidate, what else can it do? Only time will tell, I suppose.