Newscoma

So, the Democratic candidates for president all got together yesterday at the Yearly Koz Kos convention.

Here’s some of what they said according to an Associated Press story:

The first question went to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who was asked why he once cited Justice Byron White, a conservative, as a model Supreme Court justice. “I screwed up on that,” he said. “I love John F. Kennedy and figured if Kennedy had supported him …,” Richardson said.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was asked what three lessons she learned from her failed health care reform effort during the presidency of her husband, Bill Clinton.

“It is not enough to have a plan. You’ve got to have a political strategy,” the New York senator, adding: “In 90 seconds, I don’t have the time to tell you all the mistakes I made.”

Another leading candidate, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, said he would allow the U.S. to continue running a budget deficit to meet health care and other needs. “We’ve got to make some investments.”

Edwards received the largest applause when he suggested his rivals were tinkering around the edges – “I just heard some discussion about negotiation, compromise” – rather than overhauling government. He said the nation needs “big change, not small change.”

Edwards, the party’s 2004 vice presidential nominee, called on the field to join him, along with Obama, to forsake donations from lobbyists. That is a pledge he said Republicans should take, too.

“We don’t want to trade their insiders for ours,” he said.

Clinton, who accepts such donations, did not respond.

I blog. I like blogging, but I can’t help but think of what Slartibartfast wrote last Thursday in regards to the Nashville Mayoral and councilmen races.

I’m afraid that tonight we’re going to get a reminder of just how little influence we bloggers have on local Nashville politics.

And, all in all, he spoke the truth.

We blog. We read other folks blogs, be they politically right, left or center. The candidates see that the Internet can make things happen, that social networking avenues can easily and inexpensively get their style across (notice I didn’t say substance) and that we are in a time of change when it comes to disseminating and distributing information and news. But, from what I read about Nashville’s races, there was a great lack of interest in this contest that will impact a major metropolitan city in the next four years and many blogs were talking about it a great deal. And, of course, it came down to money in that race which, who had it, who didn’t and guess who came in the front.

Candidates with dough.

Those 1500 bloggers who showed up at Yearly Kos are going to vote anyway and they had the cash to actually go and see the candidates yesterday. Can they make a difference in the big picture? I’m thinking there might be an impact but folks can’t get too ahead of themselves. The internet does tend to shine a light on things. But is it taken as seriously as we, as bloggers, think it does?

Yes, candidates need to take into the equation that power of the tubes. There is no doubt. But they are still going to have to be very aware of traditional media outlets, and sometimes the two entities collide. Candidates’ biggest enemy, or friend for that matter, is going to be the immediacy of the internet. They know that, but there is just a lot more to it.

And sometimes I wonder if there is so much information out there that it gets lost in all the static. And smaller bloggers are already being edged out a bit by the guys that are making money. (CYNIC ALERT.) So, if a little guy has some crucial information will it be lost in the virtual highway?

Just pondering it all.

And this is what I’m thinking about today.

Update: I have been schooled on spelling. Spellcheck didn’t catch it. And, I’d moved on to other things.