Just go to Red Tory's place to see the Stephane Dion blog bandwagon begin to roll.
Of course there are some issues that have been brought up by many people who have commented at Red's place.
One is the idea of what Mr. Dion would do about comments. My answer is nothing. Mr. Dion should write the original post and then let the comments fly. He should respond only sparingly if at all. His very first post should explain that he is using the blog to let people know about his ideas and opinions on a whole host of issues and then he will let Canadians use his blog to debate those ideas and opinions. As well, he can state that he will use the blog to explain some of the decisions he makes and let Canadians debate the merits of those decisions.
Such an approach has many advantages, not least of which maybe some actual debates amongst Canadians about issues that are important to them. It would certainly be a change from the nonsense that currently passes for "debating the issues".
Another advantage is such debates always bring out the trolls. Such a situation would be advantageous as ordinary Canadians, and much of the MSM, may actually visit the blog of the Leader of the Official Opposition and they might actually see some of the BS that the Blogging Tories and their ilk spew on the Internet. Some of the hate filled, bigoted and loony opinions of these cementheads would be very difficult to take for most Canadians and very difficult to ignore for the MSM. After a very short while, I would wager, the trolls would stay away in droves, on orders from Conservative Party HQ.
Another question is what would he blog about? Well, what do we blog about? I stated in my first post on this idea that Mr. Dion should blog about whatever topic strikes him that day. Politics, sports, literature, whatever. The idea is to let Canadians see a side of Mr. Dion that is denied them by the many filters in the media world. Of course, being a politician he has to be careful and choose his words carefully.
A third question is how often should he blog? It should be a semi-regular blog I would think. At least three times a week. One of the things that would create some buzz about the blog is if he lets out some juicy details about some of the things he sees around him on a daily basis. I wonder how things might have been different if he would have used a blog instead of the MSM to announce his decision on whether to support the mini-budget along with the explanation of his decision. The MSM would have no choice but to visit the site, acknowledge that they got the information from the site and not spin the reasons for the decision because they are all there for anybody with a computer and an Internet connection to see, straight from the horse's mouth.
In my first post about this topic I suggested that any Liberal blogger who might have some contacts in Mr. Dions office (Jason Cheriak I am looking in your direction) might reach out to those contacts to pass along this suggestion. I am making that suggestion again.
6 comments:
Came here from Red Tory.
As I said there, I think this is a really great idea - just look at the traffic at Garth Turner's blog. The more I think about it, the more it seems to be a perfect way to get the unfiltered message out about Mr. Dion.
As far as the technicalities, I'm sure they could all be worked out with the help of great Liberal bloggers such as yourself.
One thing tho, it seems to me that a new posting every day is preferrable to several times a week or whatever. People who are in the habit of visiting blogs daily might lose interest if the posting is several days old. The 'work' could be spread around by having a guest blog every couple of days or so. It would give those folks who are waiting for by-elections an opportunity to be heard/read unfiltered by the media.
I really love your idea ottlib. I'm sorry I didn't see it first time around, (or maybe I did and forgot).
Yes there are always obstacles around these things, but good grief, not insurmountable. He does have staff afterall to manage the details, but I think he should be the sole author.
quinsam, while your idea isn't bad, I don't think you do that short term, perhaps in the future. In the short term, you allow the conversation to flow. Readers will come back to read the comments and if he's able to insert himself within that discussion, by an assistant pointing out a particular question or quagmire, all the better.
Trolls do still disturb me, though your point is well taken ottlib. Exposure is what this is all about now, imo.
ottlib,
What your suggesting is actually very similar to Andrew Coyne's blog site.
He posts a multiple paragraph entry, occassionally will add a comment or two, but otherwise let's people just talk amongst themselves.
Its very effective and also encourages people to go read, because he spends considerable time making sure his original post is articulate and well thought out.
Tomm
You guys are on to something. I think OttLib is right. The more main stream Canadians are exposed to the wack jobs that troll the internet under the blogging tory banner the faster they will run to our side.Mr Dion should bait these fools in his blog even. Write a blog about religon or multiculturalism and watch the rascism fly.I could just see Don Newman or Duffy asking some cpc dickhead. "Is that how your party feels about this issue?" and raising one eyebrow after reading some nut jobs comment.The CPC's biggest weakness is their own base,lets here from these people.
I don't think it would really make a difference for him.
Great idea, daily posting and response to Con biased MSM. How wonderful it would be to have a place to re-enforce the Liberals under Stephan Dion.
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