Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore spoke to a group of conservative bloggers at The Heritage Foundation recently and made an interesting promise: He pledged to be the first President to maintain a personal blog, reports Matt Lewis at his Townhall.com blog.
Because it came up in response to a direct question (very late in his briefing to us), it does not appear to be the case of a candidate merely seeking to pander to the blogosphere. And while this proclamation may sound trivial to some - or possibly sensational to others- Gilmore gives a good reason for embracing this technology. He explained that he has used both radio and television to communicate important information to his constituents. As he explains, why not use this technology, too?
He also believes that the blogosphere is a way to go over the heads of the establishment media, and get his message directly to the people.
Okay, fine. But as of today Gilmore's presidential campaign "exploratory" website doesn't have a blog.
Still, Gilmore's promise excited conservative bloggers like Robert Bluey, who wrote...
Gilmore’s proclamation makes him the first Republican, and possibly the first candidate, to support the idea of a White House blog. Gilmore said he is a strong advocate for communicating on the Internet because it allows individuals to bypass the mainstream media.
The current White House communications staff has ramped up its outreach to bloggers under the direction of Press Secretary Tony Snow and Internet Director David Almacy. Snow has held two conference calls with bloggers and reads blogs daily. Gilmore, apparently, wants to take blogging to a new level.
The former RNC chairman also told bloggers that he’s the only conservative in the race. He recited a list of reasons why the leading candidates - Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney - are not conservatives.
Gilmore shouldn't wait to be elected before he starts to blog. He ought to be blogging from the campaign trail - and not just sterile campaign PR blogging and notes and pictures "from the campaign trail," but real blogging, the kind where you interact with readers and other bloggers and have real discussion of real issues.
Photo credit: Robert Bluey.
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