Left In Lowell

This Sunday’s edition of the New York Times included an article entitled “Can Bloggers Get Real?” The author, Matt Bai, is one of many panelists invited to discuss the current state of “lefty blogs” at the YearlyKos Convention (Las Vegas, June 8 -11).

The Convention was organized to “help important, politically active netroots communities make a real difference in the public sphere.” It is the hope of the organizers that by the event will amplify the voices of bloggers and netizens who will meet, exchange ideas and “learn how to be more effective in influencing the public debate.”

For the most part, I agreed with Bai’s observation that “devotees of the liberal blogging universe” are “transforming the old smoke-field insiders into an expansive chat room for anyone who wants in.”

He is correct in stating that politicians need to listen to Netrooters not because they are another “influential lobby” as he states but because these are the ones whose voices in the past have not been heard by the “mainstream insiders.”

Blogging is the medium that has given these voices an outlet. Bai is right, the Web did not replace the public square, it drove people to it. However, he is totaling wrong in his conclusion: “…those who lead the most consequential revolts against the status quo never really vanquish the party’s insider establishment. They simply take its place.”

If that is what he truly believes that he is not paying attention. I am not saying that there are those who use the blogsphere for self-promotion but the great majority of its inhabitants are here to advance the basic concepts of democracy; that is open up the politic process to as many people as possible.

The internet in general and blogging in particular are the perfect vehicles to achieve this goal. Perhaps after Bai attends the Kos Convention, he will come to a different conclusion.