If a Blog Falls in DC, Does It Make a Sound?

Recently, the question of whether bloggers make a real difference in politics has been raised. Are bloggers really making a difference? Or are they just talking to themselves?

My take is pretty simple: most blogs are simply preaching to the converted – but not because that is inherent in the medium itself. The fact is, most bloggers are focused on inside-the-beltway topics, using such insular language, that they cannot connect with the average Internet users, much less the average American. Sure, maybe that’s not the point – maybe most bloggers only want to influence elite journalists (and that they have been fairly successful at). But as a grassroots communications tool, blogging still has a ways to go.

That said, there are a very few blogs that are transcending this paradigm and trying to speak to average Americans (Atrios, Daily Kos, Altercation and MyDD, for instance)…but many other prominent blogs are still caught in that insular Beltway world that makes it impossible for them to reach out beyond that same scope of regulars on the Washington cocktail party circuit. Sure, they may reap awards from their friends on the Beltway cocktail party curcuit. But that's exactly the problem. As Garance Franke-Rutka recently wrote, "top bloggers in America often know one another, sit on panels and in greenrooms together, and go to lunches and dinners together over time." In other words, despite all the accolades, most blogs are not really serious about trying to connect with average, ordinary Americans outside of a 10 mile square radius of Washington, D.C.

That’s actually part of the reason why I decided to leave Washington, D.C. in the first place, and why I’ve tried to make this blog different. Rather than look down upon the "masses" as so many Washington insiders do, I realy believe this medium is a way to circumvent the corporate media filters and the pathetic you-scratch-my-back-I'll-scratch-yours world of Washington to really communicate WITH the masses.

I’m not sure how successful I’ve been – but its why this site is a bit different from other sites. Here, I try to stick to core principles, rather than just partisan motives (it’s why, on occasion, I go after Democrats who sell out). The fact is, most people don’t think in exclusively partisan terms – they think of their positions on issues first, regardless of party.

That’s why I try to be as direct, straight forward, and hard-hittting as possible, no matter what party or what politician I am talking about. That’s where blogging and the Internet can take the next step from preaching to the converted, to really speaking to America as a whole. Because if authors/bloggers are willing to speak truth to power, and speak to average people outside the Beltway, we will find a whole new audience beyond our own hilariously insular spheres whose importance we so often overstate.