Bloggers for Obama: Lemmings for Something Shiny?
Let me take a moment and potentially do something mildly stupid: step my foot into politics. No, I’m not going to pull a Dave Winer on ya and go all political, don’t worry. 
We’re in the election season and that means we’re seeing lots of politics online. Since I follow social media, I can clearly which of the candidates seems to be the favorite of the blogosphere: Barack Obama.
Obama is young, certainly different than Bush, and his campaign has shown a knack for reaching the younger crowd and taking advantage of the Internet and social media. He has an enticing message. He puts forth a good image.
So, does Apple, though. Bloggers love to follow and write about Apple. Apple is great at marketing and fostering an image. Bloggers go gaga over it and write about it. Are they doing the same with Obama? Are they just going gaga over an image that Obama portrays? A result of good marketing?
And don’t think for a moment it isn’t an image. When Apple is trying to generate hype for a new release, they play bloggers like chess pieces. They get bloggers into endless speculation about it and it generates massive coverage in the blogosphere. The Obama campaign does the exact same thing. And they’re good at it. But, it doesn’t mean all the hype is based on reality.
I’d like to hope that bloggers are more likely to dig deep for the facts than a mainstream journalist. A journalist might rip into a blogger for being unprofessional, for not fact-checking, etc. But, in this case, what’s the difference? None. Too many people are going gaga over Obama as if he is the second coming. And if people don’t bother to actively try to look through the marketing hype about this guy, you could end up electing a mirage.
I have no doubt Barack Obama is a good man. I have no reason not to like him. But, when I see bloggers so blindly vouch for the guy, and so eagerly blame Bush for anything and everything and find every possible fault in John McCain, it doesn’t seem like bloggers are doing their job. They’re being lemmings for something shiny.
I’m not a political blogger and I’m not going to start. I follow tech, not politics. But, as a professional blogger who wants to see blogging recognized as the profession it is, I do not want to see bloggers as a whole turn into blind lapdogs for the latest shiny political figure. There is already enough bias in political coverage.
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Comments
Honestly, I think you may be overestimating the people. And Obama being appealing only because he is different is scary. Sure, he might be different, but is it the kind of change we need?
Right on David ! I think that we all owe it to our selves to put both of them under a microscope. What’s the old saying all that gltters is not gold.
It depends. If you think that currently the economy is doing well, our foreign policy is sound, and people are generally better off than they were 4 years ago, then no, it is not the kind of change we need.
Be careful not to get into that kind of myopic thinking, Alex. Having lung cancer is bad, too. Replacing it with colin cancer would be a change, but I think we would both agree not a good one
[...] posted 15th July 2008 to be exact, he posted what appears to be a one-off foray into politics. http://www.davidrisley.com/2008/07/15/bloggers-for-obama-lemmings-for-something-shiny/Using his excellent flowingly-articulate writing-style he managed to keep the coverage to as level a [...]
Nice article. And you are correct. Anyone who bases their campaign on “Hope for change,” is not saying a dang thing. This guy has flip-flopped so many times in the last 10 days that he’s set a new record for flip-flopping. I really wish more people paid attention to what the Democrat leaders are really for, and would come to realize that they are simply Socialists 
The reason that young people love Obama is only because they don’t remember Jimmy Carter. Democrats love to say a McCain presidency will be a third Bush term. However, it’s Obama who will be a second Carter term. If the Republicans hadn’t decided to forget their Conservative roots and try to be Democrats when they had control, we wouldn’t be in this situation. We need a new Ronald Reagan.
You’re wasting your time even discussing this. Elections are a dog and pony show designed to make you think there actually is a democratic process in this country. Obama wouldn’t be where he is if he hadn’t been anointed by the people and special interests who run this country behind the scenes. He’s another corporate goon who’ll push their agenda just like Bush has, but he won’t be the incompetent bumbler Bush is. (The best thing Bush has done is raise people’s awareness regarding the level of corruption in this country, but he’s shown us only the tip of the iceberg) Ultimately nothing will change. We’ll continue down the path of fascism except that under Obama it will be more subtle. Read up on the history and nature of fascism. You’ll see that’s exactly where we’re going and that we’re being deliberately led there. You need to wake up, educate yourself, and take a good look around.
You’re wasting your time even discussing this. Elections are a dog and pony show designed to make you think there actually is a democratic process in this country. Obama wouldn’t be where he is if he hadn’t been anointed by the people and special interests who run this country behind the scenes. He’s another corporate goon who’ll push their agenda just like Bush has, but he won’t be the incompetent bumbler Bush is. (The best thing Bush has done is raise people’s awareness regarding the level of corruption in this country, but he’s shown us only the tip of the iceberg) Ultimately nothing will change. We’ll continue down the path of fascism except that under Obama it will be more subtle. Read up on the history and nature of fascism. You’ll see that’s exactly where we’re going and that we’re being deliberately led there. You need to wake up, educate yourself, and take a good look around.
I think you are “mis-underestimating” the American people. Sure, many people are blindly following Obama and blaming everything on Bush. But bloggers are more informed and intelligent than most people. I feel a feeling that they have true, substantial reasons for liking Obama. And yes, a lot of his appeal is that he is different from the status quo, and that be just what we need right now.