Sifry’s Alerts

Ah, you gotta love it when the technology bites you in the ass. The previous post was a draft of my CNN wrap-up, with all of my screw-ups, typos, and bad edits. Goes to show me for using my weblogging software to write up these posts. One missed click, and what you write is up and out there. Such is how the sausage is made.

Things are really crazy at the convention. There’s a lot going on, all at the same time, and up here in blogger’s alley, we’ve got the loudspeakers pointing right at us, and crowds cheering, waving signs, and just being generally raucus. Even the lousy dancing during the breaks. I looked over and commented to some of the folks here about the need for a “7th Inning stretch” – and then it hit me – that’s what the dancing is for. But I sure wish they didn’t televise it, it’s painful.

Here’s some highlights, from both inside and outside the FleetCenter.

Working our way through the evening:

• Kucinich’s bold anti-war stance: His speech got him grasroots credibility among the liberal bloggers. Zoe VanderWolk wrote, “Why has Kucinich been stuck holding the bag? Why isn’t anyone else talking about Iraq? The reaction to his condemnation of the war has been overwhelmingly positive, and according to a delegate from NC I talked to the Kucinich delegates have been treated ‘like kings’.”
• Jesse Jackson: Both liberals and conservatives weighed in on Jackson’s speech, and the overall reaction was negative. Jesse Taylor of Pandagon opined, “Jesse Jackson’s onstage now…and not really impressing. He just came off a Wyclef Jean performance, and the speech is just…weird. The more inflammatory elements of the Democratic Party are not coming off well in this new “hope springs eternal” message group.”
• More on Obama-mania:Positive reports keep coming in on Barack Obana, soon-to-be-senator from Illinois. David Weinberger: “The good news for Hillary is that she might get State Department when Obama is President in 2012.”. Thomas F. Schaller at Gadflyer marked this as a turning point: “That said, at some future point we will realize that last night marks the point where Obama eclipsed Jackson as the standard-bearing voice of black Democrats. Sorry, Jesse: That unofficial title has finally been passed to a new generation.”
• Al Sharpton: Sharpton proves again that he is a masterful speaker. Dave Winer wrote in an email, “Sharpton was inspiring, had the crowd on its feet 18 times. A soul revival. Killer speech.” Dave Johnson had sympathies for the man to follow Sharpton: ” Who did Bob Graham piss off, that he has to follow Al Sharpton?” Other liberals were not as kind, and saw hypocracy in Sharpton’s speech: “I just heard Al Sharpton address the convention and I was rather astounded by the glorious reception he received. ‘Our vote is not for sale,’ he thundered. This from the man who leased his entire campaign consultant named Roger Stone. The only line missing from Sharpton’s speech: ‘I have a scheme.’”, wrote Marc Cooper.
• Best delegate blogging from the floor award: Goes to 19-year old Karl-Thomas Musselman, the youngest delegate from Texas. His reporting on Kucinich’s, Sharpton’s and Graham’s speeches were refreshing and showed his excitement at being on the floor, but be sure to read his earlier entires revealing more behind-the-scenes of a delegate’s life.
• John Edwards: Personally, I wan’t terribly impressed by Edwards’ speech tonight. Perhaps it is because he has laryngitis, or because he was tired, but his oratory didn’t live up to admittedly high expectations. Others differed in their views. Dave Pell at Electablog wrote, “Edwards owned the crowd and the night and delivered just what this pundit ordered. A healthy infusion of the two Americas speech that rings so clearly true to the ears of any who open their eyes to see. “. And Alan at The Command Post weighed in: “The fanfare for Edwards is genuine adulation … the star appeal is palpable, and the crowd won’t let him go. Whatever happens in this election cycle … the next time Edwards runs in the Democratic primaries, he’s not finishing second.” On a more humorous note, he added, “Thank Fod He Didn’t Dance … He didn’t try to do that stupid little on-stage dance that white politicians always try to do.”
• Blogs on Media on Blogs: First off, a great post on what blogging the convention is like from Visicalc author Dan Bricklin. Wired News’ Adam L. Penenberg covers the eclectic mix of reporting going on from the convention floor. David Weinberger takes the media to task as well. His takeaway? “Objectivity is a form of rhetoric.”

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Man, there’s a lot of media here right now. I’ve just spoken with folks from The Nation, and I’ve got a team from PBS looking over my shoulder – “Hey, can I get you blogging right now?” Just had a few of the journalists present yell into the blogger group, asking, “Hey, does anyone know Kerry’s Secret Service codename?” Through the looking glass.

Terence Smith, the classy reporter from The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and showing him how easy it is to set up and write a weblog.

Terence actually writes a mini-blog of his own, which he just showed me. Great!

They just did a segment with me on blogging, and the impact it is having on the political conversation. Unfortunately, the speeches were going on at the same time, so I’m not sure how good the sound quality was, and we had to stop several times, but overall the interview went well. It should be on tomorrow night’s NewsHour, which is on at 3PM PST if you’re out on the west coast. Of course, this is TV, so who knows if it’ll actually air, but I’m hoping it can get in. Either way, it was fun to meet the folks and do the interview. Spreading the gospel, spreading the gospel.

Welcome to day 3 of the DNC, blogger-style.

First off, a roundup of the best (and worst) coverage of webloggers in the mainstream media: Note – I’m going to leave off weblogs penned by pros, like the excellent CNN weblog (nbote: I’m here at the DNC helping CNN make sense of the blogosphere). Wired News’ Adam L. Penenberg covers the eclectic mix of reporting going on from the convention floor.

Many webloggers also were on the nightly news programs, and posted

I’m showing Clifford how to post to a blog. I’m using w.blogger as my blogging tool.