Sifry’s Alerts

Back from the RNC, and I sure am glad to be back on the west coast. It was great to see some old friends (and make some new ones) while out in NYC, getting the new Politics site a workout was exciting, and working with CNN was a joy – those folks are real pros, but it is great to be back at home.

There were lots of bloggers over in the blogger’s alley that the RNC provided in the Felt Forum outside of the main convention hall. Here’s a picture of some of the bloggers at the alley interviewing Ari Fleisher, former Press Secretary for the current administration. Click on the picture to see a larger version.

While bloggers were a novelty at the DNC in Boston and were less of a story in and of themselves during the RNC, the quality of commentary and the number of breaking stories during the RNC show that bloggers are starting to hit their stride. The toppling of Ed Schrock, two-term Republican congressman from Virginia, after investigative reporting from a blogger showed the growing political power of citizen journalism. The use of blogging technology during protests and also from delegate phonecams on the convention floor show that this pushbutton publishing technology is filling an important journalistic niche.

The convention wrapped up as first President Bush spoke and then Senator Kerry, in an unusual move, followed from a campaign rally in Ohio. Bloggers at the convention formed into two primary camps: mostly conservative RNC credentialed bloggers, writing from Blogger’s Alley in the Felt Forum, outside the main convention hall, and a group of mostly liberal bloggers that gathered at The Tank, a performance space in midtown Manhattan. Of course, there were many other bloggers from all over the country who were adding to the conversation. Top stories from the final day of the convention include:

• Democrats divided?That’s what Dick Morris wrote, in the New York Post’s opinion column. ” In an incredibly striking contrast, Bush voters are united on virtually all the questions that divide the Kerry vote. So Bush can advance his agenda with impunity while taking aim at Kerry voters who are antagonized by their candidate whenever he has to choose a position.” Not all liberals agree. Lambert from Corrente wrote, “If Kerry can get people to listen and think, Bush is toast.”
• Zell Miller challenges Chris Matthews to a duel Chris Matthews had a heated exchange with Zell Miller after his speech Wednesday night. Here’s the clip in Windows Media Format. Media Bistro has more details, and ongoing commentary on the Miller speech is here.
• Word frequency analysis The New York Times reports via an interesting graphic the frequencies of different words used during the DNC and the RNC. Micah L. Sifry performs the same analysis on Bush’s acceptance speech.
• President Bush’s speech Similar to the DNC, Conservatives went quiet after the final speech of the convention, but the Technorati Attention Index™ showed a burst in anti-Bush postings after the speech ended. this is probably because of the “satisfaction effect” – that conservatives are happy with the climax of the convention, while liberals are so unsatisfied, they are vociferously blogging. William Saletan commented after the speech, “The 2004 election is becoming a referendum on your right to hold the president accountable.” Dave Winer wrote, “I’m glad Kerry responded to the Republicans. Maybe it’s time, though, to consider a new format, where they do a Democratic talk show, with Mario Cuomo, Wesley Clark and James Carville reviewing the Republicans. They require serious rebuttal. Don’t pretend they’re going to roll over and let the Dems win. Fight fire with fire. It’s good that Kerry has shown his anger. It’s not good that he trailed off into his standard incoherent stump speech.”
• George Bush’s National Guard Service questions Two important updates in the George Bush Alabama National Guard story – Salon reports on the widow of a Bush family confidant who says that Bush did no National Guard service in the spring of 1972. And Ben Barnes, the former Texas official who says he pulled strings to get George W. Bush into the Air National Guard will be appearing on 60 Minutes.

The heat turned up in Manhattan today, as speeches by Zell Miller and Dick Cheney provided red meat to party faithful, and protests outside the convention hall increased in intensity and number. After-hour parties abounded, but behind the scenes, the effect of money in politics only got rarely reported. More from on and off the floor:

• Reactions to Zell Miller: The angriest speech of the convention, seemingly came from Zell Miller, as Glenn Reynolds notes, “It’s funny that the purest voice of Jacksonian America at this Republican convention — in fact, at either convention — comes from a Democrat.”. Begging to Differ wrote, “Zell Miller was more effective tonight than any Republican could have been. John Kerry will have to answer, if he can.”
• The two Cheneys – diverse reaction from liberals and conservatives The Technorati Politics Attention Index™ saw heavy blogging from both the left and right regarding Vice President Dick Cheney’s speech tonight. Conservatives like Sister Toldjah remarked, “A SOLID performance!”. Ann Althouse wrote, “”He lays it out. And you can take it or leave it. He’s not doing the twist. He’s Dick Cheney.” Liberals felt differently. Josh Marshall described a common liberal perspective: “My first thought was, bold words for a man whose office is the subject of an on-going criminal inquiry. But apparently that’s not the subject of polite conversation.”
• Arnold gets fact-checked The liberal blogosphere has been buzzing about Arnold Schwartenegger’s speech last night. Numerous bloggers pointed out that while Arnold has spoken of Nixon debating Humphrey in 1968, the debate never happened.
• Protest Vignettes Outside of the convention, New York is filled with protests, from big, to small, to personal. Inside the convention hall, AIDS demonstrators disrupted a Republican youth gathering on the floor, unveiling an anti-Bush sign and disrupting a speech by Andrew Card. Andrew Sullivan reports on a particularly rude protester, while Peter Northrup wrote “of a self-proclaimed liberal [that] was spending her day, not protesting with angry slogans, but sitting in front of an empty chair and a sign that invited conservatives to sit down and talk with her about the future of the country.” Ratherbiased has pictures of a protester being removed from tonight’s Cheney speech.
• Blogging a talk-show appearance: Michelle Malkin blogs her side of the story after appearing on MSNBC’s Hardball. First-hand accounts like this are shifting the fulcrum away from show hosts and producers who often attempt to unfairly create controversy. Malkin’s account, while completely subjective, allows her to get her side of the story out to the world, just as the FCC’s Michael Powell or Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, use their blogs to speak to the world in a timely, unedited fashion.

Adam L. Penenberg at Wired News just published a great article covering the lessons learned by bloggers (and me personally) at the DNC, and the changes we made to the Election Watch 2004 site, including the reorganization of our analysis into the Liberal Politics Attention Index™ and the Conservative Politics Attention Index™.

Arnold, the Bush sisters, voting machines, Kerry Campaign shakeup rumours, criticism of RNC bloggers, and censorship of Supreme Court decisions were on the minds of bloggers today as the second day of the Republican National Convention wrapped up.

• Arnold’s speech polarizing California governor Arnold Schwartzenegger provoked strong reactions from both Liberals and Conservatives. Lots of conservative bloggers swelled with pride at Arnold’s speech, according to the Technorati Conservative Politics Attention Index™, such as Jay Reding, who wrote, “His story of living under the shadow of Communism is an important reminder of why America is still admired across the globe.” Technorati’s Liberal Politics Attention Index™ showed liberal bloggers reacting strongly to Arnold’s jabs at Democrats: Luis Poza wrote of the Governor’s speech, “full of sound and fury and signifying nothing”.
• The Bush sisters Jenna and Barbara Bush’s speech provoked jeers from authoritative liberal bloggers, and Conservatives largely remained silent on the speech. Keith Berry wrote, “Up until now, I’ve never really felt bad for anybody with the last name Bush, but watching the Bush twins at the GOP Convention was was just so sad I was nearly brought to tears. It was a train-wreck. An honest to God train-wreck.” On Dummocrats.com, a conservative blog, James K. Hat wrote, “This convention has been great so far. (Edit – great until the Bush daughters spoke… what in the world was that?)”, and the Washingon Monthly rreports on other conservative reactions.
• Revelations on an easy way to hack voting machines made their way through the blogosphere today, in this article on Bev Harris’ blackboxvoting.com, noting that the Diebold GEMS central tabulator, used in many over 30 states, contains a stunning security hole.
• Kerry campaign shakeup rumours Mickey Kaus reports on the rumours, starting in the Washington Prowler, that Kerry will shake up his campaign staff. This was later covered by MSNBC, and CNN.
• Blogger’s Corner events, and critiques General Tommy Franks came by the bloggers’ area at the RNC for a photo opportunity, and while there announced his support for President bush, a prelude to his more official annoucenet on Sean Hannity’s radio show. Salon.com publishes a biting article on the actions of the RNC credentialed bloggers.
• Redactions of Supreme Court decisions in Patriot Act suit?The Memory Hole reports on the “blacking out” of passages quoting US Supreme Court decisions in the ACLU’s suit against the Justice department. This could be a breaking story in tomorrows news.
  
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