BEYOND THE ELECTION
Eric Massa's vision of blogging to keep a representative of Congress connected to the voters.
We have often heard of elected officials "living in a bubble" - surrounded by aides who effectively keep them insulated from the public they serve. Well, this is what Eric has to say about this matter (personal correspondence).
I have a vision of scheduled weekly blogging - not merely as a campaign tool, but also as a way to pioneer a new idea for sitting members of Congress to open a new scheduled communication channel. This is an innovative way to reach out to constituents to combat the increasing inability of elected officials to stay connected with voters. Weekly scheduled blogging by government representatives is the most effective manner of keeping in touch with those they serve. This new approach will start with our campaign and it will be carried forward as a commitment to enhance the access that the "common" working family and grassroots individuals have to a member of Congress.
True to his word, Eric is for the second week in a row undertaking a mind-boggling, multi-blogging blog-a-thon by presenting three topics on three different blogs at the same time. To Eric, however, this is not the daunting task it might seem to some of us, but an opportunity to connect to the grassroots folks of the blogosphere. And, as he indicated, it is but a prelude to a new approach for politicians to stay connected to their constituency and reach out to bloggers for a broader dialogue after the heyday of the election campaign when town hall meetings and open forums on the ground grind to a halt. Unbelievably, Eric switches back and forth between blogs with agility and adroitly passes from one topic to another without taking a breath and without sacrificing brevity and clarity.
Come join the dialogue with Eric. You will enjoy chatting with one politician who is easily accessible through the blogosphere..
Time is 3:00 p.m. ET, and the topics are:
Daily Kos: Leadership: a continued discussion of Plamegate and leadership in America.
MyDD: Veteran Affairs: A statement critical of the recommendations of the Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) for the U.S. military.
TPMCafe: A local piece on the rising taxes and the state of NY district 29.
Noel