Since it's nearly time for the 2008 Presidential campaign to start in earnest, I've decided to do my part for democracy by adopting a candidate and completely understanding his positions, where ever he gives them. I'll write diaries on the candidate and be both an advocate and a critic, depending on what seems appropriate to me.
I'm going to choose Mark Warner for several reasons. First, since I'm a Virginian, I already know a little about him (while probably, a lot of us don't know that much). Second, I am not fanatical about him so I can probably be more or less objective. I don't think he's my first choice for 2008, for instance. In 2003 I was a major Dean supporter. My second choice then was Edwards. Right now, I find myself wishing that Al Gore would run, though I wonder if he wouldn't simply energize the Republicans who seem to have an irrational hatred of the man. Those are my inclinations, and given them, I think I can be pretty objective about Mark Warner even if we are from the same state.
I don't know if this is a useful approach, but if it is, I hope other Kossacks will do the same thing with the other candidates. I don't want us to be in the position of always hearing only the good about each candidate, because only their supporters, or even paid staffers, really know enough about their positions. It seems like getting a few independent folks interested in becoming "experts" might be helpful.
If you do choose to join the Adopt a Candidate project, please pick a candidate that doesn't hit your "sweet spot." Try to be objective about your candidate. When you write your diary, put the Adopt A Candidate tag in the tag space, along with the candidate's name as a separate tag, and also the issue that you are reporting.
Ex. -- Adopt a Candidate,Mark Warner,Stem Cells
Remember that capitalization and spelling matter when tagging. Don't allow a space to creep in before or after your tags either. We want people to be able to look these diaries up if they need to.
And it isn't enough just to rewrite what the candidates say about their positions -- we need to be critical of them, reflecting as much as we can the general concerns of the progressive movement, as it exists at Daily Kos. So, for example, when I write a diary about Warner's position on Stem Cells, I'll reflect that position as accurately as possible, but I'll also talk about how well (or badly) that position fits with Daily Kos values. And that should be the issue that we discuss in the comments section, which I envision being every bit as important as the diary itself, if not more important. I know there is no true consensus here on any particular issue, but through doing this we'll come to understand each of our candidates in an intimate way, and we should be able to go into the insanity of the primary season with clearer eyes.
It was Bob Johnson's diary looking back to the Dean vs DLC wars that got me thinking about this. Back in those days, it was every partisan advocate for him/herself, with not so much care taken to be objective. Well, by 2008 I expect objectivity will be near impossible, so if we want to truly know who we are going to be voting for, the time to get to know them is now. Or, at least that's my argument, take it or leave it.
So here's the first diary about my adopted candidate -- Mark Warner.
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Today we'll focus on what Mark Warner's website tells us about Warner as a candidate for President of the United States in 2008.
Warner's Website Forward Together.
I'm glad that candidates all have webpages now, because you can get a sense of what they think is important by looking at what they've put on their front pages.
Like any other candidate, Warner has a link to his personal history up front and center. He also has a prominent link to his record as Governor of Virginia. We'll go into some depth about those in later diaries.
As I read over the page, I sense that some of the issues most important to Warner have to do with technology -- he was an entrepreneur in the tech industry after all where he, among other things, helped to found Nextel. So it's no surprise. The first story in the center column deals with the creative commons licensing scheme, and the last is about GW Bush's Stem Cell veto. His news page links to a pair of tech-related stories, and the word "technology" is the fourth tag listed under "Popular Tags".
But if technology is near and dear to his heart, it also appears getting Democrats elected is of primary importance to him. In fact, there are more links and stories dealing with helping Dems get elected than any other sort -- I count eight links as of today.
Warner includes a quote with his signature at the top of his page that seems to combine the two issues, technology and getting Democrats elected, neatly into a slogan:
"The real issues we face are no longer right vs. left or conservative vs. liberal. They're about past vs. future. Our challenge, as Democrats, is to reclaim our role as the party of the future."
So, if first impressions count for anything, which is all a quick glance at someone's webpage can give you, then you'd have to say, if technology and getting Democrats elected are your primary concerns, then Warner is your man.
These are issues that are certainly favorites of Daily Kos users. But are they really the central issues of 2008? I'm not so sure. I believe the Iraq War and Global Warming are probably more important, and I don't see anything front paged about either issue. Perhaps when I go in depth into speeches and position papers, I'll discover that Warner has vital things to say on these issues, but just giving the web site a once over, I can't tell that he thinks these concerns are important. This is going to be something I come back to I can assure you.
Clicking on the "blog" link, i get a nifty surprise -- a little Mark Warner pops onto my screen to thank me for stopping by. Coolness factor - high. But this is style and not substance. The blog entries are written by folks other than Governor Warner -- par for the course for politicos, though I always find myself wishing they'd blog a little themselves. (Forward Together is organized as a PAC, and therefore this website is not so much Governor Warner's own personal site, so there's some legitimacy to this approach here, although nobody would mistake the concerns and opinions of this site as reflecting those of anybody but Warner. But it seems the site is set up to outlast Warner, whatever happens to him.)
There's a too lengthy blog-roll on the left, and yes, Daily Kos is on it. It's so long, that it's hard to gather useful information from it now, but one day I may delve into what who Warner links to says about who Warner is.
The stories on the blog deal almost exclusively with electing Democrats. I like this focus -- it is the most important thing at the moment, but I do want to see some emphasize given to issues that are important too. I'll keep an eye on the blog. Even if Warner isn't writing the posts, he is certainly involved in the direction the blog takes. There are also video and audio Podcasts available, and some clickable flickr.com links, so it's more of the same democracy-meets-technology here. I'm not trying to diminish the importance of technology as an issue -- it's certainly important, and Warner's efforts as a Governor to get technology out into the poorest rural areas are part of his legend now. But the focus is too narrow to me. Let's see how this develops as the primary season heats up.
There's our first look at Mark Warner -- through the lens of his website. There is plenty more to cover, and a lot of work to be done before we're through. I hope some of you will join me in this effort. Now is the time to get to know our candidates, before we completely lose our minds in the "silly season" that is the primary battle.