I was a little surprised this spring when it turned out I really wished I had $5,000 to spend, for usually I don’t care about money, I have everything I need. I was wondering what I was going to do in this season of sun, and then remembered much younger days when summer was scholastically special, a real break time from the grind of education.
It would have been very good to find one of our young hotshots in high school or university and sponsor them for a 90 day internship with Al Franken’s campaign in Minnesota. It’s actually what I wanted to do this summer, but oh well, at least the yearning could turn out to be a good investment in our people. There’s still next year for that idea.
Sponsored summer internship for Franken turned out to be yeasty—I was chatting with Swopa last week about Firedoglake garnering hit counts, and one of the methods in their success is to liveblog hot events, like the Libby and Padilla trials. That sponsored Franken intern, hell, one condition of the internship should be they blog on the experience at least three times a week, hopefully daily. That way The Daily Kos could publish sorta a liveblog of the Franken campaign in the summer. Tasty.
Hey—why doesn’t The Daily Kos sponsor a liveblogger on the Democratic 2008 Campaign plane? Surely we have the gravitas to garner a press pass, right?
A diary probably isn’t the greatest method to get this idea around, but does Markos have to do everything? Maybe there’s a way to get good thinking started on this, an’ then he could step in with an official Fellowship for The Daily Kos Campaign 2008 Plane Blogger. I don’t like the classification of "journalist" or "reporter," no.
As always, money will be an issue. Well, we’re a community for a reason, right? The 2008 Candidate Plane Fellow, whatever it is, will need to expense food and lodging all along the way, requiring many many dollars. Isn’t it possible to plan out the route sufficiently in advance so the Fellow has lodging and a meal from a Kossarian wherever the plane stops? Does that work?
I hope this idea is a good one and we do it. After week before last I need something fresh on my mind, something to look forward to politically that will make a real difference.
Presidential campaign planes have never had a full time internet medium "reporter," whatever, on board (not that I know of). Liveblogging feedback bounces back real, real fast in the political realm of political campaigning, Joe Trippi showed how it can be done. It’s time to flex our power and shake some shit up on the Democratic campaign with a Daily Kos liveblogger, I say. We say we’re about change, lets do it. If the idea’s worth anything, anyways.
Have a good week, gentle people.