I just noticed that the
DNC's Blog will be having Al Franken guest blogging on Monday. Excellent! Further down the blog, I see that they had an entry where bloggers could submit questions to Ted Kennedy and they are going to post his answers latter on the blog. Again, Excellent! This is what I have been hoping to see them do ever since they started the Kicking Ass blog. The reason for the DNC to have a blog, beyond just the idea of fostering a community, is to provide a way for the grassroots (okay, netroots) to interact with the DNC and party leaders, provide feedback and hopefully even let some ideas bubble up from the 'roots. For those of you have been reading Daily Kos for a while, you might remember several months back when Kos was trying to get the DNC to start a blog (among other things) and posters on that thread were suggesting the idea of guest bloggers and blog interviews. We have the DNC's attention now. KOS mentioned in a previous thread that they are even paying attention to the Diaries on this site (KOS, by the way, I
LOVE the new site. Scoop is truly awesome.) So why don't we make some of those suggestions again.
(1)Who would you like to see guest blog or give a bloggerview (blog interview) on the DNC blog, Kicking Ass?
(2)What other suggestions do you have for the DNC blog?
(3)What other sugesstions do you have for the DNC for grassroots outreach?
My Answers:
(1) I'd love to hear really from any Democratic leaders, but especially:
*Bill Clinton (I miss the Big Dog. He can spare a half hour for us, can't he?)
*Al Gore (I want to know what's up with this "liberal" tv and radio network? And as a North Dakotan, I want to know if Ed Schultz's upcoming radio gig is related to this or is this someone else's brain child. All I've read about Schultz's upcoming new show is that Congressional Dems are raising money for this. What's the deal? Oh, and I bet bloggers probably would have a whole bunch of ideas about what they would like to see on a liberal cable channel.)
*Russ Feingold (The only Senate Dem to vote against both the Patiot Act and the Iraq War Resolution - the guy's my hero. Will he run for for President some day?)
*James Carville/Paul Begala (I'd love to hear some suggestions for the grassroots about what they think we can do to get rid of Bush in 2004.)
(2) *Permalinks for Blog Stories (so story can be linked to on other blogs)
*Some ocassional fun type stuff like political cartoons, fun creative blog threads (example: Kos's Bush needs a new bumper sticker slogan threads), funny experiences of Dem leaders (posted with their permission, of course), contests (Did you see MoveOn's "Bush in 30 Seconds" ad contest? So cool!)
(3) *Smash Howard Dean's House Call Party record (I saw it on the blog when they asked others to call in and got to listen in on it. It was so damn cool! I was absolutely giddy for a good hour afterward.) For us Democrats out here in the boonies (I'm in North Dakota) who almost never get a chance to see Big Name Dems in person, this is probably the next best thing. Seriously, set up a "Bill Clinton's 'Kicking Ass' House Party" fundraiser (Maybe Dean for America could "borrow" you their Get Local software for the occasion or better yet get MoveOn's guys to help you set up something similar). Ask the blog community and the presidential candidates to promote it. Take questions for it over the blog. Ask for some minimum (people can always donate more) amount to attend (not too much, maybe $25-50 per person - Democrats aren't rich you know.) And then let the Big Dog "hold court" with the Dem grassroots for a half hour or so and raise a bunch of money for the DNC to help the eventual presidential nominee. I don't make much money, but I'd sure as hell donate to participate in something like this. I know a lot of others would too.
