Category Archives: presidential politics

Governor Dean won’t be able to post today due to scheduling, and Joe Trippi is still on an airplane, so it looks like he won’t either. Thanks for all your comments — every visitor here is welcome over at Blog for America, our official campaign blog. The conversation here is riveting. Tomorrow is Governor Dean’s last day here, so feel free to keep making suggestions and hashing it out in this thread. We’re all big Lessig fans on the Internet Team, and it has been, as many have said, an historic week. Lessig quotes EFF founder Mitch Kapor as saying… Continue reading →

I recognize that the blog entries have been quick. I�m new to blogging, a little tired, and have been on the road. This is the first time this week where I�ve had a little more time to really sit down and digest some of the comments. I’m really impressed by the candor on this blog, and the complexity of the discussions. Someone asked which parts of the Patriot Act I thought were unconstitutional. I have real problems authorizing the FBI to obtain library and bookstore and video store records simply by claiming the information is “sought for” an investigation against… Continue reading →

The post below is from Governor Howard Dean. You can check out the crossposting and commentary at www.blogforamerica.com and read more about Howard Dean at www.deanforamerica.com. Thanks!– Matt, Zephyr and Nicco, Dean Internet Team… Continue reading →

Hello from the Dean for America campaign. Governor Howard Dean will be posting later today, here and at the official campaign blog, Blog for America. It’s our policy that whenever Governor Dean posts anywhere on the Internet, his posts will also be crossposted to our site…. Continue reading →

Yesterday, I completed a draft of a new book. Tomorrow, Bettina and I leave for our first vacation in a very long time (and, as we expect, the last vacation the two of us will take alone in a very long time).

So it is time for me to take a break from this space too. But I’ve arranged for a much more interesting guest blogger while I’m gone: former governor, and presidential candidate, Howard Dean.

This is, I believe, the first time a presidential candidate has been a guest blogger. But it is an obvious extension of blogs and the process of becoming President. Campaigns are all about meeting different groups and talking about ideas. Where better than a blog?

I have great respect for Governor Dean, and especially the clarity of his voice. I have even greater respect now that I see the doctor makes house calls. So Governor, welcome to this tiny server at Stanford: You’ll find perfect acoustics provided by MovableType, and an interesting mix of views provided by the readers.

And to everyone else, enjoy the week of something totally different. Dean is on starting Monday. I should be back the week following.

One ground rule: I’ve had a policy of not editing comments of others, regardless of abusiveness. That is not my policy for my guests. You may disagree with the views you read here. But if you are reading them here, then you at least should respect the fact that they are being expressed here. It is important to me that blog-space everywhere become a place where more of this kind of conversation can occur. So trolls, please save your abuse for my return. Continue reading →

I hate politicians who pander. I consider myself a member of the anti-pandering crowd. So it is refreshing to see a politician pander to the anti-pandering crowd by taking a strong stand on a matter of principle that will earn him negative votes and dollars from an important constituency.

This week’s anti-panderer is Edwards. As Clay Risen writes in the New Republic, Edwards has come out strongly in favor of the expensing of stock options. This will hurt Silicon Valley firms (who wanted to record such options on balance sheets, and thus make it seem as if the firms were more profitable), but Edwards is plainly right about the policy. This issue is symptomatic of why Silicon Valley has been so awful at lobbying: TechNet, for example, has made this its primary policy objective. Yet of all the policies that would spur growth and innovation, special tax deals are the last that the Valley should be pushing.

Bravo for right policymaking, Senator Edwards. Maybe the Valley will learn something about what battles they ought to be fighting. Continue reading →

The great thing about the early stages of a presidential campaign is that the candidate and campaign have time to put together real messages of substance. This speech by Edwards on economic policy is a perfect example of this contribution of substance. It is extraordinarily good. Continue reading →

So loyal Dean supporters have been emailing me about Howard Dean’s Blog for America, and indeed, it is a great blog. Simple, minimalist, with access to real content, and a nice blog roll of the scores of Dean blogs out there — but for the absense of a Creative Commons license, it is brilliant.

As is much in the doctor’s campaign. There is a passion and a clarity to Dean’s message which mixes well with the passion and, um, ok, just passion of the web. An extraordinary number have volunteered for his campaign because of the web. And Tuesday’s MoveOn.org primary will demonstrate any power that this means might have.

The experts say Dean can’t win. I’m no expert, so what do I know. So far I’ve only met the one man Karl Rove seems most afraid of — Edwards. As I’ve blogged, I think a great deal of the Senator. Indeed, he is the first politician to inspire in a very long time.

Edwards’ campaign is run by a bunch of experts. They resist the fads of the net. They have a fancy website that feels like a 4th of July commercial. There is relatively little direct contact. There is very little of a bottom-up feel.

That’s all part of the strategy, they say, and again, who am I to question it. The plan is that Edwards should place in the first two primaries. But because he will have more money than anyone, he will sweep the next 20. So going slow, saving resources, etc., is the strategy. And he is sticking to the plan.

That may be right. But I would think what the campaign against President Bush needs is the passion and commitment that is spilling out everywhere on the web — mainly for candidates other than Edwards. How much could it cost to open a channel to enable this bottom-up rally? How bad would it really be to give Madison Avenue a rest?

It just seems weird to me: between the son of a mill worker, and the son of an investment banker, which would you expect to run the populist campaign, in style if not in substance?

If it were mine to call, I’d build a million from the bottom up, focusing on values that are common to us all — truth (as opposed to lies); right (as opposed to wrong).

But what do I know. I’ve never won anything wonderful, save the love of the mother of our (soon to be born) boy. Continue reading →

John Edwards has joined the long list of opponents to the Powell’s plans to relax media ownership rules. His letter to Powell is posted below. Notice, appropriately, the punchline is a question about the FCC’s mandate: We should ask, exactly who elected Chairman Powell, and upon whose mandate is he pushing this change?

May 28, 2003

The Honorable Michael K. Powell
Chairman, Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554

Dear Chairman Powell:

I write to urge you not to increase the national
broadcast ownership cap and not to proceed with the
rulemaking scheduled for June 2.

Diversity in the media is enormously important to our
democracy. As consumers, Americans should have
choices in the music they can hear and the television
programs they can watch. As citizens, Americans
should have access to different ideas and points of
view. The government has a responsibility to foster
this diversity of expression. Unfortunately, the
FCC’s new rules are likely to undermine it.

The effects on rural America could be particularly
harmful. People in rural communities and small-town
America have distinctive interests, and local stations
offer programming that responds to these interests. In
recent years, local stations in rural North Carolina
have offered prime-time broadcasts of Atlantic Coast
Conference basketball games, Billy Graham crusades,
and muscular dystrophy telethons. All Americans can
appreciate the importance of offering local
programming tailored to local concerns. By
undercutting this diversity, the FCC’s new rules will
do a disservice to all Americans.

I have heard you suggest that with the growth of cable
and satellite television, broadcast diversity is no
longer important. That may be true in some affluent
communities, but many Americans do not have cable and
satellite television, especially in rural areas.
These Americans depend on broadcast news and
programming, and their programming should offer real
choices that are responsive to their interests.

I am especially troubled that your agency is
implementing these proposals without permitting
further public discussion. The FCC does not have a
mandate to make controversial decisions without giving
the public a full opportunity to comment. The fact
that two Commissioners have requested a delay should
signal to you that the prudent course, at the least,
is to postpone the vote and permit open public
discussion.

Thank you for you consideration of this request.

Yours sincerely,
John Edwards

cc: Commissioners Abernathy, Adelstein, Copps, and
Martin Continue reading →

In a paper on Innovation released by the Lieberman campaign today, Senator Lieberman writes,

“Ensure that the Internet continues to provide an open platform for innovation: The Internet is different from the phone network and radio and broadcast television in important ways. It is easier for individuals and small organizations to be producers as well as consumers of information. The Internet allows for “many to many” communication as opposed to the “one to many” communication of broadcast television. Innovation can occur at the edge of the network. A student, an independent software developer, or a small high-tech company can come up with an idea for a new application, protocol, or kind of content. If enough people find it useful or worthwhile, this idea can spread like wildfire. Even as the Internet evolves, it important to ensure that it continues to provide an open platform for rapid and decentralized innovation, and for the exchange of ideas.”

End to End has gone presidential. Continue reading →