Why Bush should blog

I'm kidding, of course. But the thought did occur to me upon reading this morning's coverage of the indictment of White House top aide Scooter Libby (Vice President Cheney's chief of staff). Quoted in the Washington Post is David King of Harvard's Institute of Politics:

"Bush (ought to) at least give the appearance of being open to criticism and willing to change," especially in light of the fact that "there is a larger question in this administration of whether there is willingness to hear dissent."

Hmm... sounds familiar, doesn't it? Isn't that pretty much the point of a corporate blog: to give the appearance that a company is open to what customers have to say even if it's negative?

Kind of reminds me of the current buzz over SixApart's travails with its popular TypePad blogging service. It took a while (too long) but 6A finally responded - through co-founder Mena Trott's blog and then with a (rare) blog post from CEO Barak Berkowitz.

Now that doesn't mean 6A's troubles are over. Just as a Bush Blog wouldn't absolve the President of making bad (aka wrong) decisions, whether it's the war in Iraq or the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.

OK, enough on politics. It's one of my bugaboos when it comes to blogging. Dangerous territory to wander into. So I'll shut up.

Comments

[Kari Chisholm]

Dangerous territory, indeed. But it's where I live. :)

I'm not sure that the president could/should/would blog - god knows he couldn't read the tidal wave of comments - but politicians blogging have found enormous benefit in it.

Some reading material:
Why Congressman Conyers Likes to Blog - http://www.politicsandtechnology.com/2005/10/why_congressman.html
The "Skutnick": How I learned to stop worrying and love the blog - http://www.politicsandtechnology.com/2005/08/the_skutnick__h.html
Blogs at the (Texas) Legislature - http://www.politicsandtechnology.com/2005/07/blogs_at_the_te.html
Is blogging too risky for politicians? - http://www.politicsandtechnology.com/2005/06/is_blogging_too.html
27 Legislators, One Blog. - http://www.politicsandtechnology.com/2005/05/27_legislators_.html
Jerry Brown: The Blogging Mayor - http://www.politicsandtechnology.com/2005/05/jerry_brown_the.html

OK, enough blog-whoring for one evening.... :)

[Meryl]

Just saw this today:

House to Vote on Political Blogging Rules

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3560906

[Mag]

Believe me Debbie, it's a bad idea. Most likely his posts would be considered as comment spam anyway.