Geeking about Dean

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This entry was published at least two years ago (originally posted on July 21, 2003). Since that time the information may have become outdated or my beliefs may have changed (in general, assume a more open and liberal current viewpoint). A fuller disclaimer is available.

I really wonder if there are people on the Howard Dean campaign who are tied in enough to the “geek” side of the blogosphere to realize how big of a deal it could be that Dean is getting mentioned prominently by Doc Searls, Robert Scoble, and Tom Negrino.

Much as Robert likes to claim he’s got all of 18 readers (which is about 12 more than I’ve got, I think), he, Doc, and Tom and his wife Dori Smith are some of the bigger names in the weblogging world. Robert’s one of the most well-known Microsoft webloggers and a Longhorn evangilist; Doc, among many other things, is the senior editor for Linux Journal; and Tom and Dori are Mac fans and authors of several technical books. Big names, getting Dean’s name out into tech circles. Could be a very good thing. If nothing else, it’s more exposure, but given the general tech bent of all three weblogs, Doc’s interest in copyright and media issues and Dean’s appearance on Lawrence Lessig‘s blog last week, I can’t help but think that there are possibilities here.

Make sure that Dean is kept current on some of the “geekier” political battles and can articulate his stances on those issues clearly (one of the issues I’ve read about the Lessig guest-blogger appearance was Dean’s perceived lack of a solid stance on many of the issues that Lessig’s core readership hold dear), and it could go a long way to solidifying Dean’s support among the tech set.

2 thoughts on “Geeking about Dean”

  1. From things the Dean campaign has said and done, it sure looks like they get it. We don’t take it lightly, for instance, that Dean’s blog has a reciprocal link back to us.

    And while I was at Macworld Creative Pro Expo last week, it was very, very, clear to me that I wasn’t the only techie interested in Dean. I wasn’t the only person there wearing a Dean button, and wearing one guaranteed that I would get into discussions that showed me how many people are paying close attention to his campaign.

    There’s a lot of people out there unhappy with the status quo, and Dean is the only one who’s doing a good job of channelling that desire for change.

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