On the Power of Blogging

When Frank Page was elected President of the Southern Baptist Convention there was a lot of talk about how "blogging" would move the SBC back to the center.

Now that Ned Lamont has defeated Joe Lieberman in a Connecticut Democratic primary there is a lot of talk that "netroots" will move the Democratic party to the left.

Both predictions are exaggerated.

Ari Melber's essay in Nation magazine on, "Ned Lamont's Digital Constituency" provides a lot of helpful perspective. Here's a quote:

Some independent experts also see the recent attacks on bloggers as just campaign tactics. "Lieberman's best chance is to convince people that his opponents are extremists, and people who are unsophisticated in politics associate extremism with vitriolic behavior," explained Michael Cornfield, an assoicate research professor at George Washington University who studies Internet politics. Cornfield stressed that there is "no ideological bent" to netroots activists; the recent talk of bloggers pulling the party left relies on stereotypes, not data. Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, said surveys indicate that blog readers tend to be "engaged citizens" who are more likely to vote and participate in civic activities, but that there is no "significant partisan skewing" in the blogosphere.

My own experience in the blogosphere indicates that the internet is decidedly not skewed toward the left. In fact, the number of fundamentalists in the Christian blogosphere significantly exceeds the number of moderates and progressives.

Want some evidence? See if you can find any moderate or progressive seminary in the world that can match the number of bloggers that Al Mohler is cultivating at Southern Seminary.