It’s time to put a writer in the White House

 10-19-03

By Edward Cone
News & Record

 It’s about time we put a writer in the White House.

Wordsmiths used to get elected president, and the results were often quite good. Jefferson, Madison, Lincoln -- all were writers of the highest order, capable of expressing ideas and ideals in ways that shaped history.

Today we get soundbites and sincere gazes toward the television camera. Our last president danced a bit too nimbly around the language, and our current president has two left feet. We could use a leader capable of communicating deeply and directly in his own words.

I’m still betting on George Bush to get reelected in ’04, although he’s vulnerable if Iraq and the economy both tank. But whenever our next writing president is chosen, he or she will reach people via the Internet – the tool that can restore written language to its proper role in American politics.

So far, the most successful early adopter of this new medium is Howard Dean, who is bringing in real money and generating major buzz with his campaign weblog. His rivals are scrambling to catch up. On Monday, John Edwards unveiled a spiffy new version 2.0 of his website. Meanwhile, Web-linked grassroots supporters of General Wesley Clark are fighting with DC-centric political professionals for the soul of his campaign.

There is even a Bush/Cheney site that pretends to be a weblog, although so far it is just a place for old press releases to go when they die. I wouldn’t count the Republicans out yet, though. If Karl Rove figures out a way to harness the kind of energy that pro-war bloggers unleashed after 9/11, his job will be much easier. The tinder is there, he just needs to find a match.

Presidential campaigns now have the ability to route around television and other corporate media in order to communicate directly with voters. These voters can join the conversation by posting comments on the candidate’s site, or serve as force multipliers by writing on their own personal weblogs and spreading the message by word of mouth – often to people they meet through the campaign’s online community. Getting people involved in the campaign, getting them excited, may allow candidates to reach some of the 49% of voters who didn’t bother to turn out for the last election, when 1% could have decided the race.

Jim Moore, a fellow at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, has written about a “second superpower” forming on the Web – a weight of global public opinion that can counterbalance the unchallenged military strength of the United States. Similarly, a nation of interconnected writers can be an alternative to the power of big media. The web lets the masses reach a mass audience -- it brings Second Amendment logic to the First Amendment, greatly increasing the firepower of the written word in a  private arsenal.

Whether campaigns will listen to their grassroots supporters is an open question. You don’t want a candidate who swings with the breeze, but you do want to be nimble and seize on good ideas. Credit the Edwards campaign with listening to criticisms of its initial supermodel of a weblog – pretty but vacant -- and Dean’s people for grabbing the nickname “People-Powered Howard” from a supporter. It’s not exactly setting policy, but it’s a start.

Nobody in the current race has emerged as a particularly stirring writer on the Web. Dean lets his staff and supporters write almost all of his weblog content. When he guest-blogged at the site of law professor Lawrence Lessig, a commenter accused him of using ghost-writers, and his staff replied that they would certainly have written better stuff for him if that had been the case. I still think Edwards, a legendary closer as a trial lawyer who has some good speeches posted online, could break through as a writer, but so far the most compelling blogger at his site is his wife, Elizabeth.

It may be years before the Web puts a writer back in the White House. Internet access is still limited, especially for less-affluent people. Television and the print media will remain important, although they will be increasingly influenced by direct communication over the Web. Personal appearances and strength of message still matter.

What is changing is the ability of individuals to make themselves heard. The candidates all smell dollars, but funding is only part of the equation. The written word is the most powerful code since DNA, and the candidate who figures that out will have a huge advantage. And the candidate who really connects with people in his own words will be a winner.