Blogging From The Peanut Gallery

By Cernig

An Ian Dale post on what might be expected in the UK blogosphere when, as everyone expects, the Tories take power got me thinking about what will happen on US blogs after November if Obama wins. Dale considers the theory that blogging is easier for the political opposition - that we bloggers are, at the end of the day, opposers by nature.

I think there's a lot of truth in that - and over the last few years it's been easier for Leftie blogs to oppose actual policies which have a chance of being implemented. Righties have been more confined to opposing drummed-up issues, which is why faux-outrage specialists like Michelle Malkin, LGF and Red State have been so dominant on the Right. That's probably all about to change and those "outraged over not much" types are going to lose ground to those conservative bloggers who are capable of thinking through their opposition in more substantative policy terms.

On the Left too, there are going to be changes. Some Dem/Obama forms of Powerline-style mindless sycophancy are almost certain to emerge - and I hope some of us are going to be mindful enough to ridicule them. In the UK, Dale writes that he'll continue to criticize Tory mistakes when he feels the need - but there's going to be less need when a stronger Lefty blogosphere can do the criticising on substantative grounds and more peer pressure to defend his chosen party. The converse is going to be true in the US, where Lefties are more likely to fall into the "defending the administration" pattern we've seen from rightwing blogs during the Bush terms. That's more likely the closer the blogger is to the adminsitration in terms of contacts and possible future largesse. Might we see Kos and MyDD emulate the kind of administration cheerleaders we've until now only seen from the Powerlines of the US blogosphere?

What do you think?

Postscript: As to Ian Dale's claim that there are too few effective lefty blogs in the UK to provide an online opposition voice against the conservative's online dominance, he should expect that to change rapidly once Cameron is in No.10. Again, opposing is what bloggers do and a whole new slew of leftside UK-politics bloggers, some of whom are bound to be really good, will start up after the next UK election. I, for one, am planning a return to the UK, taking my American family with me, in the next year or two. At that point, there will naturally be more UK politics on Newshoggers as I am immersed back into the daily political news cycle there. Not that I'll be any kinder to the Labour party, mind you - I'm an SNP man.

Comments

[smintheus]

"Might we see Kos and MyDD emulate the kind of administration cheerleaders we've until now only seen from the Powerlines of the US blogosphere?"

As regards the former, I doubt it.

[David Chappell]

"I, for one, am planning a return to the UK..."

Out of the frying pan into the fire, given the state of UK society these days - or are you expecting to return to a free and independent (and cold) Scotland?

PS - Even though Mr Dale is an Essex boy he does spell him name the Gaelic way!

[anderson]

Well, if one is posting about imperial misprisions, failing interfaces between people and politics, a corporate owned Congress, why, nothing will change at all. Absolutely nothing. I'll be as busy as ever....

[BJ]

I've always figured that as registered America-haters, we should be allowed to bitch regardless which party happens to be in charge. Though I must admit I do find it a bit more difficult lambasting someone over certain policies when their only major opponents are spouting alternatives that are far worse.

[James]

I think we've already seen the beginnings of a conversion to being "administration cheerleaders" of sorts vis a vis Congress, to the extent that since the Dems won majorities in 2006, the sorts of hardcore critiques of corruption, pork, and refusals to investigate and/or impeach the current admin. have either fallen by the wayside or at bare minimum have been shouted down over at Kos and elsewhere as "purity trolling" and such. It'll only get worse after November - especially so assuming Obama wins the keys to the Oval Office and the Dem majorities grow.

[RickB]

Iain Dale is a self publicist and continually acts as self appointed expert on blogging which is laughable (and has been caught massaging his stats and sock puppeting among others, see Tim Ireland's Bloggerheads), I would take anything he says (particularly about his position under a Tory govt) with a huge pinch of salt. He is also very framed into party politics and has trouble understanding not all blogs are tied to an organistaion which affects their editorial position. His view on UK left blogs is a bit like the level of expertise you would get from a grandmother in her dotage on what emo bands are hot. Read another way he is making pre-emptive excuses as to why he will remain a cheerleader for toryism.

That aside yes I expect US blogs to split into cheerleaders and principled voices and as James says that phenomena is already present. It has happened in the UK already under NuLabour, the right likes to say it is a crisis of the left, it is actually a crisis of democracy we have no main parties pursuing anything but neoliberal & pro-war policies (although Scotland and Wales are not as 'consensus-ised' go SNP indeed!) we have no real choice. Unless the right are admitting they aren't democratic and what they mean by left is people dissenting from their (Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown's) agenda, which would be some refreshing honesty...