cybered things

Zack Exley, a political consultant wrote “Don´t just hire a blogger, BE the blogger!“. I agree and thing that election campaigning blogs should be transparent and collective. Bloggers shouldn’t be paid and and the whole campaigning team should blog about the campaign.

On the 26th of December 2005 I was really a Drama Queen, I remember it clearly only because I blogged about it. Four months before the General Elections for the 17th Knesset (parliament) held in Israel on 28th of March 2006. Dan Goldenblatt, political adviser to member of Knesset Dr. Roman Bronfman invited a politically charged young teenager to a meeting. I came late and missed most of it. Assia, my friend whom I dragged to meetings and occasionally helped me let of steam and complain, moan and shout, or just plain unpleasant, was present at the meeting. When I barged in, the young man was hired to our team. I left the party offices with Assia, she told me what happened during the meeting. To this day I don’t understand why Dan was so charmed by this kid, well he did mange to organize high school pupils around the country and campaign a against the implementation of the “Dovrat Commission“. Critics claimed this would privatize the whole Israeli education system. I phoned up Dan and said that I was surprised he hired the boy. I said that we agreed that the campaign would be based on a new kind of politics more accessible and transparent. How could we do that if some bloggers are paid and others are not. I wasn’t going to argue about it, I just said no and made a scene about it. I won, but Dan still told me off. I closed my mobile and told Assia “I am paid to little to compromise my ideology”.

More on ghost bloggers

I am discussing my Open Source Political strategy for MK. Dr. Roman Bronfman and the Democratic Choice Party. Building a community, Adding interactivity and transparency to the way politics are done.

• Podcast (MP3 Audio file)
• opolitics: Open Politics blog