Blogging About the Bloggers

I have to admit the first time I heard about the DNC sending Bloggers to the convention I thought it was an interesting idea. The media didn’t like it and made fun,. I thought "Wooo! Power to the people! The media went to Live Journal and thoughted that all bloggers were 14 year old girls angsting over flaring pimples. What they got were print journalists angsting over foreign policy.

I wanted for the bloggers to give their readers more of an up close and inside view of the whole thing. I wanted to know if the bathrooms were nice and how long the lines were. I wanted to know how much the drinks cost and if it is as loud in the hall as it seems like it would be. Were the delegates in a good mood? Were there any noticeable miscues? I wanted to know what it was like. I didn’t get comment on what the delegates did during the day or what the schedule was . I mean, was everyone in the convention hall all day or did they just arrive in the afternoon. What did 15, 000 people do the four days they were there? The media talked about the security. What was it liked the be searched? I wanted to know what the Protest Cages were like.

The Bloggers went and wrote informative entries about the speeches and who said them what they said and what was heard. It was all very professional and informative. I watched the speech from my living room, I know what was said and more or less who was saying them - what did the crowd think? What was the energy in the room like? Speaking of the crowd, how did they get their signs?, when were they handed out? How different signs were there? What happened to their signs after the speeches, did they get to keep them?

I know what the pundits said after the speeches, but what was going on in the hall? What was the mood there? What were the people on the floor and up in the rafters talking about afterwards?

And another question, what did the crowd do in-between speeches? I saw a reference on TV to a lot of music being played and some delegates dancing around, but what else? What did they do to keep everyone busy? What went on at the delegate meetings? I heard from the media that Ben Afflick showed up at least one of them.
Did the Bloggers see anyone really interesting? Did anyone come to them and say "Wow, Bloggers! Kewl!" did they meet John Cusack?

I know, I know all the Bloggers that went were very serious students of the body politic, and they went to cover the speeches and be all pundit-y and serious and all that. Okay. But, they are all pundit-y and serious even when they aren’t covering a convention. I wanted to known what it all meant to them. The media types were all a flutter over these Bloggers and What It All Meant that Bloggers were there. I don’t think it meant anything.

I only read one blogger who did seem to give a more prosaic spin on what she was seeing and I think she got skewered for it too. Only the Real Media can make note of cash bars? I count on blogs I read, and I read a lot of blogs, to tell me little things, parts of life, and experiences’s I have not had and don’t get a chance to have. I wanted minutia, I got minutes.