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Politics as a Social Institution
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I think Matt Stoller's observation here is missing a second paragraph:

I met Mark Warner briefly once, and I really couldn't distinguish him from any other political candidate. It was at what he calls a 'Happy Hour with a Purpose', a townhall-style event that takes place in a bar and without as much speechifying as a normal political event. He gets credit for understanding that what is exciting about politics is not the speeches, but the social interactions and sense of comraderie that emerges from public discourse.

Yes, the Internets, blogging, frustration with Bush, Meetup, Howard Dean, and the desire to stop Bowling Alone have made political discourse more social than in previous years. Which is great for people like Matt Stoller and me. But, there are still plenty of people who would frankly prefer not to pay super close attention to what's going on and have elected officals simply Do Their Jobs. After all, at the level of engagement where you're going to Drinking Liberally once a week or a Meetup once a month, and probably reading the news and perhaps occasionaly sending emails to your friends on the subject, you've picked up another hobby.

Generating a large social movement that will agitate for positive change is a Good Thing, but at the same time someone needs to be thinking about how to sell it to people who are more interested in how their kids are doing in school or how the baseball team is doing.

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Last updated by Nicholas Beaudrot on 06:19 13 March 2006