[there are four blogging news stories in this post, all political.]
The New York Times :: The Role of the Delete Key in Blog
by Michael Falcone
...Is a blog still a blog if someone else edits it? A recent policy change at The Sacramento Bee has raised questions about whether taking an editor's pen to a Web log before it is published detracts from very nature of Web logs, or "blogs,'' as the online diaries are called.
Lurking uncertainty about what standards should be applied to Web logs written by journalists bubbled to the surface last week after The Bee's ombudsman made public a recent decision by editors to screen Web log entries of Daniel Weintraub, one of the newspaper's leading columnists, before they are posted on The Bee's Web site.
Other bloggers weighed in, many sharply criticizing the new regulations that the editors imposed on Mr. Weintraub's popular "California Insider" blog, widely considered required reading for recall election news...
MENAFN.COM - Middle East North Africa :: Knight Ridder Newspapers
By Dick Polman
... it's clear that the Web is changing the way national politics is conducted. Campaign aides talk incessantly about conquering the "blogosphere" _ the corner of cyberspace where "bloggers" write daily logs about politics. ("Blog derives from "Web log.) Some campaigns are even courting the best-known bloggers (and, by extension, their online audiences), much the way candidates in the FDR era went hat in hand to the cigar-chomping party bosses.
For any serious presidential candidate these days, it's de rigeur to have a top-notch techno-geek on staff. Ten years ago, bragging rights went to the candidate who hired the best TV ad-maker. But in campaign `08, the big hire could be the tekkie who creates the best candidate blog _ an online journal accessed by the citizenry...
Contra Costa Times :: Bush campaign revs into higher gear
By David L. Greene Baltimore SUN
...Mindful of the success Howard Dean has enjoyed in raising money and rallying support over the Internet for his Democratic presidential drive, the Bush campaign has set up a Web site, www.georgewbush.com, that's cleverly designed to make it a cinch to donate money and other support. On the site, people are invited to give money, to call talk shows or write to newspapers in support of the president. (They can download suggested text.) They are also offered flashy campaign literature to post on their personal Web sites or blogs...
AP Wire :: Sharon Davis offers strength, solace to husband's campaign
by Beth Fouhy
...In an interview with The Associated Press, Sharon Davis said her goal is to acquaint California voters with the Gray Davis she has known for 25 years.
"I read profiles and I don't even recognize the person I'm reading about," she said. "The person I see when he comes home every night, or the person I see at the office. He's genuinely a good guy, a decent hardworking guy who's had some big challenges."
With her dimples and broad smile, Sharon Davis projects a warmth that seems genuine, unforced; she softens her husband's brittle edges. She spends her days traversing the state and delivering speeches, all the while "blogging" her campaign diary to his Web site. In the campaign's effort to humanize the governor, his wife is a powerful tool.
"I think she is able to convey a more personable side of Gray and their relationship," said Bruce Cain, a political scientist at University of California, Berkeley...