I've been caught in a serious case of the Muhndays, but the mighty Atrios's declaration that it's time to start talking non-stop policy is brightening my mood considerably. Me like the wonkery. And it's important. Till now, politicians and think tanks offering new ideas had to beg for coverage from establishment media types like Broder, Samuelson, or Mallaby. And these are not the types who reward liberal policy thinking. So the incentives suck: To attract a reputation as a liberal thinker, your liberal thoughts need to reach an audience. But until very recently, the media gatekeepers were on constant guard against genuinely liberal proposals. And you wonder why congressional Democrats seem so timid.
The blogs offer new opportunities for politicians seeking a name through policy. Take the Wyden proposal. A couple bloggers, myself included, spent a few days pushing and explaining his health plan, and it's now reached, literally, hundreds of thousands of people, and even appeared on the mega-site of the mighty Atrios. At Wyden HQ, the hundreds of links, thousands of views, and breadth of discussion is positive feedback, and it assures them that there's a niche for this sort of thinking, which in turn encourages this sort of thinking in both their office and the wider United States Senate.
Feedback, promotion, and mention -- even from the blogs -- is more important to politicians than you might think, and just as many blogs have worked to create incentives for the media to offer fairer coverage, many more should construct an infrastructure that encourages smart, progressive, forward-looking policy seriousness among our political leaders. Happily, it's an easier job than you might assume, and even the conversion of a few serious politicians would make an enormous difference.
