Jerome Armstrong: MyDD founder, Daily Kos “blogfather,” Mark Warner‘s internet guy, co-author of “Crashing the Gate,” and the keynote speaker at next month’s Summit on Blogging and Democracy in the Commonwealth. That should fill out his resume nicely.
Jerome is, of course, a Democrat, and I’m kind of nervous about having a partisan keynote speaker. (Our other two speakers are Bob Holsworth and Mike Shear, each of whom are non-partisan, of course.) But the fact is that being in Warner’s employ, his book’s strong criticisms of the Democratic Party, and his experience running MyDD all give him the breadth and depth of experience that make him an great, great fit for this audience. I hope my Republican friends will agree.
Haven’t registered for the event yet? Sign up on-line today — it’ll only take two minutes.
I’m reading Crashing the Gate right now. I agree with your comment about strong criticism of Democrats in the book. He pulls no punches.
I’ve got no problem with a partisan speaker. If the speaker had no strong opinions, he’d hardly be qualified to talk to bloggers, would he?
Waldo,
I’m apalled. A regular contributor to the Daily Kos, a left wing “moonbat” orginization if there ever was one, as a featured speaker?
Do we have a “freeper” scheduled as balance? If not, why not?
Alton, I think you’ll find that Jerome’s contributions to Daily Kos are both limited and fact-oriented. But he’s not known as a Daily Kos contributor — he’s done virtually nothing with the site for a couple of years. I mention Daily Kos because Markos describes Jerome as Daily Kos’s “blogfather” — the guy who inspired Markos to start Daily Kos. His credentials are really as author, founder of MyDD, and Mark Warner’s Internet Director.
If you can find a famous (or quasi-famous) Virginia Republican blogger who would be willing and able to speak, I’m all ears. :) Unfortunately, we’re batting .000 on that front—the few willing people who are qualified simply aren’t available. There aren’t a lot of such people who are interested in preparing a lengthy speech and trekking to Charlottesville, without pay, to speak to a relatively small audience. Oddly enough. :)
Jerome knows the audience to whom he’ll be speaking, and he knows this isn’t a Democratic rally. He’s been invited not for his partisan credentials, but because his experience and background in politics and blogging make him the most qualified, experienced person in the state in this realm. And, best of all, he’s available. :)
Believe me, we’d love to have as many prominent speakers as possible—Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian, Marxist, Anarchist…whatever. Sorensen, as a non-partisan organization, works real hard on balance in all things that they do. Everybody’s working hard for balance in this event. Here’s hoping that, as the last few speakers get lined up, it works out like that.
Daily Kos is hardly a “left wing” Web site, and the appelation “moonbat” is not worth dignifying with a response. Sure, DailyKos is unabashedly partisan and all of the front page posters are vehemently opposed to the war in Iraq. The site is far less about ideology and more about partisanship, dissemination of news, and electoral strategy.
Jerome has the further qualification of having functioned as a consultant in internet strategy for a Virginia congressional campaign during the first election in which a Virginia congressman had a blog.