Hillary Clinton Opens Blog, Plays it Safe

Hillary Clinton’s blog has opened. Clinton is unlikely to face the controversy faced by John Edwards with the hiring of Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan. Clinton previously hired Peter Daou for her outreach to the blogosphere, and the blog is being written by Crystal Patterson, who previously ran Ted Kennedy’s blog. Unfortunately being out spoken is expected in the blogosphere, but a different style is needed by those representing public officials.

Besides Patterson, the blog is utilizing guest posts by supporters. Considering that the typical entries on a candidate’s blog are not the most notable products of the blogosphere, increasing interest by allowing supporters to have their posts on the main page is a good idea. The goal, after all, is to keep those interested in the campaign coming back and helping to crate buzz for the candidate (and perhaps donate a few bucks).

Hillary’s blog is most like the candidate blogs we became accustomed to in the 2004 race. In contrast, Obama’s blog combines a traditional blog with a My Space clone and Edwards uses every bell and whistle developed in the last few years. While Obama and Edwards offer more at their blogs, sometimes simpler is better. If the goal is to keep supporters hanging around your site, Edwards has the edge. However if the goal is to keep current supporters interested (but perhaps not so busy with the site that they have no time to campaign in other ways), and to also be user-friendly to voters who are not yet familiar with the blogosphere, Hillary’s blog might be the best from the top tier Democratic candidates.

1 Comment

  1. 1
    Deborah Huston says:

    Why does Hillary think the government can do a better job with my heathcare than they did with Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Schools, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. I worked globally for 6 years and in the UK, Canada, etc. no one in a professional job supported or boasted about national healthcare. What do you consider ‘rich’ Hillary?

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