Typing Politics: Trent Lott

Richard Davis is a professor of political science at Brigham Young University. He holds a PhD in Political Science from Syracuse University. His new book, Typing Politics: The Role of Blogs in American Politics, provides a comprehensive yet concise assessment of the growing role played by political blogs and their relationship with the mainstream media. In the post below, Davis introduces an excerpt from his book which talks about Trent Lott.

In December 2002, Senator Trent Lott, Republican of Mississippi, lost his job as Senate majority leader because of an off-hand statement he made about Mississippi’s vote for then-third party presidential candidate Strom Thurmond in 1948 and how the nation would have been better off if Thurmond, an avowed segregationist then, had won the presidency that year. Political blogs helped bring Lott down. They continued the story until the traditional media picked it up and brought it to the attention of the general public and other politicians who quickly distanced themselves from Thurmond.

In the following excerpt I talk about how much has changed since that incident. The excerpt closes with questions I raise and answer in the book.

When the Trent Lott story first broke in 2002, blogs were unknown to the vast majority of Americans. Fewer had even read a blog, much less a political blog. Since then, the blogosphere has carved out a niche in American political life. It is a factor in public relations strategies. It is catered to by national policymakers. Blog stories break into national news media topics. Occasionally, blogs have played a role in dramatic events in American politics such as the retirement of Dan Rather, the withdrawal of Harriet Miers’ name as a Supreme Court nominee, and the resignation of Trent Lott as Senate majority leader.

Whether the blogosphere is a permanent fixture in political life is debatable. Online discussion has undergone various forms in the lifespan of the Internet and, for the most part, online forums have lacked the transformative powers once predicted for them. Bulletin boards, Usenet, and chat rooms are examples of political communication forms that were at one time touted as capable of transforming politics and reshaping the way political communication is conducted. However, each failed to attract visible roles as permanent forces on the Internet, much less the larger political environment. E-mail is one forum that has outlasted the others and has the strongest potential of operating as a grassroots mobilizing tool, although even it has not achieved that potential.

Blogs could be different. Their history is short. But during their brief existence, they have affected a few key events and possess the potential of affecting more in the future. Perhaps the greatest hope for long-lasting blog role is the attention they receive from journalists….

The present task, however, is to answer some questions about this newly influential medium: Who are these bloggers, particularly the most influential ones who receive media attention and attract relatively large numbers of readers? How did they get to be influential in the blogosphere, as well as in American politics? What are their blogs about? And, finally, how do they operate and what do they say on those blogs that impacts other political players?