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BlogHer 2007 was my first blogging conference and I must admit I learned more about politics than I bargained for.
My education began with the first Breakout Session for politics, Earn Our Votes: What Questions Do Women Bloggers Want Candidates to Answer In Election 2008?
Sarah Simmons, a Republican party pollster shared statistics about the diversity and trends of female voters both young and old, as well as spoke about how women voters drove the margin for change in the House and Senate in the 2006 elections.
She stated that women have a broad agenda when it comes to politics. Some of our main concerns include health care, withdrawal from Iraq, education, costs of living, how to successfully own and operate small businesses, and how to care for our aging parents.
Ms. Simmons mentioned that women are more likely to personalize politics to fit their main concerns and beliefs. When women discuss immigration we don't really discuss immigration. We worry about emergency room back-ups due to the "non-taxpaying" patients and the rising costs of health care as a result. When women discuss the environment we don't talk about the environment. Instead we talk about clean drinking water for our families and children, and well-kept parks and green spaces for recreational activities.
Another interesting piece of information is that 45% of female voters are favorable to Senator Hillary Clinton as a presidential candidate, but 67% of Republicans or conservative women are not.
This is largely because they feel Hillary hasn't struggled, suffered, or sacrificed to get where she is today. Because Hillary Clinton is a woman, wife, mother and successful career woman, some women feel she hasn't been in their shoes and that she doesn't understand their less privileged positions.
While it's sad to hear that women can judge other women based solely on her achievements, whether they are jealous of her success or not, I can't fault them for feeling that Hillary Clinton is disconnected from women who don't share the same success.
During this panel, the audience also broke into multi-partisan groups to discuss four critical issues raised by a survey. The four areas of the biggest concern were Economy, Health Care, Environment and Iraq. BlogHer's Morra Aarons is working to bring the results of these focus groups to BlogHer very soon.
Some of the questions that were asked in the Economy breakout included: The corrupt student loan system, rising child care costs for working mothers and families, national minimum wage is still low, small businesses are suffering because the cost of health insurance is skyrocketing, bankruptcy laws are disorganized and complicated, and the very frustrating mortgage crisis.
Women want answers to these questions and more. We're tired of politicians spewing the same pat answers when we talk about important issues.
After this breakout I stayed for the next session, How to Write Great Political Coverage: From Breaking News to Op-Ed. Professor Kim Pearson was an excellent moderator and encouraged the audience to interact during the session.
She asked, "Are political bloggers the same as bloggers who write about politics?"
We got into small groups and the one I was in decided that while political bloggers tend to push a certain agenda, a person who blogs about politics may be discussing the issues. On the other hand, bloggers can write a post that isn't about politics at all and still be political.
An example was given by a group member in regards to jazz music and the effects of Hurricane Katrina almost destroying the birthplace of jazz. Americans didn't seem to be as concerned about this, perhaps because of the predominant race of the jazz culture and this definitely comes across as political.
Panelists Faye Anderson and Katharine Daniels also offered great advice for writing about politics.
Glennia from The Silent "I" has a comprehensive list at her blog. Here are just a few:
Be clear about who you think you are and what you are covering. Let audience know what you are trying to accomplish. Have to have clarity on what you are doing and develop your own sense of mission.
Be transparent with your audience. If someone comes to your blog, and reads something on a particular candidate, they may assume that you support that candidate. If you say something negative about a candidate, they may assume that you support the other side.
Do your homework and consider the
