The Shape of Days

I got an e-mail over the weekend. It wasn’t a rude one; it was actually quite polite. But it challenged me on something, and I thought I should respond publicly.

I won’t quote the e-mail, but the gist of it was, “Why didn’t you post anything about the endorsements or the polls? Aren’t you a blogger for Bush?”

The answer, Constant Reader, is no. I am a Bush supporter in this year’s election. I am a fan of the president in general. But my job here is not to be an arm of Bush Cheney ’04. My motives are entirely selfish: I blog because I want to. I share observations and opinions and dumb ideas and interesting links because it amuses me to do so, and because it strokes my ego somethin’ fierce to know that others read the things I write and enjoy them.

Polls? Really, who cares? It’s nice to know that the candidate I’m rooting for is up in the polls, but it’s no different than knowing that the Yankees are dominating the BoSox three games to one. It’s interesting and all, but it’s nothing to get cocky about. (Sorry, Michele. I’ve thrown my lot in with the pinstripes this year.)

And as for endorsements, I’m not wild about the idea of newspaper endorsements at all. I think they’re a terrible idea — the voters do not need to be told who to vote for, and if they do it sure as hell shouldn’t be the editorial board of the local paper that does the telling — and I’d love to see the practice go the way of the dinosaur, or at least get it off the editorial page and onto a “paid advertising section” where it belongs.

So my ultimate answer, Constant Reader, is that I am not an “activist.” I write about what interests me, not what I think will influence the outcome of the election. I’m all for raising the level of public debate, I’m opinionated as hell, and I’ll even try to persuade you to adopt one position or another when the mood strikes me. But I’m not in this to become yet another outlet for any campaign’s press releases.

Besides, if there are any Americans left that don’t know how the polls look or which newspapers came out for which candidate, it’s not my job to tell ’em.

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