A note on Lowell Feld: Flowers for the living Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Posted by Conaway B. Haskins III in Uncategorized.trackback
Primarily a virtual community, the blogosphere exists as the land of avatars and pseudonyms, or for those who are “out of the closet,” it is the alter ego that appears quirky to our friends and family. Our “socialization” also includes regular comment-makers who virtually set-up shop on someone else’s blog, and the dreaded trolls. On occasion, our relationships extend a few feet deeper via emails, off-line phone calls, and variations on meet-ups and confabs. Defying Robert Putnam, our quickness to bond or battle creates its own special social capital that we spend or waste with the shifting winds. As such, we have found “friends” and “enemies” whom we often have never had significant in-person contact with.
The 2006 election season witnessed a transformation in Virginia’s democracy at the hands of its digital denizens. The lefty bloggers generated energy and attention for one of America’s unlikeliest politicians, defying logic and conventional wisdom to help send their man to Washington. The right-wingers tried valiantly to defend the character and record of a legendary retail politician seemingly hellbent on stunning, self-inflicted torture. Post-election, it is generally agreed that my side won. While a lot of hands stirred the pot that burned George Allen, one man was at the center of it all – Lowell Feld.
Love him or hate him, Lowell helped drive the blogosphere’s innovations, paving the way for an interesting model of political media & activism whose long-term effects will be sorted out in the months that follow. Even when we had our disagreements over message and/or methods, I respected the ultimate impact of his work. His dedication to his craft and commitment to his candidate were unparalleled, and he deserves plenty of credit for shaping the brave new world of Virginia politics. Now, it looks like Lowell may be leaving us to pursue other options, barring a Mark Twain moment.
Lowell’s exit would be a loss to the entire blogosphere, right or left. Given the previous departures of major conservative and Republican bloggers, maybe it is fitting that our side will suffer a big hit. For just as the Commonwealth’s political system finds itself in a realignment, its blogger subdivision will do likewise. If this is the end of the road for him, his presence will be missed. If he’s just recharging the batteries for the next big battle, I’m sure that his next adventure will keep us captivated.
With deepest apologies to Mr. Tribbett, Lowell Feld will be known as the most influential blogger of this era of Virginia politics.
Amen to that.
there is a difference between Lowell and many other bloggers. Lowell is also a traditional party activist nby being co-chair of a precinct. That enabled him to help blend together disparate elements of the party. It is worth noting that the core groups that helped persuade Webb to run included another blogger, Josh Chernilla, and a grass-roots activist who is about as far from blogging as you can get, Lee Diamond.
I too hope Lowell does not abandon us. He has served our party and the country well.
Agreed, agreed, agreed. Very good diary, good comments Josh and teacherken.
Thanks Conaway, we’ll see what the future holds. In the meantime, I am very happy (and humble) that I was able to help elect Jim Webb to the US Senate. Virginia now has a Senator-elect who will represent all of us, including, as Jim often say, those who traditionally haven’t had a voice in the corridors of power.
[...] A comment on yesterday’s post regarding Lowell, plus the on-going blogger discussions of the future of the RPV, makes me wonder if the old “netroots v. grassroots” dichotomy has hit its expiration date. After years of throwing rocks, blogging is being accepted as a wonderful medium for both political communication and activism…at least on the Democratic side. [...]
Conaway, thanks for memorializing Lowell while he’s still alive and kicking. Coming from you, this was truly great praise, and I for one appreciate it— you and I had our private conversations, and I always found your advice and observations to be spot on, and your article on Lowell is no exception. Thanks.