Political parties and campaigns should learn from corporate America and do the same. Political parties and campaigns should also treat members of this community as both traditional campaign supporters AND members of the media.

Bloggers literally do live in both worlds, therefore, it makes sense to interact with the Blogosphere on both levels. In terms of cost, these efforts are likely to cost very little. In terms of garnering enthusiastic support, these efforts are likely to yield huge benefits.

So, don't just feed news to the Blogosphere, or passively watch and mine datea from this community. Instead, treat them as a new type of media and partner with those in the community who want to actively support a party, a candidate, and/or a campaign.

Will this kind of active solicitation of and partnering with the open source media community become a central feature of future campaigns? Time will tell.

One thing that political parties of the future cannot afford to do, however, is to allow their rivals to get a head start. The 2006 mid-term campaigns may not see a huge increase in campaign activity via the Internet, but the party that underestimates our value in 2008 may well be plowed under by the opposition.

Okay, yes, I am a pajama-wearing partisan blogger. What can I say, PJs are just more comfortable for blogging. Maybe I should put a bumper sticker on my car: "Bloggers do it in their pajamas!" What do you think?

Seriously, though, this is a warning that ALL parties should heed. The open source media community is here to stay and pajamas or no pajamas, we continue to grow in influence and effectiveness.

Ignore us at your own peril... And stop asking me what I'm wearing.

David Flanagan
Viewpointjournal.com