Pejman Yousefzadeh doesn't think so. I happen to agree with him. The Tech Central Station writer has been reading the Kucinich and Dean weblogs, and isn't very impressed. Here are a few choice excerpts:
To be sure, weblogs certainly are a revolutionary form of communication. By posting individual entries on a wide range of topics, by providing links to interesting sources of information and argument, and by using his/her own particular area(s) of expertise to lend a personal and unique touch to each blog entry, a weblogger is able to interact in the realm of ideas and issues with the public in a manner that other media of communication simply cannot match.
But the novel format of blogging means little unless a blog has serious content, with an individual and unique voice that cannot be found elsewhere. To be effective as a political tool, a blog needs to break through the clichés of campaign-speak, and lend a fresh perspective to debates over issues of the day that cannot be found elsewhere.
Consider Kucinich's weblog. Much of it is made up of entries that look like they could be found in either Kucinich's standard stump speech, or the stump speeches of other candidates. It is understandable -- though regrettable -- that stump speeches, public comments, and debate answers are boiled down to 30-second soundbites. The format of most television and print media simply do not allow for more lengthy and substantive commentary on the issues of the day. But the strength of a weblog is that it is supposed to allow the author and the reader to go beyond 30-second soundbites, and engage in a more in-depth discussion of various issues. Kucinich, however, makes little to no use of the advantages that weblogs bring to the public debate, and instead merely treats his weblog as yet another place where he can make a stump speech.
Consider Dean's weblog as well. The overwhelming majority of the entries are authored by campaign staffers who use the blog to announce future campaign events, discuss the state of the Dean campaign in how it is faring in the presidential horserace, and put forth stories about the latest Dean appearances, and campaign happenings. All of this is a clever use of the Web to keep Dean in the news, but it does nothing to provide a fresh perspective on issues that Dean believes to be important. It certainly doesn't help that Dean himself rarely blogs on his own site, and that campaign staffers have to take such a giant role in serving as Dean's voice on the blog. One cannot help but wonder whether this excessive reliance on campaign staffers to write his campaign weblog indicates that Dean is too much a creature of his handlers, without anything serious or unique to say to the people whose votes he seeks.
Even when the candidates are given the opportunity to address specific and substantive issues in a blog format, they somehow come up short....
Keep reading. It gets better, or worse, depending on your point of view.