i'm jealous

(gratuitous Edwards as Bobby Kennedy shot)

I am home again and catching up on my blogfeeds, which means that I just read the Politics and Technology post FROM YESTERDAY about the possibility that blog god Robert Scoble was entering the world of politics . I managed to guess that Scoble was going to be doing something for John Edwards, if only because of his timing (Edwards was meant to announce this Wednesday in New Orleans -- more on that). But I guessed after the fact, which may be personally rewarding, but not likely to impress.

Anyway, I'm jealous (I would have been more than happy to be flown down to New Orleans to blog about the announcement) — and intrigued. (Correction: Scoble said he flew himself down there.)

Jessica Guynn's San Francisco Chronicle blog post about Scoble's trip to New Orleans makes reference to the recent New York Times article in which Adam Nagourney refers to Edwards as "arguably the most web-savvy candidate in the '08 race to date". I voted for Edwards in the 2004 primary because of the way he talked about class in this country, but my fascination with him as a candidate has grown over the past two years because of the brilliance with which his campaign has used social media to ensure that he never fell off the public stage. Tapping into Scoble -- and his ability to reach an influential crowd who may not necessarily already be politically engaged -- was just another sign of Edwards' "savvy"-ness (or, at least, the savviness of one of his staffers).

But here's the weird rub. I mentioned my support for Edwards to a friend today who thinks that Edward is a dinkie. He's pissed at Edwards for not "delivering the South" for the Party in 2004 and is enamored with the idea of Barack Obama. (I say "idea" because I think, as was the case with McCain in 2000, people are supporting Obama because of who they think he is -- and what his politics are -- versus what he actually has said and done.) This same friend doesn't give a rat's tuchus about del.icio.us, Technorati, Scoble or even Dooce. And, well, he couldn't identify them in a line up either.

While Edwards hasn't fallen off the radar for me, many voters -- those who are outside of our relatively little universe of people who are "web savvy" -- may still simply be holding on to the idea of him as Kerry's failed running mate. And wouldn't that be sad?

Who else besides Scoble was invited to the announcement and what audience do they reach? (Dooce might not be such a bad choice. Plus, it would piss off her parents.)

Anyway, according to Forbes, Edwards's announcement came a day early because the campaign web site was accidentally launched ahead of schedule (and then taken down again).

Do we want to reconsider calling them web-savvy?

Will Scoble be there on the 30th when/if I make it down to Chapel Hill?