By Aliya Sternstein
(Thursday, August 2) When readers of a Republican blog got the chance to talk candidly with Senate Majority Whip. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., earlier this week in a bill-writing experiment, the discussion that resulted from the exchange was more productive than most of the political shows aired on television, the event's organizers said.
"I'm just blown away by the level of participation we had on the site," Robert Bluey, a contributor to the conservative RedState blog, said in referring to the more than 240 comments posted to help Durbin craft high-speed Internet legislation. Bluey said it is "remarkable that there are that many people talking about public policy [on blogs]."
The dialogue began last week while Durbin was conversing with the "netroots" on the liberal blog Open Left about the same subject. Bluey expressed the need for a two-sided discussion and invited Durbin to "speak" on RedState.
RedState saw some danger in giving Durbin, the second highest ranking member of the Senate Democratic leadership, prominent space on its site. Blog contributor Moe Lane replied to Monday's announcement of the forthcoming appearance by writing: "People will need to act accordingly. If you don't think that you can handle that, save yourself a lot of trouble and do not engage in the thread. ... I personally have no intention of writing a word to the man."
Organizers later created a separate forum for readers to air off-topic and anti-Durbin remarks.
RedState Chief Executive Erick Erickson wrote: "We recognize that some of you might not be so keen on the idea of Sen. Durbin on our front page. We also recognize that some of you will want to have it out with him. We respectfully request that you do not. ... If you just have to vent, this diary is the appropriate place, not Sen. Durbin's post."
Overall, the discussion, which began with a Durbin post Tuesday morning and ended with a live chat that night, was quite diplomatic.
Here is one example: "First, I would like to thank the senator for coming on RS to get input about an important issue like this. ... Second, I wanted to ask for some clarification on the technical aspects. Are we looking at a wireless or hard-line model? From my experience, expansion of broadband access into rural areas is much faster and cost effective through the promulgation of wireless repeaters than thru the expensive expansion of hard-line networks."
Open Left co-Editor Matt Stoller said, "I challenge you to find any cable news show that's as civil as what we did" on Open Left and RedState. "Actually, there's power here," he added, because soliciting input online broadens who can participate.
Next, Durbin will use the feedback to compose the bill, post a draft of it online and again seek public comment through Open Left and RedState. The goal is to introduce legislation in September, Durbin spokesman Joe Shoemaker said.
Initially, Shoemaker said he was worried that Durbin would sit idly for the duration of the reserved time on RedState, but "in the end, the problem was getting him out of the chair."
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