UK Politician Makes Podcasting History

When blogging and podcasting, politicians face all kinds of difficult questions: e.g how to respond to all the hundreds of comments?
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Webcameron update! I just watched Tory leader David Cameron's latest video. And I have to say -- while the first several videos of Dave doing dishes and bouncing around in a "green tuk-tuk" are begging to be parodied -- these new ones are pretty solid.

There's no question he's on to something amazing here.

Watch this latest one. He's speaking to the camera right after giving his big speech at the Tory Party conference (i.e. national convention). He makes some really good-sounding points. He's really speaking from the heart. But God knows how the Conservatives will "really fix problems, not just send out a press release like labour does."

THEN, at the end of that video, he has a remarkable conversation with his web guy. (Meet Sam Roake, the new 26-year-old wunderkind of British online politics.) When blogging and podcasting, politicians face all kinds of difficult questions: e.g how to respond to all the hundreds of comments?

So what does Cameron do? Has an on-camera discussion with the web guy about what the "community wants," and puts it back on them to suggest the best way for him to interact within the confines of a busy schedule. Brilliant!

PS: Translations for the video...
  • "Beetah" = Beta
  • Diary = Schedule
  • Party conference = National convention
  • "Beuuhggy" = "Boggy" -- in this case mushy.

And response by Tom Watson, the first blogging politician in the UK:

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