Director of the New Politics Institute
Director of the New Politics Institute, a think-tank on politics, technology and media, based in San Francisco, California
PROFILE
Peter Leyden
Guest
FROM Peter Leyden
To the Point
Democratic Heavy Hitters Court Bloggers at Kos Conference Four years ago, just one presidential candidate showed up at the convention of liberal bloggers called by Daily Kos.com . At this week's convention , which is sold out with 1500 registered guests and 250 credentialed reporters, there will be seven, including Hillary Clinton , who's been defending Daily Kos against attacks from the right wing. Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean told the opening session , "What you have done… is to set this country on the path of restoring the democracy that George Bush and the Republicans have tried to undermine." Peter Leyden, director of the New Politics Institute , is attending the convention.
To the Point
Will YouTube and Web 2.0 Change American Politics? CNN hyped last night's Democratic presidential debate at The Citadel in South Carolina as "revolutionary" because real people got to ask questions on video. Some students of politics and the media said the event would do for interactive Web 2.0 what the Kennedy-Nixon debates did for TV. Others called it just a tiny step forward, because CNN got to decide which questions the candidates had to respond to. Some 3000 thousand people submitted amateur videos that tackled everything from serious policy questions to sophomoric humor, including a question on global warming that came from an animated snowman. Did the format make for entertaining TV? Were the candidates more authentic? Did it finally come down to politics as usual?
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Left, Right & Center
President Trump: US to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord Trump says he was elected to serve Pittsburgh, not Paris.
To the Point
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.