The high court nomination of White House Counsel Harriet Miers sent disappointed conservative bloggers rushing to computers. Sue McDonald of Intelliseek and Stephen Dillard of confirmthem.com tell Debbie Elliott about the politics of blogs.
DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.  I'm Debbie Elliott.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: When President Bush announced Harriet Miers as his Supreme Court nominee      on Monday morning, the World Wide Web went into action.  If you happen to      log on to one of the conservative Web sites like confirmthem.com, you saw      immediate dismay.  As early as 7:16 AM, before the president even made it      official, bloggers were posting their reactions to Harriet Miers.  By 10      AM, there was a frenzy of postings and cross-postings about what became a      controversial nomination for the president.  To help us understand what's      come to be known as the blogosphere, we turn to Sue MacDonald.  She      compiles a daily summary of what's happening on the Web for Intelliseek,      a company that tracks Weblog or blog activity.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: Hello, Ms. MacDonald.</s>Ms. SUE MacDONALD (Intelliseek): Hi.  How are you?</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: I'm good.  Now can you walk us through your tracking process on      your own Web site, how you pay attention to what people are saying?</s>Ms. SUE MacDONALD (Intelliseek): Sure.  We have a blog search engine called BlogPulse.com.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: OK.  Let me pull that up here.</s>Ms. SUE MacDONALD (Intelliseek): We have an index of about 18 million blogs, and what we      do every day is we have some text mining technology that look through all      of the posts that are added every day to blogs and they look for certain      key words, certain issues.  So in that search term box there, we're going      to type in Harriet Miers.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: Harriet.</s>Ms. SUE MacDONALD (Intelliseek): There you can see whole trail of conversations about      Harriet Miers.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: Let's just look at the top here.  It says, `Justice Miers?  Not      so Supreme Court.  Conservatives demoralized over Miers' pick,' what some      Christian bloggers are saying about the nomination of Harriet Miers.  Is      this kind of activity unusual?</s>Ms. SUE MacDONALD (Intelliseek): You know, it's unusual in the sense that it happened so      quickly.  Monday alone, we had 3,000 messages that were specifically      about Harriet Miers on the blogs and they were frequent.  You know, we      only see--every once in a while, we'll see huge bursts of activity like      this in the blogosphere.  When the tsunami hit in December of 2004, there      was a huge spike of information because frankly bloggers were some of the      first people on the scene.  They were there before the news organizations      got there.  We saw the same thing with Hurricane Katrina.  There are      certain times when we see issues that will cause spikes like this in the      blogosphere, and this was one of them.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: How does the conservative blogosphere compare with the liberal      blogosphere?</s>Ms. SUE MacDONALD (Intelliseek): Even though their fairly equal in numbers, conservative      bloggers tend to do a lot more cross-linking, which means they'll include      links to other conservative blogs.  So there's always this cross-chatter      going back and forth.  So the linking pattern back and forth were pretty      amazing.  And the result of that I think is that they tend to keep      reinforcing the message a lot more.  Liberal bloggers tend to discuss a      lot more issues than just focusing in on a few.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: Whereas the conservatives hone in on something like a Harriet      Miers nomination and stick with it.</s>Ms. SUE MacDONALD (Intelliseek): Yeah, they'll hone in on Harriet Miers.  They'll hone      in--they've been active the last couple of months on even Katrina.  I      mean, they were some of the bloggers that were starting to express doubts      with the competence at high levels of the FEMA in the aftermath of      Katrina, but they tend to grab issues like that and hang on to them      whereas the liberal bloggers, they'll do that to a degree but they tend      to be discussing a lot more issues.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: Now how do you know that the people who seem to be conservative      on these blogs aren't really just Democrats who are masquerading and      trying to create trouble for Republicans?</s>Ms. SUE MacDONALD (Intelliseek): Well, you know what?  The blogosphere has a pretty good      self-correcting mechanism built into it.  You know, I think one of the      reasons that blogging has become so popular is that people can really say      what's on their mind without a lot of the filters that we sometimes sense      from mainstream media.  So that if you're out there and you're faking it,      somebody's going to find out and they're going to out you.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: Have you been able to measure how influential these blogs are?      For example, are there staffers in congressional offices reading these      messages, these postings on the Harriet Miers nomination as they happen?</s>Ms. SUE MacDONALD (Intelliseek): Oh, you can bet they are.  I interviewed a blogger last      week from Texas.  He does a blog called the PinkDome.  I guess the      Capitol building in Austin has a pink tint to it.  And he said there have      even been cases where legislators have been giving a speech on the floor      of the Capitol building.  People have been blogging about their speech.      The senator's staff members have been reading the blogs and reacting to      what's being blogged about as they're speaking.  I think blogs serve a      great role in that they keep people honest sometimes.  You know, granted      they're very opinionated. Sometimes they're not entirely accurate.      Sometimes they don't do fact-checking, but I think they really do serve a      function because they keep the heat on.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: An important function in a democracy.</s>Ms. SUE MacDONALD (Intelliseek): Exactly.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: Sue MacDonald is a blog analyst for Intelliseek.  She spoke to      us from her offices in Cincinnati, Ohio.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: Thanks for speaking with us.</s>Ms. SUE MacDONALD (Intelliseek): Thank you.  Thanks for having me.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: We turn now to Stephen Dillard.  He's one of the contributors      to confirmthem.com.  He's an attorney in Macon, Georgia.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: Hello, Mr. Dillard.</s>Mr. STEPHEN DILLARD (Attorney): Hey, how are you?</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: I'm fine.  How are you?</s>Mr. STEPHEN DILLARD (Attorney): Good.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: You all seem to be poised at your keyboards on Monday morning.</s>Mr. STEPHEN DILLARD (Attorney): We have been.  It's been an interesting few days.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: Tell us how confirmthem.com came into being?</s>Mr. STEPHEN DILLARD (Attorney): Confirmthem is an offshoot of a very popular conservative      blog called RedState, kind of set up to kind of be a vehicle to put a      conservative voice out there to support the president's nominees.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: What has your reaction been to the nomination of Harriet Miers?</s>Mr. STEPHEN DILLARD (Attorney): I'd say on confirmthem it has been mixed.  I mean, there      are some of our contributors who are for her.  There are some that are      kind of--have a wait-and-see attitude and there are people like me who      have been kind of vocal opponents of her nomination.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: Did you immediately turn to your computer?</s>Mr. STEPHEN DILLARD (Attorney): Oh, absolutely.  I mean, if you can go back and you look, I      mean, I posted something minutes afterwards.  I was, you know, probably      one of the first people who got out there with a semilengthy post and      just--you know, the--I think the sum of it then was it wasn't anything      all that eloquent.  It was, `Harriet Miers, are you freaking kidding me,'      you know?  It was, like, `Who is this person?'  I mean, of all the people      that the president could have chosen, why did he choose Harriet Miers?      Where's--you know, I think I even said, `Where's my Scalia?  Where's my      Thomas?'  I mean, that's what he promised, and I think it's safe to say      from what little we do know about Harriet Miers right now, she's not      another Scalia or a Thomas.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: How long have you been blogging?</s>Mr. STEPHEN DILLARD (Attorney): I've been blogging since 2001.  So I'm kind of an old guy      in the blogosphere.  Been around for a while.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: Where do you find the time to do all of this?</s>Mr. STEPHEN DILLARD (Attorney): People ask me that.  I try to get up in the morning before      my children wake up and I try to do a little bit in the morning.      Sometimes I eat lunch at my desk and try to just do a little bit during      lunch and, you know, do some in the evening after my children and wife      have gone to bed.  That's the amazing thing about it, is you can just      kind of--it just takes a few minutes.  You can put it out there, and then      all of a sudden if you've got a lot of readers, you can get an instant      reaction.  You get kind of people who have passion and they put it out      there immediately, `This is my, you know, gut feeling.  This is my gut      reaction to this.'  And maybe you end up changing your mind, but that's      OK, too.  I mean, it's very real.  There's something very honest about      the blogosphere in that respect.  I mean, you really get to kind of see      the character of the people who are putting, you know, their voice out      there.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: Is that your main avenue of political speech or do you do other      things?</s>Mr. STEPHEN DILLARD (Attorney): I actually called both of my senators, Saxby Chambliss.  So      I'm actually on friendly terms with him and also Senator Isakson who I      don't know as well.  I mean, I call them and spoke to their aides and let      them know that I was none too pleased with the choice and I try to be      active here locally. The day that Miers was announced, I actually spoke      to the Georgia--the Bibb County Women's Republican Party and then they      got an earful about me not being happy with the president.  So, you know,      I...</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: What was their reaction?</s>Mr. STEPHEN DILLARD (Attorney): You know, it was interesting.  Most people approved of what      I was saying.  I really think at the local level, people, you know, they      respect the president, but at the same time, especially in the      conservative South here, people understand the impact that the court has.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: Where does that leave you now politically?</s>Mr. STEPHEN DILLARD (Attorney): Well, right now I have to tell you, I mean, this is      somebody who gave to President Bush's exploratory committee.  I mean, I      have been a staunch supporter of the president, but I can tell you right      now I'm not giving any money to the national Republican Party.  I mean,      I'll still support people here locally who are Republicans and I may even      still vote Republican, but in terms of getting out there and knocking on      doors and getting on the radio and TV here in Macon supporting the      president, I'm done.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: Stephen Dillard joined us from his home in Macon, Georgia.      He's a contributor to the blog confirmthem.com.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: Thank you for talking with us, Mr. Dillard.</s>Mr. STEPHEN DILLARD (Attorney): My pleasure.