Politicians blogging

There is a lot of discussions on the use of blogging for politicians. Especially since the enormous effect of the grass roots campaign of Howard Dean for the Democratic nomination.

As I see blogging as conversation mainly, and also think that it is through conversations that we create networks, and create value in those networks, I would like to share this little quote from the weblog of Gerrit Zalm, minister of finance and deputy prime minister in the Netherlands:

Het weekend was zonder verplichtingen. Toen mijn directeur Voorlichting mij zaterdag belde of ik zondag naar ‘Buitenhof’ wilde (onderwerp, stabiliteitspact en een interview in de Financial Times met Eichel) heb ik nee gezegd. We hadden kaartjes voor ons vijven voor deel 3 van de Matrix en dat mocht wel eens voorgaan. Was de moeite waard.

Translated:
The weekend was without any official obligations. My PR-director called on Saturday if I wanted to go to Buitenhof [a political commentary and backgrounds programme on national TV. Ton] the next day to talk about the Euro-stability pact and an interview I had with the Financial Times. I said no. We had tickets for the five of us to go see part three of the Matrix, and I thought that for once deserved priority. It was worth it.

I like it. It rings true and authentic. His weblog generally describes with whom he meets during the week and what topics he discusses. I would like to see more like this as it makes visible to us what it is our politicians do, with whom they are in contact, what the world looks like from where they're standing and how that relates to my views. And also it makes them human, in stead of the grey suited talking heads as they are generally perceived.

The weblog was hosted at www.zalmlog.nl first, but it now links through to the official website of the Ministry of Finance where the blog now is part of. No RSS, comments or trackback yet. But it's a start.