Last fall in the Republican
YouTube debate,
Senator McCain cited information technology as an area where he would likely need assistance from a vice president. Its a stunning admission and one we probably wouldnt tolerate in any other policy issue. Even given the nearly nine months since the debate,
McCain still has no technology plan. Whereas Senator McCain devotes prominent real estate on his Web site to issues like the sanctity of life, the Second Amendment, and judicial philosophy, he has no entry on technology. Barack Obama, meanwhile, prominently features a plan to provide technology and innovation for new agenda, an issue he addressed not only in his announcement speech in February 2007 but also in a far-reaching speech at Google headquarters in California late last year.
Plenty of tech material and policy crossed McCains desk as chair of the Senate Commerce Committee and, at times, he has proven a leader on tech policy in the past. Today, though, that leadership seems to have gone missing. Former FCC Chair Michael Powell is currently drafting a tech policy for the candidate, and Powell promised one blogger this month that he wouldnt work for a candidate who didnt believe in technology. But the issue remains that the candidate himself is computer illiterate.
As McCain told the New York Times earlier this month, he had not mastered how to use the Internet and relied on his wife and aides like Mark Salter, a senior adviser, and Brooke Buchanan, his press secretary, to get him online to read newspapers (though he prefers reading those the old-fashioned way) and political Web sites and blogs. They go on for me, he told the Times. I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I dont expect to be a great communicator, I dont expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need. He also doesnt use a Blackberry or e-mail, saying Ive never felt the particular need to e-mail.
Its not so much that John McCain needs to personally blog or Twitter as president. In fact, I dont want the next president blogging or sending text messages from the Oval Office. The President of the United States has communication mechanisms, systems, processes, and staff available to no other human being on earth whenever he has something to say. Theres no need to login to Wordpress if youre the president of the United States and any network or news agency would be happy to carry your message live to the world.
Instead, McCains ignorance of the operations of the Internet today, I believe, says more about the candidates intellectual curiosity than it does about his technical prowess. While he should be commended for recognizing where he lacks sufficient knowledge, Im much more concerned about how, as the Internet changed everything over the last decade, John McCain never sat down and said to himself, I should really figure this stuff out for myself. This crazy Internet thing is going to be big and I need to understand it. In an information age, we should demand candidates and elected officials who at least seek out information about the tools and systems changing our world.
The Internet in the last decade has broken down borders in diplomacy and commerce, in education and business, in the military and religion. Its the primary source for news and information for the Millenials, the largest generation the United States has ever seen. Its an increasingly important part of business and a source for everything from groceries to dates to DVDs. Here in Washington, Mayor Adrian Fentys prolific BlackBerry-ing has helped underscore his image as a new reformer for a new age.
The fact that John McCain hasnt yet learned how to use the Internet himself puts him not just at odds with most of the rest of the nation but, in fact, with many people in his own age bracket. More than a third of Americans 65 and older use the Internet, according to the May 2008 numbers from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Work by Forrester Research, which uses different age brackets, shows that more than a third of Americans over 55 regularly read blogs and online forums, watch videos, or listen to podcasts. This Internet thing isnt some crazy persons niche; it will be the driving force behind the next half-century of Americas economic growth. That John McCain isnt part of that group of wired seniors should give us all pause coming into this fall.
