Steve Westly, who might be running for governor of California, has attempted to understand Podcasting. While I think it’s great that more politicans are trying to get involved in these types of outreach, there is definitely a line drawn between those who get it and those who don’t. This is how to identify someone who doesn’t get it :

What is a PodCast? If you have an MP3 player, you can download the file, add it to your music library, sync it up, and listen to it on your iPod or any other MP3 player.
Step 1: Click here Step 2: When prompted, save file to disk Step 3: Save to your music folder where you keep your MP3s Step 4: Add it to your music programs library Step 5: Sync it to your iPod (or MP3 player)

First of all, the file was corrupted when I downloaded it, so I don’t know whats going on there. Second, there is no feed, which means you can’t subscribe. I don’t think you should be defining what “Podcasting” is on your website if you don’t really know. I am not going to go to this guys site every day to see if there is a new show I can listen to.

I point this out because this is what I was expecting from politicans – perhaps not so soon, I’m excited that people are catching on so early and quickly, but when it did start happening, this is how I expected it. Not quite full comprehension of why the medium is so powerful, but a half hearted attempt to tell people you’re going after the youth or tech vote – posting mp3 files of stump speeches every few months.

I wanted to contrast this to what John Edwards is doing over at his One America Committee website. He and Elizabeth (and I think this is mostly Elizabeths doing) have done a couple of podcasts in exactly the format I would like to see from more politicans. There is a feed to subscribe to, it is fun and informal with a feedback mechanism. I think it really helps you connect with them, and I hope people like my podcasts as much as I like theirs. They get it.

I also have some news about the Personal Democracy Forum, but I think I’ll post about that tomorrow.