“I don’t expect to set up my own blog,” he told the New York Times reporters Adam Nagourney and Michael Cooper. The Times has learned that Mr. McCain does not text, Treo or Twitter, either. How would he possibly spend his time in the White House? We joke, but the serious question – and one that has occupied many of the blogs and discussion groups that Mr. McCain does not partake of – is whether the computing habits of the presumptive Republican nominee should have any bearing at all on his fitness to be commander in chief… While 73 percent of American adults use the Internet (only 35 percent 65 or older), according to a survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, it’s likely that many of them would rather have a president who can get Osama bin Laden than get online. And there is a common belief that says being president should be more a “vision” job than a “management” job, and that the clutter of a digital life can only distract from the Big Picture and Deep Thoughts a leader should be concerned with. In other words, would we really want a president “friending” from the Oval Office, scouring Wikipedia for information on Iran’s nuclear program or fielding e-mail from someone claiming to be “Nigerian general” seeking an American bank account for embezzled millions? As a practical matter, probably not. Presidents can avoid using computers if they want to. That’s one of the privileges of the office. They are surrounded by a staff entrusted with keeping them plugged in, day and night.
Some McCain detractors think his relative unfamiliarity with the Google is a pretty big deal:
The “user experience,” Mr. Saffo said, brings with it an implicit understanding of how the country lives, and where it might be heading. As Mr. McCain would lack this, he would also be deficient in this broader appreciation for how technology affects lives… “You don’t actually have to use a computer to understand how it shapes the country,” said Mark Soohoo, a McCain aide for online matters, at a conference on politics and technology. “You actually do,” interrupted Tracy Russo, a former blogger for John Edwards.
Far be it from me to disagree with a former Edwards campaign blogger, but actually, you don’t. You could understand the effect that the automobile has on our society even if you’re a blogger who bicycles to work. It just takes a little imagination along with the willingness to inform yourself. Leibovich’s article makes reference to the infamous moment in the 1992 campaign when George H.W. Bush was beguiled by a supermarket price scanner. In Bush 41’s defense, he had been president or vice president for 12 years prior to that fateful day. When would he have had the opportunity to jaunt out to the market to pick up a loaf of bread? The parallel to McCain is that presidents don’t interact with technology the way the rest of society does. A president likely won’t use computers the way most of us do anymore than he would use voicemail the rest of us do. *I was 7, Leibovich was 9. We lost a heartbreaker in the finals. To the best of my recollection, Leibovich’s hairline had only barely begun to recede.
