Barnako knows the 'Net

One of the best and most eagerly anticipated features of my day is the arrival of Frank Barnako's Internet Daily e-newsletter from CBS MarketWatch. Barnako is as sharp and perceptive as anyone writing about the 'Net today. He's also not afraid to buck the conventional wisdom, as in his online column today, entitled "Bloggers Blew It." Here's an excerpt:

Despite all the anti-Bush screeds on Web logs, the frequent priming of wordy bonfires with Bush's National Guard duty records, the rush to judgment about missing explosives in Iraq ... it just didn't matter. All those opinions. All that Internet buzz. So little impact. Could it be not even bloggers trust what they read on blogs?

Blogs were quick to publish real or made-up exit polls at midafternoon, showing Kerry strength. That killed a 60-point rally in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

At least some traders read blogs, then, and act on what they read. Not so, it would appear, young voters. Advertisers including Nike (NKE) and Audi think Weblogs are the medium to reach young consumers. So where was the youth and minority vote? Not reading political blogs, it appears. MSNBC says the percentage of young voters who cast ballots was the same as it was four years ago.

Don Imus says his favorite moment came about 2 a.m., when NBC's Campbell Brown was interviewing P. Diddy about his "Vote or Die" campaign. Seems to me it's dead. Where were the 18-29s? At Meetups? The Associated Press says exit polls found blacks made up roughly the same proportion of voters as in 2000.

GOP Chairman Ed Gillespie's incredibly optimistic spin on CNN early in the evening was an effective, "old media"-style get-out-the-vote entreaty. While his mouth told how confident he was, his eyes transmitted a subliminal message: "The bloggers said the early exit polls were horrible. We need to pile on. Go vote! It's not too late."

Bottom line: Political blogging is like Ralph Nader. Nobody pays attention.

You can read Internet Daily at CBS MarketWatch. While there, subscribe to the e-newsletter version and they'll drop Barnako in your inbox every day for free. You can also get your fill of Barnako's 'Net news and views at his non-CBS-affiliated blog, Barnako.com.