Interviewed by Canadian Press

Yesterday, Michael Oliveri from the Canadian Press conducted a phone interview with me about the election and Sam Bulte.

“So, judging from your blog, I take it that you’re pleased with the outcome of the election?” he asked.

“If you’re talking at the federal level, I wouldn’t say ‘pleased’. Maybe ‘satisfied that the outcome was the least abhorrent of the realistic ones’ would be more accurate.”

The resulting article, Bloggers Take Some Credit for Ousting Former MP, also features quotes from Michael Geist and Cory Doctorow.

Because this is my blog and tooting my own horn is its primary purpose, here’s the snippet featuring me:

In 2004, the NDP’s Peggy Nash got 34.5 per cent of the vote in the Parkdale-High Park riding and fell 3,526 ballots short of Liberal incumbent Bulte. This time, Nash captured 40 per cent support and won over Bulte by 2,201 votes.

While bloggers are stopping short of saying they’re the reason for Nash’s 5,700 vote turnaround, they credit the Internet community with being a major contributing force and influencing the decision.

“I think it’s premature for anybody with a blog right now to start saying, ‘OK, now that I’ve got a blog I am a kingmaker,'” said Joey deVilla, a resident in the riding and author of the blog, The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century.

“But I believe (the online campaign) did help. It stirred some discussion online and at the candidates’ meetings, it got the attention of the media, and it became a story.”

For more on the role of the Parkdale-High Park election result and its relationship to the blogosphere, I point you to Michael Geist’s article, Lessons Learned.