WE'VE GOT OUR FINGERS CROSSED:

DNC invites some 'bloggers' to convention (JENNIFER PETER, June 2, 2004, Associated Press)

In colonial America, the politically active spread their ideas in pamphlets still fresh from the printing press. Today's pamphleteers - the "bloggers" who can put every idle thought on the Web - are being invited to the Democratic National Convention.

"You've been doing it ever since the Revolutionary War," Eric Schnure, a former speech writer for Vice President Al Gore and the official 2004 DNC blogger, wrote in a pitch for the party's Web log, or blog. "Dumping tea and deleting spam. They're kind of the same, don't you think?"

The DNC, in what its officials believe is a first in the world of politics, is granting convention credentials to a carefully selected group of bloggers. They will join thousands of conventional journalists covering the festivities July 26-29 at Boston's FleetCenter.

These traditionally non-establishment social commentators will be chosen based on their professionalism, the number of readers who check their blog on a regular basis, and how much of their content is original. DNC officials have not determined how many credentials will be issued.