Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore just addressed the conservative blogger briefing at The Heritage Foundation.
Most of his time was spent discussing substantive issues, such as national security (Gilmore has tremendous national security credentials, having served as Chairman of a national commission on prevention and response to terrorism).
But just before the meeting broke up, Gilmore broke some blogger-specific "process" news that was especially interesting to those at the meeting: He pledged to be the first President to maintain a personal blog.
Because it came up in response to a direct question (very late in his briefing to us), it does not appear to be the case of a candidate merely seeking to pander to the blogosphere.
And while this proclamation may sound trivial to some -- or possibly sensational to others-- Gilmore gives a good reason for embracing this technology. He explained that he has used both radio and television to communicate important information to his constituents. As he explains, why not use this technology, too?
He also believes that the blogosphere is a way to go over the heads of the establishment media, and get his message directly to the people.
From a political standpoint, Gilmore is doing just what he needs to do. Frontrunners can afford to take safe positions and not rock the boat. It seems to me that this was a missed opportunity for every other candidate. Kudos to Gilmore for being the first. The other candidates just got trumped.