tech policy

I thought techies of the left were a bit self-absorbed three months ago when they proclaimed John McCain unqualified for the presidency because he doesn't use a computer regularly. Now Barack Obama is looking downright foolish for having taken his cues from them.

The right side of the blogosphere is abuzz with criticism of Obama for creating an attack ad that ridicules McCain for figuratively being stuck in 1982, the year he was first elected to Congress. "He admits he still doesn't know how to use a computer," the ad says. "He can't send an e-mail."

The ad echoed the criticism that surfaced at the Personal Democracy Forum in June. Conference organizer Micah Sifry elevated the debate over McCain's tech credentials to the status of "breaking news" with a headline that mocked a McCain staffer for saying "McCain Is Aware Of The Internet."

PDF's sister site, techPresident, followed up with a poll asking the question that only geeks would think is on the edge of every voter's tongue: "Does a connected world need a connected [president of the United States]?" The "yes" response was a predictably high 61 percent, but the high-tech outrage against McCain never made it into the mainstream.

Until Obama decided to cast his own vote against McCain's technological shortcomings, that is. Now plenty of people are talking about whether it matters that McCain uses a computer regularly -- and the tide is decidely against the netroots/Obama view.

Even the liberal blog The Plank asked, "Which voters exactly are going to be outraged by the fact that McCain doesn't know how to use a computer?"