The answer is probably all three, as individual bloggers vary considerably. It's also unclear how powerful new media are. The blogosphere, Hoosier or otherwise, cannot claim to have propelled any major candidate to office, nor have blogs been as effective as special interest groups at pushing legislation. There are some encouraging signs, though: the Dean campaign pioneered online activism and, most importantly, fundraising. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is finding persistent support from the quixotic Porkbusters. Astute staffers might already be reading the Kossack manifesto Crashing the Gate:Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics. And blogs quickly corrected Dan Rather when he tried to peddle forged documents as news in the last presidential election.

Ironically, it may be on this last point that Bayh expressed his initial impression of blogs. Bayh styles himself as a dynamic moderate, rising above destructive partisan warfare. He stressed that in order for the national dialogue (and his prospective campaign) to move forward, Republican attacks will need to be blunted. The implied message at the lunch: "And that's where you guys come in."

Whether the (Hoosier) blogosphere is willing and able to come in also remains to be seen, which is, of course, why meeting with them is so important. Like any bloc of supporters, bloggers will need to be wooed. Likewise, in order to continue to have access to power, bloggers will have to demonstrate their value. I didn't really see either of these things going on at the lunch. Perhaps I'm biased because I'm a meta-blogger, but I expected the discussion to focus much more on new media. If it doesn't in the future, I won't really see the point in continuing such meetings. Bayh's staff might not either.

(cross-posted at the Indiana Blog Review)