58% have never visited a political blog

Buried in the results of last week’s New York Times/CBS News poll were some interesting findings about political blogs. A full 58% percent of adults surveyed said they “never” visited political blogs. 24% visit them rarely and 14% percent drop by occasionally. A paltry 4% visit political blogs frequently.

The poll also found that men are more interested in political blogs than women. (50% of men said they visit political blogs, compared to 34% of women.) I thought this was a bit surprising, especially because there are so many talented female political bloggers. 

I found these statistics to be somewhat sobering. Next time I talk about all the political blog hype, I will try to remember that over half of U.S. adults have never even visited a single political blog.

Campaigns obviously know this too. Even in 2008, it appears that there is no substitute for some good old fashioned door-to-door canvassing.