The Right Shall Rise Again?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Blogging, Elections, General PoliticsMe, I have my doubts, especially since we’re talking about the merging of talk radio and the blogosphere.
Honestly, big deal. Sure, Hugh Hewitt has a big audience, but can his side of the partisan milieu affect true change?
More…
Like Daily Kos, the revamped Townhall will focus on motivating and activating the grass roots. That’s where Chuck DeFeo comes in. As manager of Bush’s 2004 eCampaign, DeFeo was widely credited with winning that year’s war of the Web by emphasizing word-of-mouth marketing over fund-raising appeals. Soon after, he signed with Salem and, spurred by Hewitt, spent months building a group blog called Beyond the News. But when the 11-year-old Townhall (a Heritage Foundation-National Review coproduction) went on the block, DeFeo had Salem snap it up. He would still use his 2004 tools to assemble a site where “you’re no longer just listening and learning about politics, but can impact the debate and make your voice heard.” Only now he would have an existing brand to expand on.So Townhall gets its second act. Every day, Salem’s nationally syndicated hosts will post show summaries, blog entries and podcasts. On the air, they’ll encourage listeners to visit the amped-up “Action Center,” where users can “push out” petition alerts on customized e-mail lists, set and track fund-raising goals, contact their elected officials and create personal blogsâ€â€?a first, DeFeo claims, for a conservative Web site. As Kerry ‘04 blogmaster Dick Bell has said, “the hosts will act as recruiters for the millions of people listening every dayâ€â€?and that could really change the dynamic in terms of impact.”
Should Dems be alarmed? “Absolutely,” says Hewitt. “Unless they don’t mind political exile.”
Maybe the left blogosphere, but Dems in general?
Hardly Hugh.
This entry was posted on Monday, June 26th, 2006 and is filed under Blogging, Elections, General Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
