John Hawkins Consulting For Duncan Hunter Campaign
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James Joyner | Thursday, February 15, 2007 |
John Hawkins of Right Wing News has announced that he has signed on to be “the point person in building up buzz for Duncan Hunter online.”
Last month, I named Hunter one of the People Who Won’t Get Elected President and when he announced his campaign last October I enumerated several reasons why I believed that to be the case but allowed, “To be fair, I’d say his chances are somewhat better than Kucinich’s.”
While I still think that’s all true and some of the things that attract Hawkins to Hunter have just the opposite effect on me, it’s a smart hire. Hawkins has excellent credibility in the social conservative blogosphere and, despite being relatively young, is one of its pioneers. As David All rightly notes, in the blogger relations game, “it’s not the email distribution list that matters - it’s the relationships on the other end of the line.”
Still, I think John’s being overly optimistic in thinking three months “plenty of time to give Hunter a huge boost in name recognition and prominence in the blogosphere.” Hunter’s passing similarities to Ronald Reagan notwithstanding, it’s going to take a while for Hunter fever to spread.
UPDATE: PJM in Tel Aviv thinks that “In the wake of Marcottegate . . . folks are probably digging through his archives at this very moment.” Almost certainly.
There are two key points in that regard. First, while Hawkins can be controversial, he’s not prone to vulgarity and is stylistically less rabid. Second, he’s not actually writing for Hunter but rather an independent contractor for a PR firm hired by the campaign. That certainly puts more of a buffer between blogger and candidate.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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- Right Wing News linked with Big Announcement: I Am Now Consulting For The Duncan Hunter Campaign...
Oh, I dunno.
Look at how quickly Obama jumped into the national radar.
Good so now we can start castigating Hunter for all the hateful bile that Hawkins has spewed. You can thank Bill Donahue.
With Tancredo and Paul both in the race, Hunter's chances are slim. If paleos could unite around him, he'd have a chance, but with all three candidates, it's hard for him.
On the other hand, if he doesn't catch fire int he next three months, he isn't going to so this way you have a graceful exit point.
Madmutt,
It has been close to 4 hours since your comment, any luck finding examples of that "hateful bile" that you are accusing Hawkins of? Care to share?
Actually, I rather doubt too many people are bothering to rummage around in the RWN sewer. Just like they probably would not have bothered if Marcotte had been hired by Kucinich.
There is a cost-benefit analysis that goes on y'know...
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