RWN Mention At ABC And The Star Telegram

by John Hawkins | October 27, 2006 10:57 am

ABC News[1] mentioned RWN in the context of discussing political Googlebombs:

“On his Web site Bowers writes, “If you have a blog, please take this action. It will exponentially increase the effectiveness of this campaign. And make sure you keep using the same link whenever you talk about that person on your blog, in the comments, or anywhere else.”

…If it works at all, the campaign’s biggest effect may be on lesser-known candidates who turn up fewer hits during searches. Google officials said they don’t condone the practice and believe the company’s system is too sophisticated to be effectively gamed in this way.

So what’s a Republican to do? Well, consider this posting on “Rightwingnews.com” by John Hawkins: “Well, in my opinion, we should simply fight fire with fire. That’s why I put together a list of key races for Republican blogs to Google bomb.”

And so it goes. Both sides agree it’s too soon to say if any of this is actually having an impact. But one thing is certain — this is only the beginning of a new strategy following in the well-worn footsteps of TV political ads.”

Speaking of Googlebombs, we could use some more blogs helping out with our Googlebomb #2[2]. Come on, your blog could be the one that puts us over the top and gets these links on the first Google search page for these candidates.

But, that’s enough — for the moment — about Googlebombs. The Star-Telegram[3] gave RWN a mention while talking about Rightroots[4]:

In general, Republican bloggers have yet to match the fundraising prowess of their Democratic counterparts. John Hawkins of North Carolina, who blogs on RightWingNews.com, suggested that this is because Republican bloggers are more diverse and that many right-wing blogs want to offer a forum for political debate rather than actively support candidates.

“A lot of the bigger bloggers on the right are not into political activism in the same way they are on the left,” Hawkins said, pointing to Instapundit.com, which is run by a libertarian college professor in Tennessee. (Hawkins note: I was just making the point that some of the bigger blogs on the right aren’t as into activism as their cohorts on the left and named some examples. I’m not sure why he pulled Instapundit out of the crowd here.)

In August, Hawkins and a group of bloggers calling themselves Rightroots organized to raise money for Republican candidates. Their first batch of 21 endorsements has attracted more than $260,000 in donations, including nearly $13,000 for Van Taylor, who’s challenging U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, in one of the most closely watched congressional races in the country.

…On the Democratic side, ActBlue tracks contributions raised through individual blogs. A similar site for Republican bloggers, ABCPAC.org, launched this year and is expected to roll out similar blogger-friendly features in coming months.

…Hawkins suggested that his Rightroots group may not even exist during the next election cycle because it may not be needed.

“Five hundred blogs will be doing their own lists,” Hawkins said. “It will actually make for a lot more money and a lot more excitement.”

The “Five hundred blogs” is just a way of saying, “a lot.” Basically, every blogger will be able to do the same thing we’ve done with Rightroots in the next cycle. So, my expectation is that everyone will just have their own slate that they’ll promote instead of having just one big slate for bloggers on the right.

Whatever, the case may be, it’s nice to get a little more recognition.

Endnotes:
  1. ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Technology/story?id=2608583&page=1
  2. Googlebomb #2: https://rightwingnews1.wpenginepowered.com/archives/week_2006_10_22.PHP#006685
  3. Star-Telegram: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/15853149.htm
  4. Rightroots: http://www.abcpac.com/rightroots/

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