Townhall vs. Kos

[Metanis]

The Right: The Next Big Thing?
Conservative pundit Hugh Hewitt marries the power of talk radio with the reach of the 'netroots.' Watch out, Kos.
By Andrew Romano
Newsweek
July 3-10, 2006 issue - Hugh Hewitt is a master of multitasking. Week after week, the sanguine, persistent pundit hosts his "center-right" talk radio show from a nondescript office in Orange County, Calif.—and more than a million people tune in. Two computers flank his mike. While on the air, Hewitt uses the first to surf news sites, then swivels to the second during breaks to update his well-trafficked blog. "Both spoken words and written words are powerful," he says. "Acting in harmony, the effect is exponential." Just ask Rick Santorum. In May, he urged Hewitt's listeners to fork over campaign funds, and the host, ever eager, posted a link. Donations shot up 500 percent.

Chances are Santorum won't be the last candidate between now and November to benefit from Hewitt's brand of blog-broadcast synergy. On July 4, Salem Communications, one of the country's largest radio-station owners, will relaunch an old Web war horse called Townhall.com as a hub for its stable of stars (including Bill Bennett, Michael Medved and Hewitt himself). The hope? That "Web 2.0" wherewithal can transform what was once an op-ed clearinghouse into a single nerve center serving the separate conservative communities of talk radio and the Internet. To Hewitt, a valuable White House ally, the math is simple: add 6 million Salem fans to Townhall's 1.4 million unique monthly visitors and you've got an audience six or seven times the size of liberal site Daily Kos, the Web's biggest political blog. "We will overwhelm them," he says.

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 blogs—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 day—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." Not everyone is so sure. "Kos can't be duplicated," says Salon.com blogwatcher Peter Daou. To date, conservative sites have attempted little in the way of activism, but with talk radio's class of '94 climbing aboard—and two tough election seasons looming—that seems certain to change. "It's not about getting people angry," says Hewitt. "It's about being effective."

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13531727/site/newsweek/


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© 2006 MSNBC.com

As a regular reader of Mr. Hewitt I'm confident this is going to be a very considerable influence on the 2006 elections. It's going to hurt the Democrats but also help tilt the Republican Party back toward a more religious conservatism. This is excellent news.

[Animalor]

I'd much prefer if the republicans distanced themselves from from religious conservatism and shifted more towards a fiscal and political conservatism.

[kyoukan]

I'd much prefer if the republicans distanced themselves from from religious conservatism and shifted more towards a fiscal and political conservatism.

then who would vote for them

whacked out christian fundies and billion dollar megacorporations living fat off federal corporate welfare and lucrative contracts paid for by the taxpayers are the two hugest voting blocks. all they'd have left is the racists, pederasts and inbreds.

[Metanis]

I'd much prefer if the republicans distanced themselves from from religious conservatism and shifted more towards a fiscal and political conservatism.

I would ask how you get a conservative point of view without having some element of religion implicit in the institutional and educational background of a person. Christianity permeates Western civilization. Picking at the religious loose ends which offend you is similar to pulling on a thread in a sweater. Things unravel in a fashion you perhaps didn't anticipate.

[Zaelath]

As a regular reader of Mr. Hewitt I'm confident this is going to be a very considerable influence on the 2006 elections. It's going to hurt the Democrats but also help tilt the Republican Party back toward a more religious conservatism. This is excellent news.

So that would make you pro-Taliban?

[Marbus]

You are right Met, Christianity permeates our culture, it permeates the Democrats and every other political institution as well. We just try to actually follow what Jesus said and not use FEAR and HATE to get our way... The Religious Right is about as far from what Jesus talked about in the New Testament as Nero was a god.

Marb

[Kylere]

Santorum is just the frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex.

Thank you Village Voice!

Sad thing that someone as moronic as Rick Santorum is cited as the first to use this basic networking concept. When everyone else already has first.

[Metanis]

...The Religious Right is about as far from what Jesus talked about in the New Testament as Nero was a god.

Marb

I think that pretty much covers Christians in general. We continue to strive to do better though. I personally have a problem with Christian susceptibility to excessive guilt.

[*~*stragi*~*]

so you want to hate niggers and spics without feeling guilty more or less?

cool

[Akanae]

While many people in the Western world were raised christian, a lot of us are falling away from organized religion. No one can refute the fact that atheists and agnostics have been growing in number. Sometime in the future I hope there will be a tipping point where fundamentalist christian groups lose their foothold on the Republican party.

I would vote republican if they stayed true to their core fiscal values, and stopped trying to take away basic freedoms; like a womans right to choose.

[Marbus]

I agree and disagree Met, I think you are correct in that most organized Christian groups, definitely the ones that seems to get the most press, are indeed that way. However there are a LOT of people that do try to focus on what I personally consider Jesus' true message, I just think they don't get a lot of air time...

Marb

[Dregor Thule]

Rush Limbaugh was detained for more than three hours Monday at Palm Beach International Airport after authorities said they found a bottle of Viagra in his possession without a prescription.

Customs officials found a prescription bottle labeled as Viagra in his luggage that didn't have Limbaugh's name on it, but that of two doctors, said Paul Miller, spokesman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

A doctor had prescribed the drug, but it was "labeled as being issued to the physician rather than Mr. Limbaugh for privacy purposes," Roy Black, Limbaugh's attorney, said in a statement.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection examined the 55-year-old radio commentator's luggage after his private plane landed at the airport from the Dominican Republic, said Miller.

The matter was referred to the sheriff's office, whose investigators interviewed Limbaugh. According to Miller, Limbaugh said that the Viagra was for his use, and that he obtained it from his doctors.

Investigators confiscated the drugs, which treats erectile dysfunction, and Limbaugh was released without being charged.

The sheriff's office plans to file a report with the state attorney's office. Miller said it could be a second-degree misdemeanor violation.

Limbaugh reached a deal last month with prosecutors who had accused the conservative talk-show host of illegally deceiving multiple doctors to receive overlapping painkiller prescriptions. Under the deal, the charge, commonly referred to as "doctor shopping," would be dismissed after 18 months if he continues to submit to random drug tests and treatment for his acknowledged addiction to painkillers.

I know it's not about your little stroke fest going on in this thread, Met, but I figured the forum could only handle one thread about neocon commentators at a time. So, to avoid the risk of the server having a meltdown, I posted it here.

Oh. And ha ha.

[kyoukan]

you'd think he could get it up around all those 13yo dominican girls