For Peter Daou. In an indication of how important blogs are already and will be in the future, the Hillary Clinton campaign has hired Daou as their web consultant.
WASHINGTON, June 26 — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign has hired Peter Daou, one of the most prominent political bloggers in the nation, to help disseminate her message in a forum that has not always been that hospitable to her.
The move underscores the degree to which bloggers — the authors of Web logs, or blogs — have begun to transform American politics. In many cases, candidates have even set up their own blogs, with staffers answering questions, presenting policy proposals and posting campaign literature and videos.
Mrs. Clinton, who is up for re-election this year and is a possible presidential candidate for 2008, has been a frequent target of bloggers, particularly liberals who are angry over her refusal to disavow her vote in 2002 to authorize President Bush to use force in Iraq.
The Clinton camp is clearly counting on Mr. Daou, who directed blog outreach and online rapid response for Senator John Kerry's presidential campaign in 2004, to help improve Mrs. Clinton's image among liberal bloggers, who are fast becoming a constituency in their own right and may thus play a significant role in selecting the Democratic Party's nominee for president.
First the Baltimore Examiner realizes the need to get bloggers on board, now the Clinton campaign sees the same thing. Smart move. Daou has linked to Blue Crab Boulevard in the past. He does seem to try to present both left and right bloggers fairly when he links using relevant quotes and not taking things out of context.
Congratulations, Mr. Daou.
Hillary is very smart. In my old vote-for-Jimmy-Carter days I would have been a big fan of hers. Nowadays I just take her very, very seriously. She has some bumps in the road ahead–her own party being the biggest and bumpiest. But nabbing Daou sounds like a shrewd move from a shrewd woman.
Netroosters:
Daou is one thing, his commenters are something else. Look for him to abandon the more vulgar among them, and to try making nice to crabby guys he once tried to kick around.
And, hang on to his previous traffic with BCB. It might come in handy.
Oh, I know. When he links the commenters that turn up are something else.