What? Are you fucking kidding me?

“With The Huffington Post, particularly, we see a lot of value in engaging with people who wouldn’t necessarily be inclined to agree with our point of view,” said Coburn press secretary John Hart, who added that it's one of a handful of sites that can have an instant impact on the national debate.

“HuffPo and [Talking Points Memo] really are the assignment editors for many in the Washington press corps — particularly the cables,” said Brian Rogers, who was a spokesman for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign. “That’s not just a Republican hack saying it — that’s speaking as a press guy fielding calls and e-mails daily from the MSM that start with, ‘Did you see this thing on Huffington Post?’ They were effective and they wasted a lot of our time.”

While conservatives like Tony Blankley and David Frum {Frum is a "conservative"? Who knew?-ed.} have written for Huffington Post in the past, Republican Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) recently became the first active member of Congress to  blog— just after winning the site’s “Hottest Freshman” contest.

In his post, Schock wrote that while most Huffington Post readers “didn't vote Republican,” he was determined to take a bipartisan approach in Congress. Similarly, Coburn made sure to mention the left’s critique of the Democrats' health care plan in his piece — and also emphasized bipartisanship.

They won't be the last Republicans to post at the site.

During the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, Huffington invited House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to blog. Said Cantor: “I can’t say we enjoy being on your site, but we seem to be on there a lot.”

Indeed, there’s sort of an if-you-can’t-beat-join-them mindset driving Republicans' increased outreach to the site.

“The reality is that at the end of the day, like them or dislike them, sites like The Huffington Post, Plum Line, Salon, and others can drive news,” said Brad Dayspring, press secretary for Cantor. “For that reason alone, being responsive and even proactive — especially on wedge issues — has become more prevalent as political communications has evolved.”

Posted by: eddiebear at 11:13 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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