I actually woke up early on a Saturday morning, the one sacrosanct day of rest for Will Lutz. I was invited by political consultant Dave Carney to Gov. Rick Perry’s blogger summit.
For several years, conservatives have been behind the eight-ball on advocacy on the Internet. While it’s not official, the Burnt Orange Report is – for all intents and purposes – an adjunct of the Democratic coordinated campaign. Several of the bloggers found therein are staffers for Democratic campaigns or entities.
Four years ago, Republicans did not understand the power of blogging or social media. Change is slow but it’s now changing.
Perry understands this. One of the biggest changes between the 2006 and 2010 campaigns for governor is the way Perry has embraced the Internet and social media in 2010. It is a major part of the Perry campaign in 2010, and it wasn’t in 2006.
Most of the major Perry staffers are on Facebook and twitter. The campaign actively uses Facebook and twitter to promote Perry’s endorsements and major announcements. Perry actively used YouTube.com and set up a separate Web site,
www.WashingtonKay.com, to attack his opponent and spread his message. YouTube ads are as or more frequent than TV and radio ads. Individual Perry supporters are invited to set up their own Rick Perry for Governor webpages.
Kay Hutchison has realized this is important too, but she’s largely played catch up here. She does have a website
www.SlickRickPerry.com to slam the governor, but by and large, it’s been reactive when the Perry campaign has been proactive.
It’s fascinating to watch how – in one election cycle – how the mechanics of campaigning has changed.
The way U.S. Sen.-elect Scott Brown’s (R-MA) supporters used the Internet to spread the message and raise money is a major development in conservative use of the Internet in campaigns and was a major topic of discussion today. Another significant development was the way Ron Paul’s supporters used the Internet in 2008 and has led to bigger and better things, including the Tea Party Movement.
There are differences between the conservative and liberal blogosphere. Yes, it’s true, the left in Texas has set up a blog that is an adjunct of the Democratic campaign apparatus. Whereas, most conservative blogs are set up and run by free-thinking individuals who want to reduce the size and scope of government. A significant number of growing conservative blogs are not connected with any politician.
That said, Republicans are beginning to play catch-up in this medium, and Perry’s blogger forum is another example of that trend.