DId Pajamas Media do it? Of course not. But the rise of Fred Thompson to number one on the latest Rasmussen Poll before he has even announced is quite amazing. I submit it is the harbinger of a new kind of politics.
Without reference to McCain-Feingold or any other form of campaign finance regulation, Thompson, by going around the traditional political methods, is in the process of demolishing, or at least significantly weakening, the importance of money in politics.
No matter how you slice it, this is a good thing.
Thompson, via Internet blogs and videos, has gone directly to the people. Of course, he began with considerable fame from his acting career, but that is and was not enough.
Thompson has been paying attention to new media in a manner heretofore not used. Howard Dean (via his then campaign manager Joe Trippi) exploited the Internet from the outside. Thompson is doing it from the inside. He is indeed running for First Blogger. This is unprecedented and, so far, a brilliant strategy.
No doubt he will have difficulty keeping this up as times goes on. But if he maintains at least the spirit of this – with direct links to the American people – he will have changed our political landscape forever. We have all spent our lives bemoaning the role of Big Money in politics, but wrestling to find some way to restrain it without restricting free speech. Thompson may have found that.
Blog on, Fred!
