In another “off the hook” move, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele announced late last week that the Party has named its first-ever official New Media Director. Todd Herman, formerly of Microsoft, will take on the mantle beginning this April 6 as part of the GOP’s ongoing attempt to take over the Internet communications.
For me personally, it is scary to see Republicans even attempting to utilize the Internet as a tool. As Twitter has illustrated, while they may be vastly inept, the Party’s eagerness is intimidating. As of late February the GOP boasted that nearly 25 percent of Republican lawmakers used Twitter, compared to only 8.5 percent of their Democratic counterparts. Not only are more Republicans using Twitter, but they’re also using it smarter, sending our more personal messages and fewer self-aggrandizing tweets (in 160 character or less, of course). All of this makes me fear the day I cannot find 984329 blogs that reinforce my liberal leanings.
Luckily, we’re not there yet.
In a state of panic, I decided to do my research into this Todd Herman character. And here’s what I could discover.
+ He is the guy that invented those ads that interrupt your 30 Rock episodes (basically the guy behind commercials on the Internet)
+ AdAge (now closing its DC office, fyi) named him “the media guy”
+ He was one of the 25 initial inductees into the Streaming Media All Stars (oh boy!)
+ You can friend him on facebook.com
+ He founded SpinSpotter.com, a entirely predictable Republican “spin” site that uses some good wordplay (Spinoculars?!? Kind of brilliant)
+ He writes his own really jank blog, Got Liberty? (Seriously, how do you not know how to use Photoshop, Mr. New Media?)
+ He is a former radio talk show host (Oh lord)
+ And he is a proud member of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
So, take my research for what it’s worth. The bottom line is that Mr. Herman appears to be a tech guru in the world of online advertising and video streaming who happens to be an excellent, respected software programmer. However, my interpretation is that in all of this Republicans have missed to point and the potential of the Internet. In the official GOP press release, Steele emphasized his success in advertising and financial success as a business leader and CEO. Repbublican leaders seem to be more focused on the economic potential of the Internet rather than its implications is organizing the grassroots. In the next several months, it will be interesting to see how, if at all, the Republican Internet identity shifts. At the very least, expect lots of video content from Todd and friends.
Time to step up the viral videos!
Also, on a personal note, I was surprised to see this gem at the bottom of Herman’s press release: “He currently lives in Washington State, where he works at his most important roles: Christian, husband and father.”
“He currently lives in Washington State, where he works at his most important roles: Christian, husband, and father.”
AKA he’s unemployed right now.
Also, I think it’s interesting that they put those in that order.
Brendan, he doesn’t need a job. This guy’s a billionaire.
Republicans may know how to use the internet and blogs, but half of their places don’t even have comment sections. It’s a very top-down structure, not bottom-up.
Tom – is that about the Republican media style or is it about Republican ideology which is a lot less accepting of dissent? Can you imagine a Republican caucus like the blue-dogs, or for that matter even the DLC?
But anyway I’m not too worried. What good are all the blogs in the world when the only two words you know are “no” and “tax-cuts.” They need ideas before they can start thinking about how to disseminate them.
Oh Dana, you too have fallen to using the word “jank”?
Furthermore, we Republicans are totally all up on technology and new-fangled contraptions. Duh. That’s why we demonstrate our appreciation for science by trying to vote down funding stem cell research and teaching evolution in school.