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Taking Fire Through The MailTube

Rep. Jack Kingston of Georgia is working hard to show the Republican Party the technological way to electoral and governing success, but he opened himself to some high-tech jabs from usually friendly quarters with his latest innovation.

This week, Kingston added a feature called MailTube to his congressional Web site. The service lets his constituents record video questions for the congressman, upload them to the Internet using services like YouTube and Google Video, and then wait for Kingston's video reply.

The very first question -- from Jason Pye, the newly elected chairman of the Libertarian Party of Georgia -- put Kingston on the conservative spot: "Congressman Kingston, why haven't you joined other Georgia Republican congressmen and the Club for Growth in cutting government spending?"

Pye was just grateful that Kingston took the time to answer, and another poster on his blog added, " hope Kingston becomes Speaker of the House one of these days." But by invoking the Club for Growth name, Pye perhaps unwittingly invited a third party into the conversation: the group's blogger, Andy Roth. A fourth party, Dave Holman of AmSpecBlog, added his critical voice, too.

"Kingston’s answer is typical of the big-spending attitudes that pervade the Republican Party in Washington these days," Roth wrote. "He essentially argued that in order to pass appropriations bills, you need to convince members of both parties to vote 'yes.' How do you do that? You buy them off with pork projects."

Holman described Kingston's answer as "a bumbling journey through the sausage making of the Appropriations Committee" and added, "Sometimes our representatives are wise to shun sunlight's disinfecting rays."

Unlike most lawmakers in Congress, even those who have blogs or occasionally post blog entries elsewhere, Kingston truly appreciates the interactive medium. He knows that the smart thing for a politician to do when caught in the blog's-eye is to engage his critics. And so he did, through "spokesblogger" David All.

All listed Kingston's fiscally conservative credentials on the lawmaker's blog and insisted that the House Appropriations Committee is making progress both in cutting "pork" from the federal budget and in terminating federal programs -- 95 in the last round. He urged conservative bloggers to work with Kingston.

"The bad news is that those programs are not officially 'dead,'" All wrote. "The spending bills are now on their way (or will be on their way) to the Senate for their consideration. And you know what that means. I’m hopeful that our allies in this fight are continuing to closely monitor and watch these 95 wasteful programs to ensure that they never see the light of a taxpayer dollar again."

UPDATE: Kingston's blogger critics offered more analysis of his record and technological innovation after seeing All's response. The debate continues at AmSpecBlog (here, here and here) and the Club for Growth. Robert Bluey has more at Human Events Online.

Posted by Danny | 10:05 PM

Comments

I am contacting you on behalf of Raj Bhakta for Congress. I am writing because this campaign respects your impressive website which showcases your immense talent.

Blogs are underutilized in politics. This campaign is interested in developing a strong relationship with blogs across Pennsylvania and the nation, yours included. Please contact upon receiving this e-mail, as I would like future communication.

Sincerely,
Raymond Smalley
Raj for Congress
www.rajforcongress.com
www.rajforcongress.blogspot.com

Raymond Smalley | 06.30.06 11:24 AM

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