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September 14, 2006BELTWAY BLOGROLL
Bill Frist's Calling: Build A Blog Empire?
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is presumed to be a presidential contender in 2008, but I'm not sure that is his calling. Maybe the Tennessee Republican should build a blog empire instead.
He already is well on his way. Frist started his blogging adventures last October with the launch of his VOLPAC blog. His name has popped up periodically in the blogosphere ever since then, usually in context of something innovative he is doing -- like a podcast with Instapundit, the launch of iFrist Volunteers, the creation of a medical blog, or his recent alliance with bloggers to pass a bill calling for a federal budget database.
This week's evidence: Blogging for Bolton, a VOLPAC project aimed at confirming John Bolton to head the United Nations. Bolton's "recess appointment" to the post is set to expire in January, and Senate Democrats have been blocking a vote to permanently confirm him.
Having seen the power of bloggers to spur quick Senate and House passage of the database bill, Frist is hoping to marshall their influence again for Bolton.
"[W]e need your help to turn up the heat on the Democrats by flooding their offices with your calls in support of Ambassador Bolton and the president's agenda for reforming the waste and incompetence of the United Nations," he wrote. "So call as many senators as you are able, check off the offices that you've called and then click below to register your calls. Forward this Web site to your friends, family and co-workers so we can keep up the momentum, and return to the site to see the climbing numbers of calls placed in support of John Bolton."
The effort even includes a button that bloggers can place on their sites.
In this case, though, Frist has a competitor -- and one who beat him into the blogosphere. Steve Clemons of The Washington Note, along with others, has been blogging against Bolton since February. His site, called Bolton Watch, is located at TPMCafe, itself a part of the blogging empire created by Joshua Micah Marshall of Talking Points Memo.
Posted by Danny | 12:42 PM
