March 31, 2006
Ahead Of The Curve
If there is another Member that is taking better advantage of all that the "New Media" has to offer than Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), we'd like to know who it is.
Not only does Kingston have his own blog, he also podcasts (check out the shameless iPod knock-off on the latter). What's more, the House GOP Conference vice chair has been instrumental in pushing others in the Conference toward embracing bloggers as a way of getting their message out sans filter. Just this week, Kingston hosted a discussion with bloggers representing three high-traffic conservative sites.
A member of the class of '92, Kingston has generally been a conservative team player in the House, rising in the ranks on Approps to secure a seat on its Defense Subcommittee from which he can channel funds back to his military-heavy South Georgia district.
He was a fervent DeLay loyalist until the very end this year, backing the next-in-line Roy Blunt to take over as Maj Leader after DeLay threw in the towel. Kingston also made his own leadership ambitions known during the GOP's internal elections, saying that he would be a candidate for Conference chair should there be a contest for what is now Deborah Pryce's position.
And with Pryce eyeing the gavel at the Financial Services Committee in the next Congress, Kingston will no doubt seek to rise in the ranks.
Which is why his online efforts matter.
As the election of Maj Leader John Boehner in February proved, external pressures do affect political events as internal as party leadership races. This is not to say that the conservative bloggers who got behind Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) and went after Blunt decided that contest, but that the race did not occur in a vacuum and members knew very well just how fed up many conservatives were with the state of congressional GOP.
By becoming both a practitioner and supporter of the "New Media" now, Kingston establishes relationships and even friendships with those who could be active supporters (and lobbyists) for a future leadership bid.
[JONATHAN MARTIN]
Posted at 02:58 PM
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