Who's In Hillary Clinton's Fave 16?

The Skinny: Campaigns Keep Closer Tabs On Their MySpace Friends

(CBS)  The Skinny is Joel Roberts' take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.

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When it comes to presidential politics, it pays to know who your friends are.

While the campaigns are all using MySpace.com as part of their outreach to young voters, the Wall Street Journal reports they'd be wise to keep an eye on one of the social networking site's popular features: a list that shows photos of their top 16 "friends" and provides links to their personal pages.

The Hillary Clinton campaign learned that lesson recently when it included a picture of a man who says he's looking for "a smart, insanely funny & beautiful woman in touch with her 'dirty' side" in the top 16 of her 52,187 friends.

Not, perhaps, the sort of friend the Clinton campaign is looking for.

The picture of 35-year-old LaMott Jackson was removed from Clinton's page about two weeks ago, but he still supports the New York senator.

"I wish Hillary luck," he said.


What's An "OPO"?

The Washington Post, meanwhile, takes a look at the new generation of
of online political operatives, or "OPOs," who see the Internet not just as a campaign tool, but as "a whole new way of campaigning, from blogs to MySpace to YouTube, with far more potential than the old media of print and television. "

People like Joe Rospars, who four years ago, at the age of 22, worked as an "all-around Web guy" for the Howard Dean campaign – the first campaign to truly embrace online campaigning. Now, Rospars runs an online staff of 11 at Barack Obama's Chicago headquarters. Another young former Dean "Web guy" is John Edwards' chief online strategist, while a 26-year-old ex-Bush staffer has the same role in Mitt Romney's campaign.

The Post says all the campaigns employ someone similar: "young, tech-savvy and committed to the transforming possibilities of the Internet."

But for all the focus on the Internet's role in spreading the word and raising money for the candidates, the "OPOs" sometimes have a hard time earning the respect of more traditional political operatives who still run the campaigns.

"They're treating me like a mascot," one online strategist told the Post. "Like it's enough that they hired an Internet guy and that's it."


Debating The Debate

The morning papers devote plenty of coverage to last night's Republican presidential debate. It's the lead in Friday's Washington Post, while
The New York Times and Los Angeles Times feature above-the-fold photos from the debate on their front pages with stories and analysis inside.

The consensus among the papers is that the ten GOP candidates tended to agree on the Iraq war (they support it) while some divisions emerged on key social issues.

Republican frontrunner Rudy Giuliani "appeared most out of step on the social issues," according to the Post, with his support for abortion rights and limited backing for federally funded stem cell research. John McCain was in the minority in voicing his support for using federal money to expand stem cell research.

Mitt Romney, the third of the "major" GOP candidates, "struggled," said the New York Times, to explain his shift from favoring abortion rights to opposing them.

The debate, said the Post, "produced no clear winners or losers." The top three candidates - Giuliani, McCain and Romney – "made forceful presentations," while the seven others competing for attention "also generally acquitted themselves well."

All the candidates also competed to claim the political and spiritual mantle of Ronald Reagan, invoking his name nearly 20 times, accoridng to the L.A. Times, "and mostly ignoring the current occupant of the White House."

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[booyaw_77]

You know whats wrong with you machos? Yaz never learned how to muffdive. Well, yer gonna learn. And yer gonna learn quick.

[booyaw_77]

Everything is flash gordon 'round here. Too many rocket ships.. Know what I'm say'n? Not enough big donuts 'round here. Not enough orchids. Thigh power..

[booyaw_77]

Here's me first idea: The Washington Monument. I think its subliminally contradictive that a big dork be our simple of freedoms. I think it should be a big *** instead.

[booyaw_77]

You massygonists. You just wait.. You 11 chinned Karl Rove freaks. I'll be unleashing me intellectual horsepower.

[perception5]

CBS (Clinton Broadcasting Station) should certainly be on Hillary's friends list after all Rick Kaplan who took over at CBS Evening News two months ago is a close personnal friend who slept at the Clinton White House twice the last time in April 2000

This is a gross "conflict of interest"

How would Americans like it if President Bushes great friend was heading up CBS or CNN or ABC,
etc etc.......???

That's why America has a corrupt liberal MSM wolfpack that has and is "proping" up the classless DO-NOTHING DEMS in our 110th Congress......really sad but TRUE

[iceman_1960]

"Being a Queen myself I think this is wonderful!!! =() "
Posted by Iceman_196O at 08:27 AM : May 04, 2007

didntinhale also posts as Iceman_196O (ends in O, not 0)

didntinhale is a s*exual pervert and he just admitted it.

didntinhale is in love with Bill Clinton's mouth.

[I'm tired of complaining to our Do-Nothing Moderator about didntinhale.]

[killtheliars]

I think anyone over 30 who uses myspace, no matter what the purpose is, should be declared really immature and possibly retarded. Grow up.

[lainemar]

Although not a Republican, I was most impressed
with the performance of Romney who was smooth
and stood out from the crowd as very presidential.
I can't believe the Reps are serious about having
Guiliani as their candidate especially after last
night.