Dailytakes

Tomorrow, the eyes of the nation will focus on Iowa where voters will caucus and select their choice for President of the United States.

One prominent Wisconsin blogger made his choice many months ago. In fact, Sean “For the love of God please use my last name” Hackbarth, from The American Mind blog, long ago packed up his belongings and joined the national staff of former United States Senator Fred Thompson’s campaign.

Dailytakes recently got Hackbarth to spend what were perhaps his only quiet moments of the last several weeks to discuss his blog.

How long have you been blogging? December 11, 1999. Here’s proof:

http://www.angelfire.com/wi/shackbar/archive/arc1299.html

Until shown otherwise I’m claiming the title of longest-running political weblogger.

How often do you post new entries, on average? The goal used to be multiple times daily. But the priority goes to weblogging for my guy Fred Thompson. fredfiles.fred08.com

How many other blogs do you read in a typical day, either via rss or browsing? 100-150. I’m tracking the state of the Presidential race almost hourly. Google Reader is my friend.

Do you allow comments, and why or why not? Yes, I allow comments. It’s a way to get readers to come back to my weblog. People offer up counter-arguments that forces me to keep my thinking sharp.

What topics have most interested you? Presidential politics obviously with my job in the Thompson campaign. Pre-Thompson I covered some Wisconsin state politics as well books, and pro-life issues.

Do you feel your blog has an impact on public policy or the public’s awareness of certain issues? I think I helped get the word out about Milwaukee’s voter fraud problems. That issue helped unite the conservative weblogs with Charlie Sykes and talk radio. But unlike other webloggers I haven’t had politicians e-mail me in praise or complaint. I guess I haven’t ticked off the right people…yet.

When I started weblogging I didn’t know of any Wisconsin webloggers. So in order to garner interest and links I wrote about national news. Eventually Wisconsin weblogs sprouted up, but I kept with my habit of looking at national issues.

Blogging has led you to… Washington, D.C. and getting a quick education in the art of eCampaigning. I’m weblogging for a Presidential candidate. For a political weblogger that’s a huge stage. Along with that I’m learning so much about all aspects of campaigns. I’ll be able to actually know what I’m talking about in future writing.

Three blogs you’d recommend:

1. Jim Geraghty’s Campaign Spot: He’s a good guy as well as a good political reporter.

2. TechPresident: It’s full of ex-Deaniacs but there’s nothing wrong with learning about new ways to use the internet for political purposes. They may be liberal Democrats, but they’re not dumb.

3. The World According to Nick: He gets picked on for supporting Ron Paul, but he’s not insane. But he’s principled and sharp. You have to be on your toes to stand up to him. Plus he’s a Drinking Right regular.

dafsdlks;jkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

Hackbarth wanted to offer more insight, but at this point he fell asleep at the keyboard. But cut him some slack. It’s crunch time and he need every catnap he can squeeze in. Fortunately, you can continue to read more of Hackbarth’s insight at his blog and at Fred Thompson’s campaign website.