Ruffini To RNC
Former BC04 webmaster Patrick Ruffini has been hired as the new eCampaign director at the Republican National Committee. This is a smart hire for the RNC. The RNC has been criticized by conservative bloggers for engaging in half-hearted outreach.
Ruffini knows these guys and gals and they know (and like, and respect) him, and his mere presence along gives bloggers a conduit to the RNC -- and it gives the RNC a credible conduit to bloggers.
BTW: Ruffini is pro-Miers. And he's handed the reins of his popular straw poll to Hugh Hewitt.
From an item on his website: "When I started this thing back up again eleven months ago, little did I know how successful it would become. And this blog is only a tiny part of the larger story. It would have been easy for the blogosphere to take a breather after 2004, with the big question answered. But instead, it just kept on growing and growing. Today, it's becoming the essential medium for interacting with the news, just as the Web has become the indispensable medium for getting involved with politics and campaigns."
Ruffini was dep. dir. of online communications at the RNC 'till 6/03, when he joined BC04. [MARC AMBINDER]