The RNC Bloggers in Bloggerville Blog.

Congratulations to good friend of Kerfuffles, Pat Cleary of the blog “NAM”, for his stint at the RNC event. Pat, who is one of the most connected bloggers in Bloggerville is reporting:

Just heard from a GOP strategist, handicapping the Senate and House races in ‘06. Bottom line is they predict “no doubt” they will keep control of the Senate and “we will certainly keep the majority in the House”, adding, “This is not 1994.” A sense that these will be local races, not an overriding national theme. This person noted that bloggers “had a major impact” in the elections of ‘04, “have changed the way campaigns are conducted.”

Just got briefing from Patrick Ruffini, the eCampaign director here at the NC. He echoes the above theme. There are 24.7 million blogs — 30% of Internet users visited a blog in 2005. New local blogs - for candidates — have cropped up, drawing national-sized audiences, like Kennedy vs. the Machine, being used by Mark Kennedy, Senate candidate in Minnesota. Blogs create an opportunity to interact directly with newsmakers (and voters), no filter.

Linked at “Michelle Malkin”.