Republicans told to blog, blog, blog

WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- A guidebook issued to Republican Senate candidates said mainstream media is old news and encourages extensive use of videos and Internet blogging.

The 39-page pamphlet written by the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee for 2008 candidates also advises candidates to always assume they're being recorded and ensure that their opponents are also being recorded at all times.

Committee Chairman Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., also stressed the importance of using national and local blog sites to get their names and messages out rather than the mainstream media, Politico.com reported Thursday.

"It is critical that Republicans not let Democrats continue the (Internet) edge," Ensign wrote. "They have had an edge on us."

On hearing of the instructions, Matthew Miller, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, was scornful.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," Miller told Politico. "I'm glad the NRSC discovered the Internet in 2007."