Long-time Tennessee blogger Bill Hobbs, one of the guys who practically invented local-blogging, has taken a job as communications director of the Tennessee Republican Party. I want to say how this is disruptional -- how it's proof that new media is evolving into the fabric of campaigns, and how this gets us closer to the point where we will no longer have eCampaign, Internet, new media, etc. departments, where the high command of any campaign will be required to be tech visionaries in the same way today's campaign managers are required to be field visionaries or media visionaries.

But this is not revolutionary. That's because Bill is not the first blogger to take a state party Communications Director job this year. He is the third. The other two are Shaun Kenney of the Republican Party of Virginia and Bill Nowling (of Lunchbucket Conservative) for the Michigan Republican Party. (Of course, Nowling's boss is Saul Anuzis, a blogosphere hero in his own right.) A fourth state party, Massachusetts, has recently seen Rob Willington, a forward-leaning tech-oriented thinker take over as Executive Director. Rob was telling me about all the cool things they are planning to roll out when he came down for last week's Modern Media Strategies workshop.

It's significant that neither Bill or Shaun or Bill or Rob serve as "Director of New Media." They are ED or Communications, basically the #2 and #3 positions in the parties. Bloggers are now shepherding all press outreach, both to electronic and old media. That's a big deal.