Enterprising local Hilary Hodge (social media marketing manager, writer, and executive director of Sierra Commons) volunteered to launch and manage a Twitter feed for the Democratic Party of Nevada County just two months ago, and the account is now receiving national recognition — the latest kudos coming from prominent progressive political commentator Rachel Maddow, no less.
This weekend Maddow retweeted a tweet from “Nevada County Dems” (@NevadaCoCADems). It was a photo from the local Dems Twitter feed, which reported on Congressman Doug LaMalfa’s Town Hall meeting at the Nevada County Fairgrounds in real time this past weekend. The headline read: “Line at the #douglamalfatownhall in Grass Valley.” And it was a long line. (See screen grab below).
The Nevada County Dems and LaMalfa’s Town Hall meeting also were mentioned on Maddow’s show. “We (Nevada County) just got a shout out from Rachel Maddow! The resistance, of course,” wrote Heidi Hall, the newly elected District 1 County supervisor, on Facebook. Hodge added: “[Maddow] retweeted one of the Tweets I sent out from the Nevada County Democrats on Saturday.”
Maddow’s Twitter feed has 6.78 million followers. Her show on MSNBC has experienced gigantic ratings growth as MSNBC’s primetime audience grew more than twice as fast as Fox News in the first quarter, according to an MSNBC press release.
That is a big megaphone for the Nevada County Democratic Party — in what has long been a “red” county! The local left has been reinvigorated, as this blog has been reporting. This is the latest example. It comes amid a continued shift to the left in local politics, as we’ve been reporting. One of the reasons is here.
By contrast, the local right looks tired and shrill, at least judging from local opinion articles in The Union by longtime local hard-right activists Fran Freedle and Todd Juvinall. Freedle lashed out at The Union, and Juvinall lashed out at Hodge. Both articles were juvenile and had no merit. The local right needs more sophisticated-sounding spokespeople and some “new blood.” A memo from the local GOP leaders became featured political satire in the Sacramento Bee, drawn by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Jack Ohman. What a hoot!
Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report 