The other day I had a surprise in my mailbox which was nice to find. Reversing a trend that has seen venerable conservative magazines like National Review, Human Events, or American Spectator move toward an online presence, the Townhall website began a print magazine back in January of this year. In the April issue they featured State Senator and Congressional hopeful Andy Harris as part of its “Townhall of Fame.”
The article by writer Jay Swartzendruber gives a little background on Andy’s resume and philosophy along with a recap on the fact he defeated the “moderate at best” incumbent Wayne Gilchrest back in February. He actually has a pretty good spot in the magazine because the article prior to his honor [Townhall bills the Townhall of Fame as “(h)onoring the leaders among us”] is about noted conservative media personality Ben Stein – so Andy has a nice lead-in. In addition, Harris is written about and pictured in another magazine feature called “The Wire”, in a column by Amanda Carpenter called “Grassroots Knock Off Incumbents.”
After reading the magazine (which seems to skew toward a younger reader and talks quite a bit about the media and its impact on conservatism) I began to wonder if I had indeed gotten this particular issue as a coincidence or if there was a plan to send these free copies to conservatives in Maryland’s First District. (If so, that’s some damn fine marketing on Townhall‘s part.) With the number of conservative outlets now vying for attention, any advantage that can be taken is only going to help the fledgling magazine get a foothold in the market.
While I’m not sure I’d be one to subscribe to Townhall magazine, it’s certainly worth taking a look at if you’re interested in conservative media. (Of course, if they were willing to chip in a few bucks for an advertisement here on monoblogue, well, that may sway my opinion of taking it monthly. I’d like my revenue stream a little deeper too.) Certainly it has more content than the Limbaugh Letter that I’ve subscribed to for many moons (a little Indian lingo there, in homage to the Maharushie) at a comparable price. You may recall after Harris’s victory that Rush mentioned Andy as well. It made the magazine more memorable with the local tie-in, that’s for certain.
Did I not say awhile back that our First District race would get national attention? Why I think I did, and it popped on the national scene last October as I recounted.
