Learning a thing or two from Obama

I had a chance to sit down with Congressman Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leadership's chief deputy whip, Tuesday afternoon. McCarthy says Republicans have learned at least one thing from Barack Obama: Don't underestimate the power and potential of 21st-century communication tools.

The Obama campaign built a highly effective campaign network with text messaging. Now the GOP leadership is plunging headlong in that direction as well. They're sharing info with each other via iPod, and they're communicating with voters via Twitter. McCarthy, who spent an hour and a half with the Californian's editorial board, says he is amazed and amused by Twitter's power.

When he Twittered about the fact that he had washed his car with a ShamWow cloth (that ubiquitous chamois-like product), the world noticed. McCarthy says his ShamWow blurb got more national media attention than anything else he has Twittered (with the possible exception of a swipe at Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan and his meticulously hair-gelled coiffure).

The message: Spare us the arcane details of public policy — what we really want to know is whether a ShamWow can actually absorb an entire can of soda pop.