One of the so-far overlooked aspects of the Jeff Gannon saga is his role in the defeat of Senator Tom Daschle in South Dakota. There is a considerable amount of evidence that Gannon was used as an opposition research dumping ground by the Thune campaign. Once published on Talon "News," this oppo was then cycled into the mainstream media via Thune's paid-for bloggers and the right-wing media echo chamber. So closely did the Thune campaign work with Gannon, that an FEC complaint was filed. That decision could have a profound impact on the political blogosphere as a whole.
I put together a graphic that diagrams the way the Thune campaign used their paid-for bloggers and Gannon to push stories into the mainstream news and keep South Dakota political coverage of Dashle negative.

Click to see the full version with explanatory sidebars. For more, see my blog post or the Nashua Advocate's excellent coverage.