Let's hear it for The HOTSOUP.com team, Republican strategists Matthew Dowd and Mark McKinnon; Democratic strategists Carter Eskew, Joe Lockhart, Michael Feldman, and Chip Smith, Internet gurus Allie Savarino, John deTar, and Bart Barden; and former Associated Press political reporter Ron Fournier. These guys seem unaffected by virtually every development on the internet since 1999.

I can literally hear them playing foosball even as I type this.

Here's their claim:

HOTSOUP will create a new community of influence among those in government, politics, business and entertainment who make the decisions and those who want to impact them. It will bring the inside world out and the outside world in, and create a richer dialogue and stronger connections among all of these Opinion Drivers.

Then they ask us to select ONE issue or concern we wish we heard more about from the MSM only they call it the mainstream media.

What’s your opinion?

Q: What issue or concern do you wish you heard more about from the mainstream media and your leaders?
a) Ethics/honesty in American life
b) Making government work
c) The environment
d) The Iraq war
e) Faith and family
f) The changing U.S. and global economies
g) Other

Oh, and the childish(like?) flash intro asks us to ponder the following:

• Can a single act change the world?


• How do you separate work from play?


• Can terrorism be defeated?


• Why don't leaders lead anymore?


• Why doesn't anyone care about my opinion?

So, what's the deal, these guys were behind on their self-help reading AND their Wired Magazine subscription?

Maybe the internet IS a series of tubes after all. On the upside, I feel seven years younger.