Power Line is an American conservative[1][2][3] or right-leaning[4]politicalblog,[5][6] founded in May 2002. Its posts were originally written by three lawyers who attended Dartmouth College together, namely John H. Hinderaker, Scott W. Johnson, and Paul Mirengoff. Contributors initially wrote under pen names; John Hinderaker, for example, wrote as "Hindrocket."[7][8] The site is published by Joseph Malchow, also a Dartmouth graduate.
In 2004, Power Line was named Time magazine's first-ever "Blog of the Year".[10]
When AOL added blogs to their news website in 2007, Power Line was one of the five blogs included.[11][12] A 2007 memo from the National Republican Senatorial Committee described Power Line as one of the five best-read national conservative blogs.[13] CBS News described Powerline as "a prominent conservative blog."[14]
Contributors
The main contributors to Power Line are John H. Hinderaker, Scott W. Johnson, Steven F. Hayward, and Lloyd Billingsley.[15] Susan Vass, writing under the name "Ammo Grrrll", contributes a humor column to the site every Friday.[16]
In 2007, Forbes recognised Hinderaker as the #19th "biggest and brightest star on the web" on the strength of Powerline's work on Rathergate.[17]
Power Line gained widespread recognition during the 2004 Killian documents controversy relating to a CBS report on George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard, starting with a post entitled "The Sixty-First Minute";[18][19] Powerline is credited with helping break the story.[20][21] Conservatives (including Power Line, National Review Online and Little Green Footballs) referred to the controversy as "Rathergate".[22][23] The blogs and their readers questioned the authenticity of the documents, presenting hints of supposed forgery. After noting that the alleged documents used a proportional font, Power Line helped advance the story, triggering coverage by mainstream media outlets.[24] Dan Rather apologized and resigned from the CBSanchor chair.[25]
^TOBIN HARSHAW (November 6, 2009). "Are Democrats, Too, Facing a Civil War?". The New York Times. Retrieved April 16, 2021. And not from conservative bloggers, either. John Hinderaker of Powerline thinks a rebellion on the fringe may hurt centrist Democrats
^Jason Cohen (December 14, 2011). "Holder Holds the Voting Line at LBJ Library". Texas Monthly. Retrieved April 16, 2021. John Hinderaker at the conservative blog Powerline also enjoyed the symbolism of Holder speaking at the LBJ Library, albeit for very different reasons: "Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965—Holder's intended reference—but he is also associated with voter fraud."
^CHRISTOPHER BEAM (April 17, 2007). "The Mourning After". Slate. Retrieved April 16, 2021. Conservative John Hinderaker at Power Line Blog argues that normally there's "nothing wrong"
^ARI SHAPIRO (October 4, 2005). "Bloggers Fire Away on Miers Nomination". National Public Radio. Retrieved April 16, 2021. ARI SHAPIRO reporting: John Hinderaker spent yesterday criticizing President Bush on the political Web site powerlineblog.com
^Hugh Hewitt (2005). "1". Blog. Thomas Nelson. p. 6. ISBN0-7852-1187-X. Retrieved April 16, 2021. Then Powerline, with a prompt from Free Republic and assists from Little Green Footballs and others in the blogosphere brought down Dan Rather
^"How Not To Discredit A Poll". CBS News. June 23, 2009. Retrieved April 16, 2021. John Hinderaker at Power Line, a prominent conservative blog, pushed back
^"About Us". Powerline. June 20, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
^"The 2018 CRB Christmas Reading List". Claremont Review of Books. Claremont Institute. December 12, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2023. Ammo Grrrll Hit the Target: A Humorist's Friday Columns from Power Line. What do four boring middle-aged white guys need to liven up their group blog? A regular Friday humor column from former standup comedienne Susan Vass
^Ewalt, David M. (January 24, 2007). "In Pictures: The Web Celeb 25". Forbes. Retrieved April 16, 2021. John Hinderaker is a lawyer and fellow at the conservative Claremont Institute--but his claim to fame is as one of the editors of PowerLine, a right-wing blog best known for its 2004 reporting on "Rathergate."
^Jenny Attiyeh (February 3, 2005). "Who's got the power?". The Harvard Gazette. Retrieved April 16, 2021. Powerline, a conservative blog, was one of the first to raise questions about the authenticity of memos on President Bush's National Guard service, broadcast by CBS on "60 Minutes."
^John Podhoretz (November 9, 2015). "A Critic's Confession". Washington Examiner. Retrieved April 16, 2021. Scott Johnson of Powerline, the blog that first surfaced the Rathergate fraud, took on the task of debunking Truth
^DAVID WEIGEL (September 28, 2012). "We'll Always Have Dan Rather". Slate. Retrieved April 16, 2021. Dan Rather going on air with his 2004 story about George W. Bush's service in the Air National Guard, then retracting the story because the key document was forged, then, years later, refusing to apologize. New conservative media—talk radio, blogs, message boards, Drudge—claimed his scalp. One of the key blogs, Powerline, was profiled by Time magazine. "Rathergate" changed the audience's relationship with the media.
^"Need to Know: Rather Not". National Review. November 4, 2015. Retrieved April 16, 2021. Mona and Jay welcome Powerline blogger Scott Johnson to discuss the "Rathergate" scandal