Buying of the Blogosphere?

The RNC has launched a program to pay bloggers up to 30% for any donations that are made through their site. The RNC will offer banner ads and panel ads to bloggers as a way to drive donations. As the New York Times explains it:

"The new program, though, has an added advantage in that it allows the Republicans to piggyback on existing relationships between Web sites and their users. The idea is that people might be more likely to donate if their favorite site appears to endorse the idea of giving to political parties."

Now maybe this is just the paranoid liberal in me, but I think there is a larger goal here. By tying a bloggers revenue directly to the fate of the national party, the RNC has helped to bring conservative bloggers further towards the party's politics. This is especially noteworthy at a time when most Right-wing bloggers are Libertarians before Republicans. This is a way to buy the bloggers' loyalty.

Before I hear the argument that people like dKos already take advertisements from Democrats; please consider that he gets paid regardless of whether his ads inspire donations. This program takes the next step.