Few public figures have the power to mobilize conservative opinion makers against them as effectively as liberal filmmaker Michael Moore, which is why partly Fred Thompson's cigar-sucking video smack down in response to Moore's debate request has so far received 375,000 hits. But perhaps more important than the number of hits -- and featured in this morning's edition of RealClearBlogs -- is the unifying effect it had on conservative blogs. As the video was passed around online, conservative blogs unleashed a flood of supportive headlines such as RedState's "Irrefutable Proof Fred Thompson Must Become President" and Ankle Biting Pundits' "Fred Thompson Should Be President For This Alone!"

Also on the topic of Thompson's video in the Featured Posts Section of RealClearBlogs is excellent analysis by Bob Krumm about why he thinks the Thompson video will make a big impact, and why Thompson, in contrast to what Krumm had previously said, is not a usual candidate. Krumm begins his post:

I don't know what's the best part of this video response to Michael Moore's publicity stunt: the cigar, the appropriate disdain, the lecture, the humor, or the quickness of the response, but what I do know is that Fred Thompson is the first politician anywhere to understand how the speed of the internet can change politics.

And in today's State and Local Blog Coverage, we featured four local conservative blogs -- Red Generation in New Jersey ; Lone Star Times in Texas; Iowa Voice; and Peach Pundit in Georgia -- that liveblogged last night's GOP debate. For any political junky, it's interesting to comb through the comments sections at each of these sites to see how online activists from different regions in the country reacted to the candidates' responses.