Monica took what might have been a pretty ridiculous assignment and turned it into something wonderful.
She transformed a fringe Republican Gubernatorial candidacy into a 962-word think-piece on the intersection of politics, the Internet and Napoleon Dynamite.
WaPo: Basil Marceaux lost his race, but on Web he won place in public imagination
Bill Haslam, the current mayor of Knoxville, won Thursday’s Republican nomination for Tennessee governor. Marceaux will fade into the annals of Internet memes, leaving everyone to speculate just what he had against gold fringe. And to eagerly await the next vessel into which we may pour our collective ironic support.
Vote for Pedro? Nay, Vote for Basil.
FamousDC salutes Monica Hesse and can’t wait for your next piece.
Her Arnold Schwarzenegger kicker:
He’ll be back, or someone like him — perhaps someone who has been groomed and stage-managed to precisely this level of outlandishness. The Web will be waiting with open arms.