We've given U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA, 5) props before for being one of our delegation's hippest when it comes to new media and technology. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA, 1) gets high marks as well.



Today, Rep. McMorris Rodgers was one of five GOP House leaders who signed and sent a letter to House Majority Leader U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) asking her to lift rules barring members of congress from using peer-to-peer internet teleconferencing like Skype to communicate with constituents. (Congress is worried about Internet security breeches.)

Simultaneously, McMorris Rodgers sent out a notice on her Twitter feed announcing a six-week contest among House Republicans to see who's best at social media outreach.



The Hill notes :

Led by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), vice chair of the group, the competition calls on select members to expand their presence on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube ahead of this year's tough 2010 midterm elections

And CNN reports:

The 56 Twitter accounts competing in the initial round are a hodgepodge of individual Republicans and the Twitter feeds for select House GOP organizations.

A sampling incudes: Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois (who tweets a Biblical verse every day); Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois (known to tweet about the hit TV show "Lost"); Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, chairman of the House Republican Study Committee, Reps. Bob Latta, Rob Wittman, and Buck McKeon, three leaders of the House GOP New Media Caucus; Tea Party movement favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann and the Twitter accounts for Republicans on the Natural Resources Committee and the Education and Labor Committee. (House GOP docs are also well represented with 9 of the 56 slots in the qualifying round going to House Republicans who are M.D.'s.)

The competition is styled after the NCAA "March Madness" championship tournament and will last six weeks, according to a statement given to CNN by a representative for Rodgers.