by: Anna Kate Baygents
Staff Reporter
When Kent McCarty graduated last year as a Valedictorian, Star Student, National Merit Finalist, and Hall of Fame recipient, most of his teachers and classmates expected him to achieve big things. As former editor of The Warrior Beat, it came as no surprise when one of these included writing. Last September, The Conservative Journal, a popular political blog, was looking to start a new project geared toward a younger audience and needed a writer for it. “I never thought I’d get it,” McCarty said, “but I took a chance and applied.” McCarty was chosen, and The Dysfunction Junction was born. While writing for The Warrior Beat, McCarty wrote a column following his personal series of unfortunate events entitled The Dysfunction Junction. So when trying to decide what to name his blog, he chose to carry over the catchy title “because the only thing more dysfunctional than my life is the
Kent McCarty shakes hands with Phil Bryant at the Governor’s Inaugural Ball. / Submitted Photo
American Government,” McCarty said. McCarty’s first article was a live blog following a GOP debate this past September. Since then, The Dysfunction Junction has grown immensely and has even been mentioned on The Huffington Post for GOP primary predictions as well as spotlighted on Red Alert, another young political blog. Most recently, McCarty joined the staff of The College Conservative, a blog written by college students from all over the country. However, McCarty doesn’t only blog about politics; he is also very involved. On January 10, McCarty attended the inauguration of Governor Phil Bryant where he was able to speak and shake hands with the Governor. A few weeks after, McCarty flew to Washington, D.C., to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference, or better known as CPAC. Speakers ranged from Ann Coulter to Herman Cain, yet Sarah Palin stole the show. “I’ve never seen someone so well-received by such a large crowd,” McCarty said. McCarty met Palin and Cain along with other “celebrities” Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich. McCarty’s connection with Gingrich, however, didn’t end in D.C. At the beginning of March, McCarty received an email from Gingrich’s campaign stating that they were looking for a chairman for Lamar County, and he excitedly took the position. McCarty was responsible for setting out all of the Newt signs around the county and for calling voters and reminding them to place their ballots on Election Day. Gingrich did indeed win Lamar County. For this summer, McCarty has applied to intern for Mississippi representative Steven Palazzo in the U.S. House of Representatives. He should hear back from Rep. Palazzo’s office soon. McCarty attends the University of Southern Mississippi but has yet to declare a major. “I have so many things I want to do with my life,” McCarty said. “I’m still trying to narrow it down.”Although he doubts he’ll be a professional blogger, McCarty hopes to keep his blog up and running for as long as possible.
Facts about his blog:
700 subscribers
3,300 Twitter followers
1,000 daily visits
100,000 unique visitors
