Quin Hillyer
| Quin Hillyer | |
|---|---|
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| Born | March 16, 1964 New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Home town | Mobile, Alabama |
R. Quin Edmonson Hillyer (born March 16, 1964) is an American newspaper columnist and writer.
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[edit] Education and early career
Hillyer was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana and graduated from Trinity Episcopal School in 1978 and the Isidore Newman School in 1982 before matriculating at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., graduating with a A.B. in government and theology (cum laude) in 1986. While at Georgetown, Hillyer held major editorial positions at the student newspaper, The Hoya, and wrote extensively during the school’s Final Four basketball appearances in 1984 and 1985.
Following graduation, Hillyer joined the New Orleans Times-Picayune as a correspondent before a term as research/issues director for the Louisiana gubernatorial campaign of Bob Livingston in 1987. He served as an unpaid director in the state campaign for Pete Dupont’s 1988 GOP presidential bid. A former page at the 1980_Republican_National_Convention, Hillyer attended the 1988 Republican convention as an alternate delegate from the state of Louisiana.
[edit] Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism
Following the 1988 elections, former Louisiana Democrat David Duke switched parties in an attempt to reach higher office. Duke’s rise in Republican circles were troubling to many Louisiana public and private sector officials. Hillyer, serving as state chairman of the Louisiana Young Republicans, was among a group of ten that founded the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism, a bipartisan group which sought to publicly counter assertions that Duke had severed ties to the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacist groups. The Coalition opposed Duke’s revisionist history and exposed a number of his ongoing associations with these groups, and as a result Duke was an unsuccessful candidate in statewide races for U.S. Senate in 1990 and governor in 1991.
Hillyer returned to journalism in 1989, serving as managing editor of Gambit, a weekly newsmagazine in the New Orleans area.
[edit] Congressional press secretary
Hillyer joined the staff of U.S, Representative Robert Livingston (R-LA) in 1991, rising to the position of press secretary as Livingston rose to the chairmanship of the House Appropriations Committee in 1995. Hillyer left the staff role after the 1996 elections to return to the private sector, where he returned to journalism and political commentary.
[edit] Return to journalism
In 1997, Hillyer joined the editorial staff of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, focusing on both local and national issues during the term of then-governor Mike Huckabee, who Hillyer sharply criticized at the onset of Huckabee’s 2008 presidential run. In 1998, Hillyer joined the editorial desk at the Mobile Register, gaining widespread acclaim for his coverage of statewide politics and its effect on the city as a whole, receiving the Carmage Walls Commentary Award from the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association and the Green Eyeshade Award for commentary from the Society of Professional Journalists. "The Register is a fantastic place to work. I’m not sure the people of Mobile realize what a quality newspaper they have,” he said. [1]
Hillyer was soon in demand among a number of Washington-based organizations. He returned to the Nation’s Capital from 2006 through 2011, serving as a managing director at Qorvis Communications, and executive editor of the American Spectator before assuming the post of Associate Editorial Page Editor at the Washington Examiner in 2008. From 2009 through 2011, he was a senior editorial writer at the Washington Times. He remains a senior editor and columnist at the Spectator.
Hillyer’s articles have appeared in over 100 publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, National Review, the New Republic, The Guardian (UK), and Investor’s Business Daily. Television appearances included Fox News, MSNBC, CNN and CBN on various political issues, particularly in the 2008 campaign. Hillyer has also appeared on a number of radio talk shows, including those of Michael Reagan, Lars Larson and Roger Hedgecock.
[edit] Political views
Hillyer is a classical conservative; his writings maintain the principles of limited government first theorized by James Madison and most closely held in recent years by Ronald Reagan. Hillyer’s writings are also respectful of the Madisonian contribution to American liberty and politics. His writings distance itself from the single-issue focus of some religious conservatives, and is especially distrustful of big government conservatives, particularly over taxation and deficit spending policies. Among a number of columnists, including that of George Will and Charles Krauthammer, Hillyer was resolutely critical of the spending policies of Bush administration. Hillyer has also expressed concern of the administration of Barack Obama.
In addition to politics, Hillyer has written frequently on U.S. Supreme Court nominees over the last two decades. He has strongly supported many Republican-nominated candidates, including Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Samuel Alito, and Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, but took the Bush administration to task over the proposed appointment of Harriet Miers in 2005. Hillyer is a frequent contributor to the Court-centric web site Confirm Them.
[edit] “Oracle of Mobile”
Over the last decade, Hillyer’s prognostications of national elections has landed him some unusual acclaim in political circles. While a columnist in Mobile, Alabama, a 1998 Washington Post column by Al Kamen labeled him the “Oracle of Mobile” for his accuracy in predicting the number of Congressional seats to be held by both parties after the election. [2]
In 1998 and 2000, his Mobile Register columns correctly predicted the number of seats won nationwide in the United States Congress by each party. In 2002, he missed the total by one seat.[3]
In 2004, he predicted the House numbers within one seat, and missed one state in the electoral battle between George W. Bush and John Kerry.[4]
On September 12, 2008, Hillyer correctly predicted the 52.9 percent popular vote for Barack Obama received in November. [5]
Hillyer noted a misfire he made in the 2006 elections, in which he incorrectly predicted the Republicans would hold the U.S. House of Representatives by one seat.
[edit] Other interests
Hillyer has been deeply involved in leadership positions for organizations ranging from work with at-risk youth to historic preservation. Outside of politics he enjoys jazz music, golf, and is a passionate New Orleans Saints fan, as his family have held season tickets for the club since the Saints arrived in the Crescent City in 1967. Hillyer is married and lives in Mobile, Alabama, where he serves as a Senior Fellow at the Center for Individual Freedom and a writer-in-residence at the University of Mobile.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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Constructs such as ibid., loc. cit. and idem are discouraged by Wikipedia's style guide for footnotes, as they are easily broken. Please improve this article by replacing them with named references (quick guide), or an abbreviated title. (June 2010) |
- ^ Rob Holbert (January 31, 2006). "Media Frenzy". http://www.lagniappemobile.com/article/85. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ American Spectator (December 8, 2008). "Bragging". http://spectator.org/blog/2008/12/08/bragging. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ American Spectator (December 8, 2008). "Bragging". http://spectator.org/blog/2008/12/08/bragging. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ American Spectator (December 8, 2008). "Bragging". http://spectator.org/blog/2008/12/08/bragging. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ American Spectator (December 8, 2008). "Bragging". http://spectator.org/blog/2008/12/08/bragging. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
