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Fred Thompson’s Web Wiz

The launch of Fred Thompson’s website last night was welcome news for his legions of online supporters. Now comes word that Jon Henke, the newest hire at New Media Strategies, will be working on Thompson’s account for the firm. The Henke hire is a major coup for New Media Strategies, which wanted someone of Henke’s stature to manage Thompson’s online operation.

Henke has posted more details about the job on QandO, his blogging home before taking a job with the George Allen campaign last year. Henke was brought on board to clean up the mess created by the “macaca” incident. His work was praised by both liberals and conservatives, and despite Allen’s defeat, Henke played a pivotal role to keep the race tight.

Earlier this year, Henke came to Washington to work for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) as his new-media director. It was a surprising move for the traditional McConnell, but it paid many dividends. With the exception of the immigration bill, McConnell has managed to keep Republicans united and beat back several Democrat bills. Henke deserves credit for keeping bloggers informed and alert.

Henke’s new job puts him in the middle of Thompson’s exciting campaign, which raised a remarkable $220,000 just 18 hours after the I’m With Fred website launched last night. (I’m told that site was designed by Mike Turk, the former online guru for Bush-Cheney ‘04 and the Republican National Committee.)

Thompson is just one of Henke’s clients in his new job as online brand manger at New Media Strategies. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about the others shortly.

UPDATE — 11:24 p.m.: Shira Toeplitz at the Hotline has more details on Thompson’s web team.