There is a major problem… between so-called conservative politicians and the conservative bloggers and commentators. The problem is there is hardly any relationship to speak of. Except for think-tanks such as the Heritage Foundation, there's scant building of relationships, little cooperation and, if anything, the GOP attempts to avoid contact with the blogosphere.
With the health care controversy heating up, rank-and-file conservatives are relying on Internet news and commentary web sites to discover the truth about ObamaCare. Unfortunately, according to conservative Internet journalists, bloggers and activists, America's conservative movement allowed the left-wingers, Marxists and One World Government advocates to form alliances with powerful politicians and deep-pocketed leftists such as George Soros.
Say what you will about the left-wing bloggers and left-leaning Internet web sites, they are a power to be reckoned with, according to a growing number of conservatives. And Democrat politicians with dreams of winning elections, changing American society, increasing their power and creating a New World Order know it.
For example, During the 2008 presidential election cycle, ABC News reported that close to 1,000 bloggers assembled in Las Vegas "to gear up for the 2008 presidential race."
The big news was that several potential Democrat candidates were there, as well. And they were kissing up to their new media base while receiving feedback regarding their political positions on key issues viewed as important to these "pajama journalists."
The weekend jamboree was organized by Markos Moulitsas, the founder of the far-left blog DailyKos. Democrats who attended included former Virginia Governor Mark Warner, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, and former NATO commander General Wesley Clark, all considered potential Democrat presidential contenders at that time.
New York's Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was absent from that convention due to the fact that she was intensely disliked within the radical left blogosphere because of her support for the war in Iraq, which she used in order appeal to so-called moderates.
One source said that the left-wing blogs played a big role in hurting Democrats who attempted to move to the center of the political spectrum during the primaries and then thel turned their sights on the Republican presidential candidate.
"If you read the right-wing conservative blogs, well, they're all about ideas, whereas liberals do nothing but snipe and gripe at George W. Bush [and the Republicans]. They're all about power, winning the next election. Nothing else," said one attendee.
The DailyKos – said to be the most visited political web site on the Internet – became a big supporter of Howard Dean in the 2004 presidential cycle because he was willing to speak out against the Iraq war. It was largely through Dean's support on the Internet that he became, for a while anyway, the Democratic front-runner in the 2004 primary. By autumn 2003, he had raised $40 million with help from online advocates.
"Dean's popularity on the Internet soon garnered him an enormous amount of attention by the mainstream news media, or 'old media,' to the point that his mug showed up on the covers of many newsmagazines such as Time. The Dean Machine ran out of steam because … well, he was Howard Dean, and Howard can't help being Howard," said political consultant Nathan Tabor.
And it's not only at conventions that there's collaboration between Internet left-wing web sites and left-wing politicos in the Democrat Party. For instance, during the confirmation hearings for US Supreme Court Associate Justice Alito, bloggers fed Democrats their research on Alito, complete with half-truths, innuendo and out-and-out lies.
While conservative bloggers and Internet news web sites such as FreeRepublic.com and NewswithViews.com present ideas and solutions to problems, those on the left denigrate, smear and ridicule those with whom they disagree. Yet, most Democrat officeholders on the national level know that these radicals on the net are an important part of acquiring more power.
There is a major problem, however, between so-called conservative politicians and the conservative bloggers and commentators. The problem is there is hardly any relationship to speak of. Except for think-tanks such as the Heritage Foundation, there's scant building of relationships, little cooperation and, if anything, the GOP attempts to avoid contact with the blogosphere.
"Why are they so slow in discovering what Democrats discovered long ago?I believe it's because most Republican officeholders in Washington turned their backs on their conservative roots as well as the conservative movement in general," said political strategist Mike Baker.
"While most Americans are duped by the mainstream news media into believing that Republican equals Conservative, the truth is the current GOP is run by its RINO-wing (Republicans In Name Only)," aka liberals in GOPs clothing, he added.
The problem, I believe, is that both DNC and RNC regard the blogosphere as a habitat of people who are more than a little unhinged; and there is some truth to the charge. The difference between DNC and RNC is, the DNC has no problem with embracing lunatics; whereas the RNC is scared silly of being associated with even the very few real ‘wingnuts’ among us. Change-obsessed and power-hungry Democrats alike will embrace and exploit such lunatics as whips for sowing chaos; chaos which, inevitably, leads to demands from both sides to reign things in leading to greater statism. ‘Hold-the-line’, ‘let’s-be-reasonable’ conservatives who have long been the scapegoat of lefty smear tactics are, therefore, understandably far more sensitive to even the suggestion they’d mingle with those the media labels ‘unreasoning’, ‘reactionary’, and ‘facist’ idiots. Putting this more succinctly, association with wingnuts can be fatal to conservatives pols, but does little damage to liberal pols. If it were otherwise, both parties would avoid the association equally. It takes rare courage for a sensitive-to-reelection pol (whether left or right) to ignore such realities. Too often stalwarts hear only the rage from the left but little support from us. Therefore, whenever one does show that kind of guts, we need to find ways to support and encourage it. Hail, brave conservatives! Way to go!
If it is true that the current GOP leadership “…is run by its RINO-wing (Republicans In Name Only),” aka liberals in GOPs clothing…”, then it would make sense that the last thing the GOP leadership would want is to increase any exposure & influence the more solidly conservative commentators might have.
Like many other traditional Republicans, I am sick to death of hearing the RINO’s and their talking head sychophants telling us that we need to compromise our principals and embrace the Collins, Snowes and Grahams so that we can win a (questionable) majority in order to exert control over legislation.
Whenever we play the numbers game, we still lose when those RINO’s the GOP puts in office break ranks and vote for trillion dollar boondoggles.
And they wonder how Obama got elected along with dem majorities in both houses…
The problem, as I see it, is three-fold:
First; I’ve always been of the opinion that social/progressives have always had a ‘personnel’ advantage over conservatives. The social/progressive believes in the absolute infallibility of government; and from birth their children are groomed for life as a bureaucrat. Liberals rise through government in the same manner as conservatives rise through business. The best and brightest of the liberal persuasion will always gravitate to government service; while the best and brightest conservatives will always gravitate to the boardrooms of our Fortune 500 companies. After all; business success may shower wealth on an achiever but the high offices of government grant power over individuals. This guarantees that we start from an initial disadvantage; as we’re always fielding the second string against the ‘starters’. The only time this was reversed in my memory was Reagan/Carter. Even then, it was the charisma and eloquence of Reagan that defeated the lock-step ‘policy wonkish’ liberalism of Carter.
Second; since the 1984 election, social/progressives have developed several clear incentives. The American public must be ‘forced’ to discover the superiority of liberalism. For progressives, the campaign never ends. They push the party line exclusively 24/7; “Government always good; individualism always bad!” is the battle cry of the social/progressive. They treat all political discourse as war. Nothing is more important than the triumph of progressivism. The complete obliteration of conservative philosophy and the absolute annihilation of any conservative being are defined as one in the same. This is of primary importance, as conservative thought has no place in their new lexicon:
Over the years, social/progressives have become superb at softening their rhetoric in order to achieve policy victory. However; just below the surface is the visceral, burning, hatred and intolerance of all things outside the state, ready to be employed against any opponent or critic.
These above described situations have convinced a majority of main stream republicans that the war of ideas is essentially over. Reference Michael Steele’s recent comments that there is ‘room’ in the Republican Party for Pro-Choice candidates in direct violation of the Party Platform. Steele; and the others of his ilk seem to have capitulated. They’ve somehow determined that future elections will now be fought on the Left’s issues and on the Left’s terms. They are of the opinion that the conservative party will no longer talk about small government and individual liberty; but retreat to the one last pitiful rationale: That they can run the left-wing state more effectively than the Left can.
I’m not certain what the cure is. We’ll probably have to rebuild the party from the ground up. There is a glimmer of hope here. I personally believed that if the progressives ever got the upper hand we’d be waiting in the wings for a decade for another opportunity at conservative political ascendence. Thanks to the over-reaching, power grabbing, liberals in both Houses of Congress coupled with maybe the most inexperienced and inept Chief Executive since Carter, the resurgence may only take a year: But we’ll have to ensure we’re ready! Just as the bloggers swept the old moderate democratic guard from the party; we will have to sweep the whimpering, supine, ‘surrenderers’ from our own.