NRSC: Hey, maybe we should reach out to right-wing bloggers
posted at 1:10 pm on June 14, 2007 by Allahpundit
They want their own little version of the nutroots, as well they might. A spokesman for the other side snarks enjoyably:
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” said Matthew Miller, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “I’m glad the NRSC discovered the Internet in 2007.”
They may have discovered it in 2007 but their metrics are still circa 2005. From the excerpts of the NRSC manual posted by Politico:
I’ll bet Charles Johnson will be as surprised to read that as I was. Heh.
For the GOP to build a political machine among blogs like the Democrats have, they’d almost have to rebuild the blogosphere. Like I said here, the right-wing ‘sphere is really a coalition of hawks, not right-wingers; if pushed to choose between a statist with a muscular foreign policy, like Joe Lieberman, and an anti-war neo-Bircher like Ron Paul, I suspect most of us would tilt towards Joementum. (Which way would the nutroots tilt?) Our side grew out of 9/11, which has receded, while the lefty sphere has grown out of Iraq and various Bush administration scandals, which drag on and on. Maybe being out of power will shift the dynamic and we’ll start issuing Important Action Alerts instead of laughing at them, but for the time being, notwithstanding the catalyzing effect the election will have, I don’t see righties carrying water for Republican candidates the way the very, very principled nutroots does for its leftist heroes.
Read the excerpts from the NRSC manual, though. They’re fascinating, especially the etiquette about never “engaging” the nutroots yourself (“doing so only legitimizes them”) but rather getting a local official or prominent citizen, acting as a “surrogate,” to do it for you. Here’s your first piece of friendly advice, boys: nothing productive ever can or ever will come from “engaging” the nutroots. You’re Republican, which means your ideological purity is even lower than Joe Klein’s or David Broder’s; that’s all they need to know.
And here’s your second piece of friendly advice: any senator who helps push this amnesty bill through and wants some “help” from HA had best confine their outreach to MM or Bryan. Although I doubt you’ll find them much more receptive than I am, if at all.
Update: Which isn’t to imply that every Internet move made by leftist candidates is effective or attractive. The horror.
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Given the amnesty deboggle, they surely aren’t reading right-wing blogs.
Good Lt on June 14, 2007 at 1:28 PM
Blog outreach program. Sounds like a 12 step program.
Kini on June 14, 2007 at 1:31 PM
I would love to be a fly on the wall…or at least get a peak at that particular correspondence! Hahahahahaw!
RushBaby on June 14, 2007 at 1:31 PM
Good LT…Based on the amnesty shamnesty deal, I’d say not only are they NOT reading right wing blogs, they aren’t even reading the frickin’ newspapers!
commonsensehoosier on June 14, 2007 at 1:37 PM
When I first saw that link this morning I didn’t think it was “horror” in a comical sense. It was a very good idea, and I immediately thought how it is something Fred could/should use, and how this website might give Hillary a huge advantage over other Dem candidates.
AlexB on June 14, 2007 at 1:43 PM
The clear cluelessness to suggest working with Michelle Malkin at the same time as pushing this shamnesty is just unbelievable! They have obviously never read her site!!
SSG Fuzzy on June 14, 2007 at 1:43 PM
In fairness I wouldn’t classify LGF, Charles’ site as a political blog. More like a Islamic Revolution Watchdog site.
LakeRuins on June 14, 2007 at 1:49 PM
the right-wing ’sphere is really a coalition of hawks, not right-wingers;
Well, I would consider my self a center right libertarian, which I suspect Charles, Glenn, Allah et al would also. MM would fall in to the right wing though…….
Considering the make up of the libertarian party, that makes me a republican I guess. My support for Fred sort of cements the deal.
Rustyw on June 14, 2007 at 1:55 PM
Agreed, that excerpt from the 2007 manual would be funny if it weren’t so frightening.
Here’s an outreach plan, RNC: pay some neighborhood kid five bucks to fire up Mosaic on the x86 PC in your office and pull up one of those sites you list (or better yet, LGF or Hot Air or, best of all, mine).
Step 2: Remove head from rectum and READ the f#$*&ing site.
saint kansas on June 14, 2007 at 2:04 PM
Glenn shows the usefulness of connecting with a big blog, but also the difference (I hope) in the major right/libertarian/republican blogs: they’re VERY independent, not good on action alerts, and usefully critical of party organs. Frist does well personally on Glenn’s site, but was rotuinely beat up for his work in the Leadership.
Rudy and Fred are liable to do well on the sites listed, while the others won’t (especially McCain). If they’re looking for a friendlier reception, they’d need some socially conservative sites.
As to LGF: all islamism, all the time (other issues only get play as they relate to GWoT). Rudy is the only guy who could play there (Fred needs to show much more) and even then would face a fairly critical/hostile audience (so exactly how many days after inauguration would you invade Iran? bomb Syria? fence, wall, and mine the Mexican border?).
I think that the vast majority of readers and writers in the right side of the sphere would line up behind Joementum even before McCain, never mind Hagel/Paul. Paul’s mostly right on domestic politics, but Libertarian foreign policy isn’t fit for a dangerous world. It’s Hobbesian out there, but big L’s don’t recognize/accept that while the rightosphere does (Hit & Run and some Paleocons excepted).
All this means that Pat Ruffini needs a BIG promotion and a HUGE amount of money. Not enough people are really listening to him, but he’s setting himself up for a BIG, big role in the future.
libertarianuberalles on June 14, 2007 at 2:10 PM
…or Ted Kennedy…or Henry Reid…or Jack Murtha…
Entelechy on June 14, 2007 at 2:18 PM
I like to think that conservative ‘net roots’ bloggers don’t appreciate being seen as a ‘commodity’. The allure of blogging is that we get to say what we want, whether or not we agree with the RNC or President Bush. I’m amazed that so many of the left side of the blogosphere are in lockstep in their denunciations of President Bush, the War on Terroristic Islam,
Conservatives, etc. They may be part of ‘groupthink’ but we mostly think for ourselves, though we do agree on many principles.
Doug on June 14, 2007 at 2:27 PM
Hey, they left out Free Republic – nuff said.
Anyone have the net ratings? What are the top 10 (in traffic) conservative web sites?
TheBigOldDog on June 14, 2007 at 2:59 PM
The right side of the blogosphere does not work the same way as the left side. The left stays in lock step. It is funny because all you need to do is read the first 10 comments on any left wing blog and those comments set the tone for all that follows. So really the only ones who have a voice on the left are the first few posters, which if you look closely are normally made by the same 3 posters. It is almost as if they are afraid to voice a different opinion. Oops my mistake. That is because if you do step out of line or question the party line they bring out the banning stick.
So Republicans need to be careful what they wish for because the right side of blogosphere doesn’t take prisoners, but they as a general rule allow all voices to be heard. Normally the ones I see get kicked off on the right are those who use abusive language or attack another poster.
LakeRuins on June 14, 2007 at 3:04 PM
hmm.
jummy on June 14, 2007 at 3:10 PM
Ha!!! Victory!! Don’t talk to me about little things like traffic, orginality, appearance, etc. The people that hired Liddy Dole to run the show in ’06 know what they’re doing!
However, and I hate to say this, no one has reached out to me yet. So ronery…
Dean Barnett on June 14, 2007 at 3:12 PM
Do you want to reach the conservative bloggers? Secure the border. We will all shout your name from the mountain top.
right2bright on June 14, 2007 at 3:38 PM
Why do I suspect this is more about getting the RW Bloggers to report what they want; rather than any possible two-way street or actual interaction with the RW Blogs?
Must just be my natural cynicism… which as Obama has mentioned, is the real problem with America.
The question is… do I trust Politicians to fix the problems with cynicism and a troubling lack of trust?
Not without more drugs than are legally available.
gekkobear on June 14, 2007 at 5:33 PM
Ya think?
BacaDog on June 14, 2007 at 6:06 PM
Sure, reach out. Is that why I get emails from John Edwards?
JammieWearingFool on June 14, 2007 at 9:19 PM
gekkobear has it.
The RNC and the NRSC don’t want to pay that kid the $5, they want the solid conservative bloggers to do the work for free. Absolutely they will expect the Rightosphere to suddenly become their sounding board, and in this they are as clueless as about anything else.
If they bothered to read the blog posts and comments on the right, they’d have to face their mistakes that the loyal Right holds them accountable for. But like nearly all politicians, they want the good without the bad, so they’ll expect to USE the Rightosphere to parrot their talking points, without any negative feedback when those talking points aren’t what conservative citizens want.
The only real way for the RINOs to reach out to conservative bloggers is to agonizingly reappraise their positions and priorities, and fall in line with their base.
Freelancer on June 15, 2007 at 5:26 AM