New media is huge for anyone in politics, whether you are on the right or left. This media is an incredible way to reach new people and connect to them in a way that television never can. Despite the ability of both sides to reach out to everyone, only the left is doing it best. The traffic on this side of the fence blows the Republicans out of the water. Now when your party relies on fear and manipulation to make itself strong, how will the conservative blogosphere defend its lag?
From Ars Technica:
Erick Erickson, editor of the popular conservative megablog RedState, conceded that progressives currently enjoy an advantage over conservatives online—though he attributed it to an asymmetry in free time, since conservatives "have families because we don't abort our kids, and we have jobs because we believe in capitalism." Erickson offered three means of reversing the trend. First, he argued, conservatives must place less emphasis on punditry ("everyone wants to be the next online Rush Limbaugh") and begin to emulate the left's use of the Internet to facilitate organization and activism. Second, they should focus to a greater extent on local- and state-level politics, and in particular on the 2010 race, which Erickson regards as more important than the upcoming presidential race, as it will determine which party controls the redrawing of congressional district lines. Third, they must "transcend old tech" in order to enjoy the same kind of advantage over e-mail that the Republican Party currently enjoys with respect to direct mail marketing. Bloggers, for instance, might seek to collect reader e-mail addresses as a first step toward turning casual commentary consumers into donors or full-blown activists.
So which is it Erick, do you want to emulate us or spout your bullshit punditry-like antics? Talking about how we are lazy and abort kids is not only childish, it shows why the conservative side is far behind the Netroots. Even you want to be the next Rush Limbaugh, and anyone that aspires to be the second-coming of a piece of lying pill-popping garbage is bound to fail miserably. Be happy that you have RedState, its the best thing going for the online conservative "movement."
In the end, as long as the conservatives follow a top down method, listening to party elders for information, they are doomed to fail. The beauty of the Netroots is the way ideas come from the bottom up and coalesce into passionate activism that gets things done, like Donna Edwards' impressive win last night in Maryland's fourth Congressional district.
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