A small gathering of conservatives
Published Tue, Oct 7 2008 9:59 PM
This evening, I had the pleasure of getting together over drinks and dinner with a few of my fellow conservatives. These were people I've never met before, but we got together to discuss conservatism, politics, and activism. We also watched the debate and critiqued the poor performances of both candidates.
Turnout was low. I had expected to see a few more local bloggers, but none showed up. Karl over at Leaning Straight Up had somehow managed to get me an invitation to this, and I was really looking forward to meeting him. Alas, it was not to be.
Leslie Graves from Open Records was putting on the get together. According to the original invitation…
I am able to fund as many as 25 delightful, entertaining, witty, snarky, clued-in and/or infrequent, tentative, novice fiscally conservative bloggers at this little bash and the Sam Adams Alliance has agreed to pay the bar tab.
I figured we'd start around 6:00 p.m. with drinks and commence to dinner around 7:00. However, some details will need to be worked out but this is the general idea I had in mind and for all I know we'll only get 6 of you, in which case, we'll all get to know each other very well.
That's pretty much the way it went. I'm horrible at remembering names, generally having to meet or converse with someone on multiple occasions before I finally get it together, so I'm not even going to attempt it. I know that the Evergreen Freedom Foundation was represented, as was The Leadership Institute. I was there. Leslie was there.
Also in attendance was “Orb” from Orbusmax. He's someone I've wanted to meet for a long time. His website is one of my favorite news sources.
One of the things we talked about was getting a bigger, better web presence for conservative bloggers. Basically, the consensus was that just as liberals are pretty much brain dead about talk radio, conservatives have a similar problem with their web presence. Like it or not, sites like the Daily KOS (nope, not gonna link-em) see vastly more traffic than the next closest conservative sites. We've got to find better ways to compete with them. Despite a lot of the vitriol and the like that you see on those sites toward conservatives, they get their message across. Loads of people read them and get their talking points/marching orders from them. Conservatives have to do better.
We also talked about the challenges of getting a conservative (red state) message across in a liberal (blue state) environment. If a small group (I believe the number was 4) of well heeled liberals can apply their resources (throw money, time, and activists at the problem) and turn a red state into a blue state over the course of just a few election cycles, maybe we can do the same and turn a blue state (like Washington for example) red.
Money and paid bloggers was mentioned (no, I'm not going to start asking for money to blog, that's not why I do it). That may be what it takes to get some serious alternative media style “journalism” going. Other activist methods were also discussed. Conservatives seem to have a lot of disadvantages in this area. Most of us have jobs and have to work for a living. Blogging is a “spare time” recreational activity for us. Finding people to dedicate themselves to activism out here typically means finding young idealists that want to “change the world” — typically to support a “progressive” agenda. That sort of youthful exuberance and activism tends to run to the left. We've also got a similar problem dealing with the major media. People don't tend to go into journalism to “tell it like it is”. They want to change things and “make a difference.”
Taking back the language might be a part of what we need. After all, we're really looking to undo over 150 years worth of cultural erosion, and governmental gluttony. People that seek a return to limited, constitutional government and real free markets and liberty are the ones with today's radical ideas. When Barack Obama talks about “change” we all know what he means. The continued leftward slide of our culture and the expanding, rapacious appetite of government socialism that we're seeing today are just more of the same now. We (we conservatives) are really the ones seeking real “change.”
We may also have to learn from radicals like Saul Alinsky. I'm not advocating disrupting meetings or the like, but activist tactics used by the left might just work for us as well — as long as we keep it legal and ethical. Ethical lapses may serve as resume enhancements for leftists and liberals, but they only hurt conservatives.
Is the Republican Party the vehicle for the change conservatives want to see? I don't know, it seems to have gone so far off into the enemy's camp. It may be the best we have though.
I've asked for arguments from co-workers and fellow bloggers why we ought to vote for a candidate. I've been reminded by some of you that we've got to do more to choose quality candidates that are viable. Someone tonight mentioned that we (conservatives) tend to spend a lot more time reading than writing or acting.
It's time for a change.
Here are a few more resources that might be of interest…
Judgepedia — Ballotpedia — Sunshine Review — Open Records — Evergreen Freedom Foundation — The Leadership Institute — Orbusmax
… and those are just to get started.
I'm also working on a new project. I'll let you know more once it's a little further along.
It's time to get active!
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John responded with:
 | Perri--send me an email when you get a chance (I assume you'll see the address) |
Karma responded with: Geturdone
 | Perri I am sure that there are others out there. I have a brother who is retired and very much interested it what you say. Why can't the retired and young mom's old moms and the like be recruted to help. We may not have your smarts but we have your convictions and can be recruted to do some homework and stuff out. |
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