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Ruffini Re-Visits
Riehl World View — Patrick Ruffini re-visits the topic of Right-leaning bloggers as a potential political force: Riehl brings up a point I hear quite a lot: How is it I am supposed to get all fired up about raising money for a GOP that hasn't really looked conservative and perhaps not even worth supporting for a number of years? People will blog AND raise money for things they believe in. Maybe if more Conservative and center-Right bloggers started to believe in the GOP, again - it wouldn't be such a difficult thing to do? It's a good question, but ultimately a straw man. No one is talking about the right blogs becoming a ...

What’s Missing from the Debate
PoliGazette — This is a follow-up to my earlier post published today on the state of the conservative movement in the United States, and the internal debate in this movement about its future direction. Patrick Ruffini and others have argued that conservative bloggers should learn from their progressive peers. They should, Ruffini believes, become fundraisers, select individual Republican candidates they consider conservative, build a grass roots network and, of course, start to challenge Democrats in their own homes (meaning: recruiting Republicans in a ‘Democratic’ areas, states, etc.). As Ruffini noted in one of his ...

Daily Digest: Fighting for the Future of the Online Right
techPresident — The Web on the Candidates The Next Generation Right Roots: The Next Right's Patrick Ruffini has created a stir. Patrick's arguing that right rooters, or members of the conservative online class, need to quit trying to be the next George Will and focus on producing more and better Karl Roves. Less punditry, says Patrick, and more activism, with all that that entails -- strategizing, messaging, and shaking the coin cup for candidates on occasion. After some blowback, Patrick tried to clarify his argument. He's not talking about shilling for the GOP, he ...

Building the New Guards
The Next Right — Following up on the thoughtful posts by Patrick Ruffini (here and here) and John Hawkins (and by James Joyner, Dan Riehl, Melissa Clouthier and Rick Moran), I think there are a few important points to make about this project of creating online infrastructure.  I don't specifically disagree with Patrick Ruffini, but I do think he's omitting some important points. Organism: A good netroots movement is not a product of financial support.   While money can help elevate important voices, the Right does not lack a general political "noise machine".   We ...