New Blog: Red State
Ben Domenech (bendomenech.com), Mike Krempasky (krempasky.com), and the pseudonymous blogger Tacitus (tacitus.org) have launched a Republican group blog called Red State. In addition to the founders, they have a lot of contributors: Paul Cella, John Cole, Owen Courreges, Thomas Crown, Sebastian Holsclaw, Kevin Holtsberry, Christopher Johnson, Moe Lane, Walt Latham, Jay Reding, Max Rosenthal, and Matthew Stinson.
Their mission:
In the past year, the dangerous perception has arisen that blogs are predominantly a venue for community and activism on the Left. Catchphrases such as “the liberal talk radio” are bandied about to describe the relevance of the medium that helped elevate Howard Dean to his early heights and continues to fund and support congressional candidates. Accurate or not, this emerging perception must be challenged and defeated. That is what Redstate.org is here to do.
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The Left has proven that blogs can thrive on the fringe, in a petri dish of pessimism and protest. We intend to make blogs a voice for mainstream America, and articulate the deeply held ideals of a free and virtuous nation. We aim to provide an arena for serious thought and a force for influence in Republican politics and policy – and we intend to lead.
When I first heard about the idea, I was a bit skeptical, in that most of the succcessful blogs seem to lean to the Right, although more from a libertarian perspective than a traditional conservative one. But it’s true that there is no real organized Republican effort in the blogosphere equivalent to, say, Daily Kos or Moveon.org.
Visited RedState.org. If you want to read some crackpot ideas, visit it too. It’s amazing how these guys will twist themselves into pretzels to defend Bush and the elites without realizing how they are offending real Republicans and true Conservatives.
A more balanced site is http://www.talkingpointsmemo. com. It’s a little left of center on social issues and a little to the right on defense, which sounds a lot like America.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com can be dense. It is more like an on-line magazine than a blog. But your description is fair. http://www.redstate.org could improve, but it’s all Rove all the time now.