Since 2005, RK has sought to nurture and develop community among bloggers of all stripes. Comments from every viewpoint are welcome, with the obvious exception of ad hominem attacks, racism, and obscenity. We hit hard. We are proud Democrats. We fight for principle. We champion the progressive, the pragmatic. We care about what works. We know that it's not just the election, it's also governance that counts.
In that time, the Democratic blogsphere has prospered. Great Democratic blogs have sprung up all over the commonwealth, a simple look down our blogroll shows a broad select of brilliant bloggers from every corner of Virginia, every Democratic viewpoint.
Meanwhile, the best of the right have closed up shop. Jon Henke at Q&O, Commonwealth Conservative, and the core of Bacon's Rebellion have all moved on to greener pastures. In their wake remains a largely disappointing angry, ideological group of radicals, increasingly willing to do anything and say anything, who can say why?
It's part and parcel of the disaster that has befallen the RPV. As the party circles the tub drain, its activist base flails in desperation, insulting reason, decency, and honesty every step of the way.
After the 2004 election, Rush Limbaugh ridiculed the left, enjoining that if you want to win, you've got to convince voters of your viewpoint. The Left was losing because we weren't convincing anyone of anything. In 2008, that is clearly not the case in Virginia and in the nation as a whole. Reality has made mincemeat of the arguments and assertions of the right, leaving the right-wing Virginia blogpyramid nothing but the politics of ignorance, fear, and greed. That's a shame. Long gone are the days when RK could have a respectful discussion on issues with Norm over at Bacon's Rebellion, or could share in the humor of a Commonwealth Conservative caption contest. There's just enough of a residual political base driven by the Big Lie that the RPV and the right-wing VA political blogs will continue their death spiral.
By all indications, the right is incapable of the self-awareness necessary to correct the situation. That's fine. By the time they realize that they have ceded every moderate, constructive, or decent position on every issue, they will have left in their wake an enduring Democratic Majority in the Commonwealth.
The problem is, instead of trying to revamp the Republican Party to adapt to the new Virginia, as people like Tom Davis and John Chichester and Russ Potts have urged, the best and brightest Republican bloggers have largely moved on to greener pastures, leaving mostly the right-wing "dead enders," the ones trying to stem the inevitable (Hegelian?) forces of history/demography/economics, and the ones who believe the "answer" is to move even FURTHER away from where the majority of Virginia's population is headed. Meanwhile, at the top of the RPV, sits the wingiest of right-wing nuts (Jeff Frederick), while relative moderates and brilliant guys like Tom Davis are shoved to the side. Heck, "Sideshow Bob" Marshall, as far right as you can get on social issues, almost defeated Jim Gilmore, conservative by any standards but not "pure" enough for the dead enders! This appears to be a death spiral by the Republican activists in Virginia, the only question is how many others they take down with them.
It made me laugh as I sat at the stoplight, because it reminded me of the crazy lady in the town where I grew up who would walk tirelessly from one end of town to the other, pocketbook swinging on one arm, the other hand gesturing while holding an invisible cigarette. When teenagers would drive by and yell at her she would scream obscenities at them, and then continue her path to the other side of town.
But, anyway. Just made me chuckle seeing SSB following that same path.
I think the GOP is continuing to overreact to FDR's success and legacy. It's fascinating and more than a bit scary to hear so many voices from all over the spectrum currently talking about the present economic situation approaching what prevailed before FDR was elected.
Assuming our system survives and tends to perpetuate two main parties, it's hard for me to conceive what will replace the current GOP when it collapses. My best guess is something closer to classical conservatism. Democrats can continue to appeal to progress and hope. Republicans (or whatever they call themselves) will succeed by reminding people that some traditions are worth retaining and, unfortunately, fear is a sensible instinct in a risky world.
There are some thoughtful conservative commentators out there who seem like decent people at times. William Lind can be pretty bloodthirsty, but he's been quite critical of U.S. militarism as currently practiced. Andrew Sullivan can be too condescending to the left, but he's been humanized by his own experience as a gay Catholic and particularly now by seeing what his adopted party has turned into. I even find it hard not to like some of what David Brooks and James Lileks write about the tragedy of upper-middle class white suburban married men.
Because I think the GOP will be down and increasingly humble for the indefinite future, it will be imperative for the Dems to practice what they preach about tolerance and open-mindedness. I think our system works better with two robust and loyal opposing parties to keep each other honest.
In this week's economic debate, let's hope the Dems realize and exploit the strong upper hand they have. They ought to tell Paulson and Bernanke today that "stabilizing" the markets is a goal the Dems share, too, but they realize as elected representatives who their real constituents are. They should tell Paulson and Bernanke that, whether they're willing to admit or not, the proposal they've put forth was designed by the financial industry. The proposal needs to be balanced with provisions to protect the interests of the people who don't have lobbyists. In fact, the Dems should forcefully remind Paulson and Bernanke that the people don't need lobbyists, because they have better representation, the Members of Congress themselves who actually get to make law.
I see a market niche in the coming sluggish times for companies to resurrect the company-town model in the suburbs, offering secure employment, housing, health-care (at least until the Federal Government enacts single-payer), and an equity stake in the company, because they won't be able to offer lucrative salaries for who knows how long.
If you've read this far, my apologies for straying so far off-topic.
It tends to gravitate towards radio and cable TV, which are passive media -- and where it's very easy to create the illusion of an authority figure out of someone like a Rush Limbaugh who the audience identifies with.
The best blogs are much more egalitarian -- they tend to place some demands on the audience. The Dem base tends to be more egalitarian, more creative, and more capable of original thought.
The GOP model gives the right to think only to the authority figure -- the base is simply supposed to follow along. Authoritarian followers tend to exhibit more hateful tendencies because they tend to live in repressive pressure cookers. When the base is granted with freedom, it doesn't know what to do with itself.
My sense is this is one of the reasons for the difference in quality.
The ones left can't debate. Period. They emulate their heroes on talk radio and TV and scream a lot, but since the internet is not scripted, the liberals don't shut up in awe at the talking point come back from conservatives. Instead, they fight back and more often than not, beat conservatives in debates.
And then many of the Republicans left shoot themselves in the foot, as the link shows it. Outright calling out for the racist vote?
These guys are alienating not only minorities but many of the white people they believe they are reaching out. Someone may be white as bread, but their grandchildren may be part African American, Latino, Asian, or Middle Eastern. You never know. Yeah, go ahead and insult grandpa's grandchildren. I am sure that is a great way of winning more voters.
Like Marxists, modern conservatives believed that they could change the world for the better with their ideological beliefs, if they were just given a chance. Like Marxists, modern conservatives believe that they could spread their ideology through wars.
They both believed that they could change the world. So what if Marxists believed that it was going to happen through cooperation and modern conservatives thought it would happen through greed. In both narratives, we were going to end up in a better world of affluence.
The last 8 years have been that chance of changing the world that modern conservatives wanted so badly.
And it is a total failure.
No one with conscience can argue in favor of the free-market nonsense now. Just 14 years of it, with the last 8 in overdrive mode, were necessary to bring the world economy to the brink of collapse.
So now most of the thoughtful conservative, just like the thoughtful Marxists from the last century did after the collapse of the Soviet Union, are re-evaluating their positions in silence.
The racists are their own category. They will, and have, hurt themselves just to deny the object of their hatred any thing that is positive.
The good news is that after 3 years of continuous attempts to make xenophobia the wedge issue, the topic has lost traction at the national level.
Oh, Josh...you cut me to the quick...
Oh, well...just one more mountain to climb-to be as good as those who have slipped away!
Most conservative blogs are just fodder for the rest of us to ridicule.
I'd have to guess its because the art-y kids from high school and college are more likely to become liberals, more likely to live in diverse cities, etc;.
I'm sure there are exceptions.
Yes, I may be accused of bandying semantics, but one must play to one's strengths.
Having reflected on this overnight after my quips yesterday, it occurs to me that at first blush the reasons the Democratic blogs are more successful:
1. Opportunity, part 1: Through 2004 the GOP seemed ascendant, and Democrats were more likely to seek new and more effective means to carry their message. As note elsewhere, it was a simliar effect as the GOP swarming to talk radio after the 1992 election. The GOP was complacent, did not see the threat or the opportunity offered by blogging, and did not embrace it as a campaign tool. The Josh Henke interview for NR is an indicator of how the GOP has been slow to seize on blogs. For some reason the Va GOP still does not see blogging as a viable campaign tool.
2. Opportunity, part 2: The Democratic blogosphere, be it pushing the Webb candidacy or spreading the word of the various Allen gaffes, consistently managed to apppropriately and successfully seize chances to play a role in electoral politics. In fact, that success has (I think) played a part in how campaigns run today. Opposition research has a new immediacy thanks to blogs, and candidates are much more careful on the stump.
3. Technology embrace: GOP voters have always typically been older; embracing new technologies has typically been the province of the young. Blogging middle aged poots like me are likely the exception. It makes sense to me that there were more Democratic activists who were by nature more willing to explore a new technology than there were GOP activists, which created a lead in the use of the technology.
4. Purpose: Virginia Democratic/Liberal/Progessive/Lefty bloggers use blogs as campaign communication tools. Virginia Republican/Conservative/Wing nut bloggerss use them to post essays. Both are reasonable uses of the medium, but have different impacts. Both can be the home of rants, but different impacts.
5. Goal: A constant cycle that we have seen in American politics is that the party that is in office for too long starts to become less focused on winning than on matters of ideology. The party that is out of office is focused on winning, and puts aside almost all internal differences for the greater goal (anyone who reads the Howling Latina knows there are exceptions). It started happening to the New Deal in 1938, the GOP had it in 1960, Dems in 1980, GOP in 1992. It is a cycle that goes back to the Whigs in the 1830's, and one that will likely continue for generations.
This is an era when Democrats want to win and the GOP is more interested in fighting ideological questions that sometimes are as interesting and as valuable as determining how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. It is only a matter of time when the tables reverse, but for now the Democrats want to win, and will use every tool available to make that happen. Meanwhile, the Republicans don't know what they stand for and are more interested in matters of ideological purity, and will use every tool available in that debate.
Reagan conservatives like me will just continue to post common sense using good grammar and good manners and wait for the tide to shift back.
Well, those are my thought from overnight-have at them!