Organizing bloggers is kind of like herding cats. But at a Saturday event in Denver, 50 notoriously independent online scribblers met to talk shop...and politics. Quickly, one thing becomes clear: there is no "typical" political blogger.
Goldstein (L) and KaminskyFTS Staff Photo
In the first of a series of state-focused events across the country, the Chicago-based Sam Adams Alliance is hoping its "Samsphere" events will help kick-start new bloggers and energize veteran writers. Most in attendance Saturday were right-leaning, but that's where the commonalities end.
Ross Kaminsky (or "Rossputin" as he's known online), an experienced blogger from Nederland, questioned why conservatives "have trouble being effective" online when compared to high-profile liberal sites like the Huffington Post and Daily Kos. One way for Republican bloggers to become more influential in the political process, he says, is to become more partisan, just as liberals online understand the importance of electoral victories for Democrats toward "progressive" policy gains.
Author and blogger Jeff Goldstein, purveyor of the site Protein Wisdom, disagrees. "Do we wish to sell our soul in order to reach the same kind of political end-game that the left is trying to reach?"
Goldstein sees conservative bloggers as instrumental in keeping Republicans true to their ideological roots, as evidenced in the grassroots upheaval over President George W. Bush's appointment of White House counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. "I don't think the right gets as outraged as often as the left, so we tend to pick our battles a little bit more," he said.
See video of Kaminsky and Goldstein's presentations in their entirety at the blog Slapstick Politics.