Are Conservative Bloggers More Bark Than Bite? How to Fix it

Is the conservative blogosphere more bark than bite?

Over the years, I've observed several instances where prominent conservative bloggers have unilaterally urged a certain action -- only to see it fall flat. This has included failed efforts to oust an incumbent RINO Congressman -- as well as attempts to expunge embarrassing elements from the conservative movement.

Regardless, this go-it-alone mentality has not produced results. More often than not, those who have attempted to be "leaders" of the conservative blogosphere have looked behind them to see very few people following.

In some cases, these bloggers succeeded in garnering a decent amount of media attention, yet did not accomplish their goals of making a difference in public policy. And in some instances, "fragging" has occurred, whereby other conservative bloggers chime in, thus undermine the original author's point.

Obviously, if a blogger pushes hard for some action, and fails to achieve it, that person's credibility has been undermined. This is especially true of those bloggers who would classify themselves as "activists". After all, while journalists may opine on things, an activist blogger is, by definition, attempting to use their blog as a carrot or a stick to influence politics. A good rule of thumb is that if you pull a gun on someone, you've got to finish the job. Otherwise, you lose your street cred.

So how did we get to this spot?

First, it is interesting to note that in justifying these bold, unilateral calls to action -- especially regarding efforts banish certain "fringe" elements of the movement -- bloggers almost always invoke the name William F. Buckley.

While it is certainly true that Buckley ousted the John Birch society from the conservative movement, it is also important to note that you're not William F. Buckley. My point is that there is no single conservative leader today who has earned the respect and credibility required to take such bold action. This is especially true of young conservatives who are the future leaders. Still, it's important to realize that of all the great conservative leaders and voices of his generation, only Buckley -- and possibly Reagan -- had the gravitas to have made such a pronouncement -- and have it generally honored.

Second, it's also quite true that in an age when everybody has a microphone and a printing press, it is less likely that followers will fall in line. As the politically incorrect maxim declares, there are "too many chiefs and not enough Indians." In the old days, if Buckley banished you from the pages of National Review, there were not a lot of alternatives. Today, you can start your own blog. The alternatives are numerous (just ask Ann Coulter).

Lastly, I would argue that conservatives are, by nature, resistant to taking orders and following others blindly. Conservatives -- especially those with libertarian instincts -- are skeptical, rugged individualists who question authority. And bloggers -- regardless of ideology -- are notoriously difficult to manage (if they wanted to take orders and behave themselves, they would have become operatives or politicians). Bloggers are ornery and argumentative by nature, so it's probably to be expected that many conservative bloggers would not fall in line easily. It's essentially like herding cats.

So what do we do?

In the 1960s and 1970s, conservatives like Paul Weyrich, Richard Viguerie, Morton Blackwell, Phyllis Schflafly -- and many others -- began holding weekly meetings and organizing. They appointed themselves leaders of the conservative movement, but then backed it up with action and results. But the point is, they worked together in an organized fashion. I think activist conservative bloggers must do the same.

In May of 2006, Rob Bluey (then of Human Events) and Tim Chapman (of Heritage) began a weekly conservative blogger meeting. Initially, this was an off-the-record elite gathering of prominent conservative bloggers. Somewhere along the line, this meeting evolved into something entirely different: An on-the-record bloggers briefing.

While a bloggers briefing is certainly needed, it is unfortunate that the smaller, off-the-record meeting idea was aborted. Clearly, there is a need for prominent conservative bloggers to create an exclusive and private gathering where they are free to float ideas and build consensus before launching major projects.

Here's why: If one conservative blogger unilaterally decides to go after a liberal Republican, for example, he may receive much media attention, but will likely fail to accomplish his goal.

But if this blogger were instead to present his idea to a group of conservative bloggers, and they bought in, this coalition would be exponentially more powerful. Having the imprimatur of the group would ensure the initial blog post would be backed up with reinforcements. Moreover, it would also lessen the likelihood that another prominent conservative blogger would undermine the message by quickly contradicting it.

The danger, of course, is that conservative bloggers would create a bureaucracy which could be co-opted by the GOP, a pre-existing conservative think tank, or a PR firm hoping to use this for their own purposes (or to claim "credit").

To avoid those pitfalls, a regular meeting attended by small but diverse cross section of conservative bloggers -- who are willing to be discrete and put the cause ahead of their own personal glory -- should be organized. As always, bloggers would be free agents, but this would be a way to at least inform others before a dramatic call to action.

At the moment, while there are some email list serves, there does not seem to be any effort to create a meeting or organization which would have the ability to facilitate such a task. No leader has emerged who is willing or able to create such a thing. It will be interesting to see if such a meeting is ever organized.