Redstate was created to blatantly copy Daily Kos for the right. It’s never really succeeded at that, having none of the influence that Kos has cultivated on either the conservative movement or fundraising for the Republican party (all the candidates supported by the right lost this fall). Now Redstate is selling out to Eagle Publishing, one of the cogs in the right-wing publishing machine. Sure, for the founders it probably means a nice financial compensation, but as a political vehicle it’s clearly a failure. Like much of the right, Redstate is not "grassroots" but another extension of the staid old power base in Washington. They just made it official today.
Actually, I think this is too bad. Red State was occasionally good and although was deeply suspicious of dissent – I was banned for disagreeing about SS reform – it did give a sense of what some conservatives were thinking.
If this change means that they are going to derive from the same Conservative CW, they are dead.
Wasn’t the biggest story about RedState in the last year the revelation that it’s co-founder was a serial plagiarist? So the result is they’re bought by a publishing company? Lunatics, heal thyselves.
Welcome to the world of right-wing publishing
So, apparently, when you co-found a website with a serial plagiarist who had to resign from his media job in disgrace, the reward is that a right-wing publishing company buys it….
Redstate was created to blatantly copy Daily Kos for the right.
And this means what?
It’s never really succeeded at that
That’s a good thing. Daily Kos is a cesspool of left wing hate and anti-Bush paranoia.
having none of the influence that Kos has cultivated on either the conservative movement or fundraising for the Republican party (all the candidates supported by the right lost this fall).
And they were successful in 2004. Kos meanwhile has a win-loss record that makes the NY Knicks look like a championship team.
Redstate is selling out to Eagle Publishing, one of the cogs in the right-wing publishing machine.
And blog jealousy rears its ugly head again. If a political organization on the left offered to throw oliverwillis.com under their umbrella, are you trying to say you wouldn’t go for it?
Like much of the right, Redstate is not “grassroots” but another extension of the staid old power base in Washington.
Actually, Democratic activists have admitted that much of their tactics in rallying the grassroots came from watching the GOP and how they went about doing it.
Put away the sour grapes.
Not ‘all the candidates supported by the right’ lost, of course, and your complaint about Red State selling out rings a little hollow – given Media Matters reliance on Soros’ money.
And actually Red State fared well in previous elections and Kos poorly.
GEORGE SOROS HUGLAGHALGHALGHAL
And they were successful in 2004. Kos meanwhile has a win-loss record that makes the NY Knicks look like a championship team.
Hee hee… after the rout the “Kos never won” mantra (which was a lie to begin with) now has to settle for “Kos didn’t endorse enough winning candidates.” You’re adorable.
And what does RedState have to do with the right backing winners in 2004? The site was freakin’ founded three months before the elections. Their big candidate backing run was this year, when they campaigned for nearly 20 candidates, of which only one won. If Kos is the Knicks then RedState is the Washington Senators.
Hee hee… after the rout the “Kos never won” mantra (which was a lie to begin with) now has to settle for “Kos didn’t endorse enough winning candidates.” You’re adorable.
I know I’m adorable. That doesn’t change the fact that Kos is the Bob Shrum of the blogosphere. That big play for Ned Lamont worked out well didn’t it? Maybe if Kos stuck to primaries, he’d have a chance.
Yeah, that was a a shame, Jay. What can I say, the way we took both houses of Congress without that extra seat advantage was just devastating.
Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid would dispute the role that Daily Kos has played in Democrats regaining power. And if Daily Kos is so bad, why did the right decide to copy them with Redstate? I may not always be wild about the content on Kos, but to pretend they’ve accomplished nothing is to just walk around with blinders.
Do you guys have a George Soros macro on your machines? That’s not a substitute for an actual argument you know.
It’s not a macro; it’s actually a special key with a star of david on it.
What can I say, the way we took both houses of Congress without that extra seat advantage was just devastating.
Oh so you’re saying Kos is responsible for the Democrats taking over both chambers of Congress now?
And if Daily Kos is so bad, why did the right decide to copy them with Redstate?
They copied a format, certainly not the tone.
I may not always be wild about the content on Kos, but to pretend they’ve accomplished nothing is to just walk around with blinders.
I didn’t say they’ve accomplished anything, but let’s not pretend that (Like August up there) that Kos and his minions have established some new benchmark in winning elections.
Do you guys have a George Soros macro on your machines? That’s not a substitute for an actual argument you know.
Oliver, it’s a tad hypocritical of you to pounding your chest that the left side grassroots is keeping it real when the right said is just the old guard when in fact the left wing grassroots gets much of its support from the old guard and us run by a host of DC insiders.
Try and abide by the whole stones and glass houses thing.
Well except it isn’t Jay. The liberal grassroots on the web was and is still mostly an organic thing (most of the top liberal sites, plus mine, are still independent). The right has tried to buy their way on the web and when they do they fall flat (I’d say Instapundit is more useful to the right than Redstate).
Hit a sensitive note with Soros, did we? But don’t worry, all die hard conservatives know it is to our benefit if Kos (”they are there to wage war for profit. Screw them.”) remains influential.
The right has tried to buy their way on the web
Really? Who? John Hawkins? Ed Morrissey? James Joyner? Ace? Reynolds? Roger Simon?
You’re always saying that the conservative grassroots is a facade and that it’s all window dressing. Well show your cards man. Lay out how it’s all bogus.
Many of the top con blogs are operated by the same-old same-old hacks in the Republican party, which is fine, but it’s not anything new. It’s the same people in a new medium. Whereas the liberal bloggers have mostly been done by people never involved in politics.
..all die hard conservatives know it is to our benefit if Kos (”they are there to wage war for profit. Screw them.”) remains influential.
Kos referred to armed private military contractors who operated in Iraq for a paycheck- not GOD, COUNTRY, FREEDOM(tm) nor under any uniform code or conduct or any regard for Geneva protocol.
If someone were to do the same thing and they were not American, what is it called then, MotherFugger?
No, Dugger, you didn’t hit a sensitive note with Soros, you hit a stupid one, and for some reason you keep hitting it even though it’s the stupidest thing ever.
dKos is not somewhere I go for the same reason I didn’t join the Green Party.
too many communists who like to hear themselves talk. and talk. and talk. and talk.
Brevity is the soul of more than wit.
The ’stupidest thing ever”, Nimmer. Who keep the record? Coaapring Media Matters and OWs affiliation with Soros in an item about, among other things, the influence of outside money on the blogosphere, is say stupider than ko’s cavalier and stupid dismissal of the deaths of US contratcor personnel in Iraq. i stand by my anlayis. Kos took his down. Why?
too many communists who like to hear themselves talk. and talk. and talk. and talk.
We’ve gone from “terrorist lovers” back to “communists.” Thank you! I’ve always preferred getting my orders from Moscow than from Mecca.
Dugger, is English your second language? I’m not one for grammar flames (at least, not anymore), but your last post was pretty bad.
To wrap this into a point … the two parties have handled the blogosphere in two different ways. The Democrats have held it in disdain, and as such its blogosphere is very diverse and popular, but has little to do with Old Media. The Republicans took control of its blogosphere, and as such it has great connections to the MSM (in spite of bashing it constantly) but isn’t as big, despite its older origins.
It’s been said that the right has a weak blogworld. It just isn’t the influence that the left one is.
Maybe that’s why we get so many trolls on this side.
Maybe that’s why we get so many trolls on this side.
I didn’t realize you and Oliver were both running this blog. I also find it amusing that I am called a ‘troll’ when I’ve been reading Oliver’s blog for about five years.
Diamond,
My grammar may or may not be Ok, but my typing admittedly stinks. I post in a hurry a lot. Thre are times after my posts when I see what I miss and go ‘oh sh*t.’
I’ve never seen another site where they take as much delight in banning contrary commenters.
Do you suppose that will continue when it’s being run by management with an eye on the bottom line?
Dugger: OIC. I figured it was something like that.
Dugger, you’re fucking stupid, is what it is. It has nothing to do with your typing ability. You’re just an unintelligent person with absolutely nothing interesting to say, and a strong desire to say it.
The right is just as grassroots as the left. What, you think the right buys all those votes? On the other hand, how many Democratic votes exist simply because they depend on Democratic largesse?
Not that I think it’s a fair charge, but the left does not own grassroots organizing. The right is just as, if not more, effective. Redstate is failing because it got into the game late. The big righty bloggers are still Powerline and they aren’t dropping that title anytime soon.
I guess you could also include Sullivan, Reynolds, and Charles Johnson, but none of them are focused on winning elections for Republicans like Powerline or Redstate, so they don’t really count. Although their readership is as grassroots as Kos’s.
Oh, and speaking of blogs in general, isn’t it kinda hard to call a medium mainly read by upper middle class white males grassroots?
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