GOP Bloggers And Goblins

There was a conference call a short time ago with Patrick Ruffini, GOP eCampaign Director, and RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman. They were introducing MYGOP

MyGOP is the next generation of political organizing. It's an online gathering place for Republicans, and a personal Campaign HQ all rolled into one. Here's how it works. You set up your own personal website on GOP.com, with your message and your photos. You set the goals. You build a team. It's your own version of GOP.com - built just for you.

If you are interested in blogging and also supporting the GOP, I'd encourage you to check it out. There are battles ahead to be fought.

Unfortunately, while Mr. Ruffini and Chairman Mehlman were generous in taking some time to spend with some number of bloggers, including this one, I think they may have gotten a sense of how much work the GOP has to do before November.

I hadn't seen this article prior to the call. However, it's predictable and I used my question to address what I thought I could see coming.

WASHINGTON – This fall’s election season is going to make the past three look like episodes of “Barney.”

The conventional notion here is that Democrats want to “nationalize” the 2006 elections — dwelling on broad themes (that is, the failures of the Bush Administration) — while the Republicans will try to “localize” them as individual contests that have nothing to do with, ahem, the goings on in the capital.

That was before the GOP situation got so desperate. The way I read the recent moves of Karl Rove & Co., they are preparing to wage war the only way open to them: not by touting George Bush, Lord knows, but by waging a national campaign to paint a nightmarish picture of what a Democratic Congress would look like, and to portray that possibility, in turn, as prelude to the even more nightmarish scenario: the return of a Democrat (Hillary) to the White House.

Lori Byrd from Polipundit brought up the notion of message, particularly as regards drawing attention to what the Dems have been up to and what they might do with control of the House.

A second question from a fellow, Bernard, who claimed to be a long time GOP member. had to do with Immigration. Needless to say, the framing of the question wasn't very positive, though Chairman Mehlman certainly did his best to address the issue. Ian from Expose the Left also chimed in during the call.

The Dem bashing is all well and good. But the Dems have used an attacking strategy and failed for several elections. My bullet pointed question was - What is it the GOP is going to stand for in this coming election? How are they going to account for what some might see as poor performance while controlling all three branches of government? And are they communicating effectively internally, as many supporters find themselves defending the GOP against Republicans themselves?

In all fairness, I doubt that was the motive behind the call. But anyone taking the temperature of the Right blogosphere recently should understand. None of us on the Right want to see the Dems take control of anything. But what we do want is a GOP committed to enforcing our laws and reducing government spending, if not government itself. And we don't want to be spun.

I'm optimistic we can all get together and put up a united front against the Dems in the Fall. But it has to start happening soon and it is going to take more than simply talk to make it happen. Chairman Mehlman made some good points. I hope the RNC can get a positive message together, one most can accept - and they don't simply fall back on bashing the Dems to win elections.

If you want to be part of moving forward in support of the GOP, remember to check out MyGOP.

Comments

[gary sasso]

This sounds a lot like MoveOn.org.

[MrsLevy'sNiece]

"This sounds a lot like MoveOn.org."

....without the intellect and planning.

MrsLevy'sNiece