Hey, Check it Out, Conservatives Have Discovered the Internet or Something

But really, it has been known, and grumbled about for years, that conservatives (and the GOP) were clueless about using the Internet for partisan purposes.

For a long time -- not sure if you noticed this -- but this blog followed the older model of sniping at the media and trying to avoid direct action type stuff, all spectator sort of stuff.

In the 2008 campaign I personally started a more Kos-like direct boosterism. Especially months out from an election, where it was GAME FACES, MAN all the time.

Is that good or bad? Well, your mileage may differ. Whatever standing I had as a disinterested observer (the amount of such standing I once had: zero) is gone now, of course.

Anyway, that's my own discovery of the use of the internet for expressly partisan purposes. Ross Douthat notes the conservative netroots are finally a force to be reckoned with.

BTW: I wasn't comfortable about this at first. It is easier to be against stuff than for stuff. Most crap sucks, so if you're against it as a general rule, you're right 90% of the time.

It's harder to be *for* something. You can look silly if you're *for* something and that thing turns out to be not so good.

Well, not harder really. It's not hard to be a cheerleader. But certainly you're investing more of your credibility when you're huckstering something.

But, be that as it may, at some point it's time to drop the "disinterested commentator" line and just admit the obvious, I'm in the bag for the GOP/conservative candidate, and might as well fully embrace that.

posted by Ace at 04:56 PM

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