The Next Right

Several of the smartest younger minds on the right have come together to launch a new initiative called "The Next Right" focusing on making conservatism more viable in the online space. It's supposed to be "something new on the right side of the blogosphere: an online community for change-minded activists and hardcore political junkies in the conservative movement."

It'll be interesting to see how it goes. I think that sometimes people underestimate the extent to which the left's edge in online media just follows straightforwardly from the demographic profile of the potential online audience (I think much the same can be said about the right's dominance of talk radio) and doesn't have anything to do with conservatives doing anything "wrong" as such.

Comments

You could say the same thing about the GOP's congressional races: unfavorable demographics plus incompetent clusterfuck on the right get us where they are today, but there's nothing essential about the outcome.

Posted by phil | May 9, 2008 1:28 PM

Re "Several of the smartest younger minds on the right "
------------
Is that like "several of the less drunken men in the sports bar?"

Posted by Don Williams | May 9, 2008 1:30 PM

Um, it will go hilariously. These guys are all noted losers in this field.

So good look with that, guys.

Posted by nitpicker | May 9, 2008 1:35 PM

Several of the smartest younger minds on the right

Jumbo shrimp

Posted by rea | May 9, 2008 1:36 PM

"I think that sometimes people underestimate the extent to which the left's edge in online media just follows straightforwardly from the demographic profile of the potential online audience (I think much the same can be said about the right's dominance of talk radio)"

This is an interesting point. It's possible that a greater percentage of liberals have jobs where they can be online during the day, and a greater percentage of Republicans have jobs where they can't be, but can listen to talk radio on their commute or on drives they need to take for work during the day.

Posted by Fred | May 9, 2008 1:37 PM

Matt, I disagree fundamentally. Conservatism is essentially an orthodoxy. There are official positions and heroes and this works best in a top-down model. Talk radio is relevant because it disseminates the current position. Every time - at least so far - that there has been a Right wing online presence, it falls victim to criticism, which is usually followed by purges, which is followed by a tendency toward irrelevance.

Much the same could be said of Left-wing talk radio.

Posted by z adura | May 9, 2008 1:38 PM

Nitpicker -- Heh. I wanted to post a link to something dumb Henke had done, but allenhq.com is now a collection of miscellaneous Allen County links. How sad.

Posted by Matt Weiner | May 9, 2008 1:39 PM

I think another factor leading to the left's advantage online is the same thing that we often bemoan - the fractious nature of the dialogue. We disagree, often, but it's okay, as the ability to disagree and move forward where we do agree is a big part of what we're committed to enacting/preserving in our politics. Conversely, Bush-era conservatism has come to be signified by its relentless, fanatical dedication to conformity of opinion. Intellectually - and I don't say this to make a joke - this is Bush's lasting legacy, as he has set and maintained that tone in his administration, public discourse and when he can, the nation at large. It's been successful in conservative circles to such an extent that even the act of disagreeing - about anything, really - has come to be seen as anti-conservative and, since it's something the "other side" does, as liberal. Such is the thoroughly broken state of conservative discourse, which doesn't really seem to interface well with online discourse, generally. I'm skeptical that a bunch of guys who are, at the very least, products of that system (and less charitably, responsible for its creation and perpetuation) can change it. We shall see.

Posted by jkd | May 9, 2008 1:46 PM

The "Next Right" will be just another NRO circle jerk - a pack of squirting squirts applauding each other and trying to wangle invitations to pool parties at Jonah Goldberg's house.

Color me unimpressed.

Posted by MoeLarryAndJesus | May 9, 2008 1:47 PM

"We disagree, often, but it's okay, as the ability to disagree and move forward where we do agree is a big part of what we're committed to enacting/preserving in our politics."

Right: hence the frequent use of word "troll" to slur those who disagree with the consensus on any comment thread.

Posted by Fred | May 9, 2008 1:52 PM

JKD:
It's not a function of this Bush era. It's been the Republican way for a long time now. Just look at how the Republicans pick presidential candidates. Is McCain really the best they can do? If Obama was a Republican, would he have been even able to sniff the race this year, much less win it? Of course not!! He'd have to wait his turn. The Decider didn't have to wait his turn only because he was a name(family name) who was comfortable with the big money boys.

Posted by Joe Klein's conscience | May 9, 2008 1:53 PM

This venture is almost certainly doomed to fail.

The conservatives' compulsion for conformity & a top-down model guarantee it. Blogs thrive on community, on comments. It's highly telling that so many top conservative blogs lack comment sections.

They lack comment sections for two main reasons: (1) the writers are giant BS artists who constantly float easily refuted garbage & don't want their idiocy to be exposed on their own site where their less gullible readers might read the corrections (Instahack, Powertools, NRO); or (2) they fear showcasing the rampant racism/sexism/idiocy of their audience & becoming an open cesspool like Little Green Fascists or Free Republic.

Posted by Reader | May 9, 2008 1:58 PM

I'm trying to picture a right wing Huffpo and keep drawing a blank. Given all the contradictions in the conservative movement, the whole thing would inevitably fall in on itself. Tolerance for opposing viewpoints is not exactly a strong point on the right. The Jesus-wants-tax-cuts leaders of the Reagan era are dying, and with them goes the movement. These guys are herding cats.

Posted by Roboticghost | May 9, 2008 2:03 PM

Maybe they should recruit BigTentDemocrat, Larry Johnson, Taylor Marsh...

Posted by bjd | May 9, 2008 2:05 PM

THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS!! FOR HILLARY!!!

Posted by idiotic | May 9, 2008 2:10 PM

"I'm trying to picture a right wing Huffpo and keep drawing a blank."

Why? She was a conservative (or at least claimed to be one) until her husband left her for a man. Had she started the website back when she claimed to be a conservative, you would have had a right wing version of the Huffington Post.

"Tolerance for opposing viewpoints is not exactly a strong point on the right."

Pot, meet kettle.

Posted by Fred | May 9, 2008 2:11 PM

"something new on the right side of the blogosphere: an online community for change-minded activists and hardcore political junkies in the conservative movement."

Did RedState go under or something?

Posted by Josh E. | May 9, 2008 2:13 PM

Several of the smartest younger minds on the right

Jesus, Yglesias, did they teach you any grammar at Harvard?

"Several" cannot mean "two," and "smartest" implies at least three.

So you can't use these with "minds on the right."

Posted by Anderson | May 9, 2008 2:15 PM

I'm unclear what sort of niche "The Next Right" is trying to fill that's not already being filled. Their only motivation seems to be "Because this time we'll get it right."

I pretty much agree with Fred: the demographics of right and left are such that they have certain core-competencies when it comes to media consumption, and that won't change until the demographics do. I'll add that, as everyone else always mentions, the right thrives on the ability to "flood the zone" with a message and talking points of the day. It works great for radio and cable news talking head shows, but there's little benefit to it online, once you have a couple of outlets able to push the message. Until the right decides that it needs a different set of tactics, there's no need to adopt a new technology en masse when the traditional ones already work well for what they want to do.

Posted by Tyro | May 9, 2008 2:21 PM

Um ... I thought that was what RedState was for? Or was it the Victory Caucus? Or was it Pajams Media? Or ... um ... any blog started by Travino?

The reason those sites -- and this proposed one -- have never lived up to expectations is because the right isn't into dissent and discussion of topics. It's into pounding out the same talking points as many times in as many places as possible.

That's not to say everyone and every site on the left is full of intelligent and insightful discourse, with numerous people agreeing to disagree in a respectful way.

But let's be honest -- the right is into authority figures and a top-down model, not free for alls and grassroots activism.

Posted by Mark D | May 9, 2008 2:37 PM

"But let's be honest -- the right is into authority figures and a top-down model, not free for alls and grassroots activism."

The right's derailment of the McCain-Kennedy immigration plan was arguably the most successful example of grassroots activism in years -- certainly more successful than the left's activism to get the U.S. out of Iraq.

Posted by Fred | May 9, 2008 3:04 PM

The young vocal right-wingers have all bought happily into the Newt Gingrich vision of party relationships, the fact-free vision of reality of the AGW/evolution deniers, and the conscience-free vision of foreign affairs of the neo-cons.

Exactly where are they going to expand this interesting amalgam of useless traits into?

Posted by Jeffrey Davis | May 9, 2008 3:18 PM

@Fred: Yeah, cuz ending a war and torpedoing limp legislation are totally comparable.

Posted by Slattern | May 9, 2008 3:35 PM

Let's wait a few years when Democrats are running this government before declaring victory on the online front.

I remember the twilight of the Clinton years, and the political internet was horridly morose and apathetic.

Posted by David | May 9, 2008 3:40 PM

"@Fred: Yeah, cuz ending a war and torpedoing limp legislation are totally comparable."

"Ending a war" means something different than pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq. All pulling U.S. troops out would have required was the Democrat-controlled Congress to stop funding the operations in Iraq. Congressional Dems rode their grassroots activists to victory in 2006 and then ignored their demands.

As for McCain-Kennedy being "limp", nonsense. That policy was backed by the GOP establishment, the Dem establishment, the mainstream media, the Democrats' most effective Senator (Kennedy) the Republican's current nominee (McCain) and the President. The conservative grassroots derailed it despite all that.

Posted by Fred | May 9, 2008 3:49 PM

I remember the twilight of the Clinton years, and the political internet was horridly morose and apathetic.

Remember that back in 2000, the most highly trafficked, most dynamic, most popular online community was the rightwing Freepublic.com. The story, so I've heard, is that the site ultimately imploded because it couldn't adjust to the changing reality of blogs and, once conservatives were actually in power, there was greater feeling on the right that everyone had to be in lockstep, at all times, all time time, and this effectively silenced the formerly vibrant community. However, it does make a case that the liberal hold on online vibrancy isn't a given.

Posted by Tyro | May 9, 2008 3:53 PM

Most popular online political community, I meant.

Posted by Tyro | May 9, 2008 4:15 PM

Don't they dump there loser sites and reorganize about every 6 months or so? They might not impress one as unoriginal and outdated if they didn't have a giant add for Ann Coulter on the site.

How many times do you need to read a column by Cal Thomas or Bill O'Reilly? There is never any new information.

Posted by An Outhouse | May 9, 2008 4:57 PM

How many members of this "New Right" will have served in the war that they so slavishly and bloodthirstily supported?

It's a rhetorical question.

Posted by MoeLarryAndJesus | May 10, 2008 12:58 PM