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| Republicans To Make Moveon.org Clone For Conservatives |
| 2007-06-29 |
| Veteran Republicans say they have quietly raised millions of dollars for a pair of nonprofit organizations that will launch this fall with the ambitious aim of providing a conservative counterweight to the liberal MoveOn.org, Politico.com has learned. The issues and education group, which has a plan to enlist hundreds of thousands of small donors, aims to be active in the 2008 presidential election, according to Republicans involved in the effort. Organizers, who include veterans of the last three Republican White Houses, would not give specifics on how much money the group has raised so far or who its donor base is. The president and chairman of the board will be Bradley A. Blakeman, a lawyer who appears frequently on television as a Republican analyst and was a member of President Bush’s senior staff during his first term. “We’re in the formative stages of creating a new group that will give voice and hope to conservatives everywhere who believe in peace through strength and limited government,” Blakeman said. “We expect to have more to announce sometime down the road.” One supporter is Sig Rogich of Las Vegas, an image expert and ad agency founder who was known as the “events czar” for President George H.W. Bush when he was assistant to the president for public events and initiatives. Neither Blakeman nor Rogich are household names -- but both were influential, behind-the-scenes White House players who boast extensive Rolodexes. The groups will face a daunting task in trying to match the fundraising power and cultural and political echo of MoveOn. It has successfully tapped into the opposition to the war in Iraq, as well as concern within the Democratic left that the national party was not pushing their most important issues. The eight-year-old MoveOn family of organizations -- which boast a deep fundraising base, including major support from liberal financier George Soros -- has become synonymous with the left’s ability to influence elections outside the party structure. MoveOn.org Political Action says it raised $31.9 million in 2004. It spent much of that to try to defeat President Bush. Republicans have loved painting MoveOn as a special-interests bogeyman, but have also been jealous and admiring of the group’s effectiveness. Ironically, the creation of MoveOn was sparked, in part, by liberal envy of the fundraising and media skills of conservative activists in the late ’90s. The new GOP plan brings the cycle of influence and imitation full circle. This will only work if it is "far right", and independent of the party apparatus. Otherwise it will just be a hack cheerleader for the pragmatic decision of the day, and ignored by the rank and file. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #7 Neither Blakeman nor Rogich are household names -- but both were influential, behind-the-scenes White House players who boast extensive Rolodexes. At this point, it sounds more like GOP-establishment hacks trying to regain funds from disgusted small donors that have left the RNC. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2007-06-29 23:13 |
| #6 Cyber Sarge: While the rantings of extremists on either side are annoying and irresponsible, they do perform a useful function. By reminding the moderate politicians that there is a passionate base that gets a little annoyed when they stray to the middle, but a LOT annoyed when they completely forget who elected them. For example, if that was a rank and file site, can you imagine the bonfire it would have lit about immigration? The Washington Republicans would have been far more aware that the rank and file, and not just the far right, were carrying torches and pitchforks. The problem is that politicians really tend to get insulated in the Beltway, where reality is distorted beyond belief. Unless they travel home a lot and talk to their constituents, they really don't know what they are thinking. It would be much the same if you could only get your news from MSNBC. Pretty soon, you would lose your grasp of what was really going on out there. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-06-29 17:20 |
| #5 Just don't clone Soros. One megalomaniacal billionaire who wants to transform humanity to his own creepy specifications is quite enough, thank you. |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-06-29 12:58 |
| #4 It's times like this that I want to hit the perp with a rolld up newspaper and shout "NO!" I dislike rabid right-wingers as much as I hate the left. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2007-06-29 12:07 |
| #3 Moveon.org is effective at getting large amounts of money from a few impassioned donors like George Soros. Think how much easier it would be for Republican fundraisers if they could tap a very few donors for a great deal of money, instead of having to please all the little people. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-06-29 12:03 |
| #2 MoveOn.org Political Action says it raised $31.9 million in 2004. It spent much of that to try to defeat President Bush. Republicans have loved painting MoveOn as a special-interests bogeyman, but have also been jealous and admiring of the groupÂ’s effectiveness. Ummmmmmm...they don't look too effective to me... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-06-29 10:49 |
| #1 A simple test. If the first issue this website faced was the rank and file telling the Republican leadership what they really think, it would be a LOT harsher than what the Moonbats tell their politicos about the Iraq war. The WH, Senate and probably even the House would NOT like to hear what they would have to say. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-06-29 10:10 |