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The Next Right

I’ve complained in the past about how ineffectual the right side of the blogosphere is; it’s part of the reason I grumble about how I “hate blogging,” in fact. Oh, yeah, we had Rathergate and the Reuters Fauxtography scandal, and a couple other things that hit critical mass, but that’s just a handful of things in the last four years or so. It’s nothing compared to the things the Nutroots gets done, and I’m not even talking about the enormous amounts of money they can raise compared to us.

The difference: While we talk about how they are negative–and they are–they’re also working FOR something. We’re just generally carping from the cheap seats, playing at punditry and media criticism. They’re getting the nutroots agenda heard on Capitol Hill regularly, and they even were able to take down a Senator who was once a Vice-Presidential candidate (Lieberman) in a primary. There’s no way Ned Lamont could have beaten Joe Lieberman in the primary without the Nutroots. And now, the conservative blogosphere is top-heavy with people who are largely lukewarm (or worse) toward our Presidential candidate, and more against the idea of a President Barack Obama. Well, it’s pretty much our own fault as a collective whole.

Enter The Next Right.

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The Next Right is a new project started by Patrick Ruffini, Jon Henke, and Soren Dayton, designed to foster political activism using technology like blogs and other Web 2.0 structures. Patrick Ruffini introduces it here:

If you’re looking for pure-play opinion and link bait on sundry topics from Ann Coulter to Jimmy Carter/Hamas, you won’t find it here. What you will find is in-depth (often unabashedly technical) writing about the election, the polls, the strategy, and the issues. Our analysis will track truth and stay true to the numbers. But it will self-consciously serve a greater purpose — educating YOU to be your own political strategist and start doing something — whether that’s blogging about your local Congressional race or Democratic corruption in your state, organizing fundraising drives, and maybe even managing races or running for office yourself. Only a revival of civic engagement at the grassroots level will create a conservative future we want: one that is pork-free and robust in the defense of our country and its values. We can’t call a switchboard and wait for Washington to fix the mess. We have to do it ourselves, from the ground up, in every state.
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We don’t think this alone will solve the activism gap. Anyone who tells you that they alone have the answer is fooling you. This is not “the Daily Kos of the right.” What we’re hoping to do is create momentum and an intellectual framework for action — because action ultimately starts with narratives and ideas. We want grassroots conservatives and libertarians to start believing that they can make a difference again — a sense all too many have lost. Only you – and not some well-funded 527 — can bring the movement into the future. Only when grassroots conservative have a direct stake in the future of the party are we effective. The Next Right is about creating a vision for a 21st century Republican Party and conservative movement.

We need this. Desperately. Go read more about the how and whys of The Next Right, and sign up to be notified when it’s open for business. TAKE BACK CONTROL OF YOUR GOVERNMENT.

THIS MEANS YOU.