Bluey Blog - Official Blog of Robert B. Bluey

Michiganders Flex Their Muscles at CPAC

On my way over to the kickoff CPAC event this afternoon at the Capitol Hill Club, I ran into Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was headed in the other direction for a meeting, but had a few minutes to fill me in on the great things they’re doing in Michigan. (Saul, by the way, has his own blog and posts on RedState. A very tech-savvy state chairman.)

Saul was one of only two Republican chairmen at last year’s CPAC, and despite playing up the event at a recent Republican National Committee meeting, he’s likely to be in the minority again this year.

He comes to Washington with more than 100 college students on three buses from Michigan. The state party is paying for their trip (not to be confused with Mitt Romney’s own organizing scheme). Saul said he sees CPAC as an opportunity to motivate and energize the students.

Saul’s dedication and hard work won’t go unnoticed at CPAC. Tomorrow night, when Vice President Cheney speaks, he will be seated at the head table during dinner. It’s an honor he deserves for serving as a model chairman and an committed conservative.

WhiteHouse.gov Gets a Facelift

The newly skinned site is much easier to read and has a beautiful color scheme. White House Internet Director David Almacy deserves much praise for undertaking such a huge project.

There will always be complaints, however, and my initial suggestion would have been to embed web 2.0 tools into the page. I fear that the Bush Administration just isn’t ready to take that leap. Fortunately, the candidates of the future are already talking about their Internet objectives, including Jim Gilmore’s support for a White House blog.

If you have any thoughts or comments, you can chat with Almacy tomorrow on Ask the White House at 4 p.m.

UPDATE — March 6, 10:03 p.m.: Last Friday I ran into David Almacy, who informed me that some of the web 2.0 features that I mentioned in my original post can’t be integrated on WhiteHouse.gov. I wasn’t aware that government rules restrict links to external commercial websites. That’s too bad — and probably a rule that needs to be changed.

CPAC: Bought and Paid for by Mitt Romney?

Operatives for John McCain are buzzing about two news stories tonight that suggest Mitt Romney is paying the way for college students to attend CPAC in order to boost his standing in the 2008 straw poll. The articles, one by Jonathan Martin in The Politico and the other by David Kirkpatrick in the New York Times, give McCain an opportunity to dismiss the significance of the straw poll as merely bought and paid for by Romney.

The situation is reminiscent of the Southern Republican Leadership Conference last year in Memphis, Tenn. At that event, home-state Sen. Bill Frist bussed in supporters, propelling him to victory in the straw poll.

Romney’s campaign acknowledges the plan, but it’s significance — it involves a little over 200 students — could mean little to his chances in the straw poll. More than 5,000 attendees are expected.

Nevertheless, on a night when McCain’s campaign was battling allegations from CPAC organizers that he tried to stage his own event at the Omni Shoreham, the Romney news is a welcome distraction. (McCain consultant Patrick Hynes of Ankle Biting Pundits declined to comment on the Human Events report about McCain. However, he did say that he contacted the hotel to inquire about hosting a happy hour, which may have prompted the confusion with CPAC organizers.)

Citizen Journalists in the Halls of Congress

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about the formation of the Open House Project, an effort to make the House of Representatives more transparent and open to all Americans. As a coordinator of the project, I’m responsible for a major component: getting YOU access to Congress.

As a former Capitol Hill reporter for Human Events and Cybercast News Service before that, I’m quite familiar with the credentialing process for journalists. I also know about the difficulties facing online journalists and bloggers. Liberal blogger/journalist David Sirota is the most recent to run into trouble trying to secure credentials, but it’s certainly not a struggle facing only the left. The popular conservative website WorldNetDaily spent years fighting the Senate Press Gallery.

Congressional media galleries are powerful institutions that control not just press access on Capitol Hill, but also credentialing for the Democrat and Republican conventions. It’s our goal to offer recommendations to make the process open to citizen journalists and bloggers. But in order to do that, we need your feedback.

I encourage you to familiarize yourself with the existing structure. The House has media galleries for Daily Press, Periodical Press and Radio-TV Correspondents. The Senate, meanwhile, caters to Daily Press, Press Photographers’, Periodical Press and Radio-TV.

Notice anything missing from this list? How about an Online Media Gallery? Right now there is nothing that remotely addresses the growing significance of citizen journalists or bloggers. Do you think there should be? Please leave a comment or, if you’d like, get involved with the Open House Project.

Can Jim Gilmore Fill the Conservative Void?

On the eve of CPAC, former Gov. Jim Gilmore is charging hard at the three leading Republican candidates for president. Gilmore previewed his message yesterday during a meeting with bloggers at The Heritage Foundation and will likely repeat parts of it during multiple appearances at CPAC later this week.

With John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney (not to mention Newt Gingrich) occupying the top positions in opinion polls, Gilmore is trying to find a way to break through. As he said yesterday, no one can top his conservative record or match his resume. He was up front about the “cockiness” of such a statement, but that didn’t stop him. Gilmore rattled off several reasons why conservatives ultimately won’t support McCain, Giuliani or Romney.

Today we get a clue as to why Gilmore is taking this approach. According to the Evans-Novak Political Report, Gilmore found himself atop a “push poll” conducted in Iowa. While the poll was designed specifically to boost Gilmore’s standing, Novak sees the results as a clear sign that “The conservative void on the Republican side is simply too great.” Gilmore thinks he’s the man to fill that void.

Can he do it? His first test will come with the CPAC straw poll, the results of which we should know on Saturday night. A good finish — or something respectable — would instantly propel Gilmore from the second tier to a serious challenger.

Officially Introducing the CPAC Bloggers’ Blog

It’s nothing pretty (as James Joyner pointed out) and a work in progress, but CPAC Bloggers will serve as a destination for bloggers’ coverage of CPAC. The idea came to me after talking to web designer Jesse Thomas, whose work will soon transform Bluey Blog into the best looking blog in the rightosphere.

My goal with CPAC Bloggers is to offer the 20-some other credentialed bloggers a place to go to find out what their counterparts are writing about. I know I won’t catch it all, and what I miss I hope you’ll point out to me.

The Showdown Over William Jefferson

Patrick O’Connor of The Politico has all the details about the brewing fight over Rep. William Jefferson’s appointment to the Homeland Security Committee by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. You’ll recall that Jefferson had $90,000 stored in his freezer and is the subject of a federal bribery investigation. Exactly the kind of guy who should be on this committee, don’t you agree? Republicans are right to fight this one.

An Up-Close Look at the U.S.-Mexico Border

The Heritage Foundation’s James Jay Carafano travels to Texas tomorrow to survey the U.S.-Mexico border and meet with officials in Texas about their security efforts. Carafano will spend five days in Texas, beginning in Austin, taking him to the border in Laredo and ending in Dallas.

Throughout the trip, Carafano will blog about his experiences on RedState. He’ll be meeting with Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams and Steven McCraw, the state’s director of Homeland Security. On Friday, he’ll spend the day in Laredo, where he will observe the border security measures in place at one of the major hotspots along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Carafano has written extensively about immigration. He’ll be joined on the trip by Izzy Ortega, who will be doing outreach to Spanish-speaking media on behalf of Heritage.

Sam Brownback Gets Good Marks on Fiscal Record

The Club for Growth just issued a detailed fiscal report card on Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, a Republican candidate for president. Says Andy Roth, “He’s great on a host of issues, including taxes and free trade, but his record on spending is lacking.”

This is the second white paper on the 2008 presidential candidates. The first one was on Mike Huckabee. The rest will be released in the upcoming weeks.

On My Radar: Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2007

I’m growing impatient with Apple over its upcoming release of Leopard, which is rumored for late March, although no one at the company will confirm. The time has come to buy a second computer for the Bluey household, but I refuse to buy anything until I can get one with OS 10.5 on it.

• GOP: Unions Would Hinder Airport Screening - Charles Hurt, Washington Examiner
• Stopping a Democratic TSA Unionization Plan - Stephen Spruiell, National Review
• President Threatens to Veto S. 4 Over TSA Unionization - AcademicElephant, RedState
• House GOP Strategists Take Aim at Dem Freshmen on Union Organizing Measure - Jackie Kucinich, The Hill
• Democrats’ Payoff to Big Labor Comes at the Expense of American Workers - Rep. John Boehner, Human Events

• Why Giuliani Is Golden - Michael Brandon McClellan, TCS Daily
• Giuliani the Conservative - Steven Malanga, Wall Street Journal
• All the Ex-President’s Money - Cal Thomas, Washington Times
• Politicians’ Flights Called Wasteful - Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times
• This Is Why Crazy People Don’t Get Elected - Not Paul Begala, Blog P.I.

• The Surge Is Working - California Yankee, RedState
• An Editor’s Confession: I’m the Source of ‘Slow Bleed’ - John Harris, The Politico
• Democrats Snipe at Senate Leaders Over Handling of Iraq Issue - John Bresnahan, The Politico
• Iraq Bill Vexes Democrats - Jonathan Weisman & Shailagh Murray, Washington Post
• Democrats Back Away From War Fund Plan - Anne Flaherty, Associated Press