Jonathan Chait’s lengthy article in The New Republic has generated much debate among bloggers. One post, by James Joyner at Outside the Beltway, convinced me to weigh in on the subject.

James and I are friends, and I don’t mean to offend him with these comments. However, I found myself incredibly frustrated by his attitude about the conservative movement. As someone whose job it is to build coalitions — literally, it’s in my job description — I spend most days trying to get conservative bloggers to rally around causes and ideas. Today it was D.C. voting rights and the Iraq War. Tomorrow it’ll be something else.

So when I read things like this from a popular conservative blogger, I shake my head:

I’ve had offers to join various PACs and on-line campaigns and have declined. Frankly, I have no desire for OTB to become part of some “movement” where every post needs to be crafted in accordance with some Master Agenda. I’ve never aspired to be more than a commentator here, giving (usually) quick takes on things that capture my interest and having a discussion with my audience. As I’ve brought co-authors aboard, I’ve kept them within the same broad ideological framework but, mostly, the same analytical tradition.

Ever since starting at Heritage three months ago, I’ve spent much time reflecting on the state of the rightosphere, conducting two hour-long focus groups with 30-some bloggers to pinpoint our challenges. The ideas that bubbled up at those sessions and during individual conversations have convinced me that Heritage needs to play a major role. You’ll be hearing more about what I’d like to do in the coming weeks and months.

Will those efforts convince bloggers like Joyner to embrace the movement? Probably not. But even if I change just one mind or convince one person they can make a difference, I’ll feel I’ve accomplished something. As David All often reminds us, a shift of just 82,000 votes would have kept Congress in Republican hands.

The problem, as I see it, is that conservative bloggers, as Joyner readily admits, are more interested in punditry than activism. The left simply has more activists than we do. And when heavily trafficked blogs like Joyner’s don’t engage, conservatives fall behind. That’s one of the reasons I signed on as a contributor to RedState in February. In my opinion, it’s the most-effective blog when it comes to influencing policy on Capitol Hill and political races across America.

I’m very optimistic about what the future holds for conservatives. We’ve always been slow to adapt — direct mail and talk radio being two examples. Now, we dominate both. I predict the same will happen online. It may not take shape in eight weeks, but it will happen.

UPDATE — 10:33 p.m.: I probably won’t get a chance to do a full report on yesterday’s bloggers’ lunch at the Family Research Council with Ken Blackwell, but I do want to point you to Ericka Anderson’s post at Human Events. It’s a great summation of what happened and ties in perfectly to this ongoing debate.