Bluey Blog - Official Blog of Robert B. Bluey

links for 2008-03-31

• Bobby Jindal: Change You Can Believe In - Erick Erickson, Human Events

  The contrast between Barack Obama and Bobby Jindal could not be more stark. On the campaign trail this year, Obama serves up messages of hope and change. Last year, running for Governor of Louisiana, Jindal did the same.

  (tags: republicans conservatism)

• Planning for America’s security - Sen. Elizabeth Dole, Washington Times

  What nation’s Air Force is flying aircraft more than 50 years old? What nation’s Navy has the smallest fleet since before World War II?

  (tags: military defense congress)

• Blogger outreach boosts McCain - Stephen Dinan, Washington Times

  Even as talk radio was brutalizing Sen. John McCain in the Republican presidential primaries, conservative bloggers reached a respectful truce with the Arizona senator over touchy issues and gave him what the campaign called a “tremendous positive psychol

  (tags: mccain 2008 blogging)

Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Lose

As much as I enjoy writing about politics, I don’t very much enjoy politicking myself. Yet this weekend in Ithaca, N.Y., I found myself in a race against the incumbent president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors at my alma mater, Ithaca College.

Just a year ago I was elected vice president of the Alumni Board, the first time I can ever remember running in a contested race for any kind of office. I managed to topple a true Ithaca College titan, Arlene Wolff ‘57, who began serving on the board 10 years before I was born.

Choosing to run for president so soon after being elected vice president wasn’t an easy decision. But as someone who cares deeply about my alma mater, I felt it was my responsibility to put myself in a position to help bring about some much-needed changes.

Unfortunately, things didn’t work out so well for me this time. Our current president, Mike Kaplan ‘85, won re-election, meaning I’ll go back to my service as a regular member of the board. I was obviously disappointed with the outcome of the vote but not necessarily surprised. The board is very much controlled by alumni who favor to the status quo; change comes slowly to organizations like this one.

The long drive home with my wife, also a board member, gave me time to reflect on today’s events. I believe God chooses the path we take in life, and for that reason, I’m looking forward to what lies ahead. My role will change, but I’m already excited about the opportunities it will offer, allowing me to be more open and honest — perhaps even a maverick.

links for 2008-03-28

• Smelling the Web 2.0 Roses - Justin Hart, TechRepublican.com

  Like many new media folk I suffer from “info imperatance” - the insatiable desire for information and the deep anxiety that I may have missed something important.

  (tags: web2.0 internet)

• Obama thinks higher taxes are a good thing - Andrew Malcolm & Mark Silva, Los Angeles Times

  Illinois Sen. Barack Obama went after the “We’re not paying enough taxes to the government” vote today during a television interview in New York.

  (tags: obama 2008 taxes)

• Barack: I’d Hike Capital-Gains Tax - Maggie Haberman, New York Post

  Barack Obama yesterday said he’d raise the capital-gains tax as president - but softened his estimate on how much it would go up.

  (tags: obama 2008 taxes)

• Race and Politics in America - Michelle Bussenius, Hoover Institution

  With U.S. senator Barack Obama’s run for the Democratic presidential nomination, the issue of race and politics in America has reemerged as a hot topic among politicians, pollsters, pundits, and the public.

  (tags: obama 2008)

Five Questions for Danny Glover of Eyeblast.tv

As I mentioned on Saturday when I posted my interview with Second Amendment attorney Alan Gura, I’m starting a new weekly feature on Bluey Blog called “Five Questions.” Each week I’ll post an interview with someone about an important news event, a new product or perhaps simply something I find interesting.

This week I asked Danny Glover, executive producer of Eyeblast.tv, to answer some questions about the Media Research Center’s newest venture — a video sharing and social networking site. I came to know Danny through his work at National Journal’s Beltway Blogroll, where he covered the politics/technology scene in Washington.

Since leaving National Journal, Danny has had his hands full. In additional to launching Eyeblast, he’s writing an outstanding personal blog called Taxation With Representation that tracks every tax his family pays over a year’s time.

On to the questions for this week.

1) In a world where YouTube dominates online video, why did the Media Research Center decide to create Eyeblast?

Eyeblast is the conservative answer to liberalism online. It is designed to fill voids in both the online video market and the social-networking realm by creating a community for conservatives in general and young, Internet-savvy conservatives in particular. For years, conservatives ceded the online battlefield in the war of ideas to liberals. We’re in the fight now but need better weapons. Eyeblast is one of them –- and the Media Research Center is committed to upgrading and expanding the new media arsenal.

2) What’s the goal of Eyeblast and why do you think conservatives will embrace it?

The primary goal is to persuade the next generation that the principles and values of conservatism are essential to America’s success. When the media report on the youth vote these days, they focus on young people’s fascination with Barack Obama, the poster child of tomorrow’s liberalism. I’m sure you’ve also noticed — not coincidentally, I hasten to add — that journalists are fascinated with Obama. They will not cover him, or his ideas, objectively. With Eyeblast, young, passionate conservatives can bypass the media and take the movement’s message straight to their peers. They can be the media.

I don’t know whether conservatives will embrace Eyeblast — they have a poor track record when it comes to grasping the significance of new media — but they certainly need to embrace it. The Media Research Center is taking the high-speed leap of building the community because of our conviction that digital tools are essential to preserving and advancing conservative ideas for generations. We need others to join us in the cause. I’m happy to say that the Heritage Foundation already is an active member of Eyeblast. Newt Gingrich’s American Solutions has uploaded content, and Dick Armey’s FreedomWorks is a member. That’s a great start to building the premier Web 2.0 community for conservatives and spreading the gospel to America’s youth.

3) Based on your experience running AirCongress, who on Capitol Hill is best capitalizing on video and podcasts?

I’ll take the podcast part of the question first because that one is easy: No one. I must have been out of my mind when I first thought of AirCongress. YouTube was but a blip on the political radar back then, so I initially envisioned AirCongress as a portal to online audio. Foolish me!

Thankfully, Internet video hit the big time politically about the time I hired a Web designer. Congress as a whole is nowhere near to embracing Web video, either, but there are some innovators. Most are in the House. Eric Cantor, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and George Miller come to mind first — a 2-to-1 Democratic advantage, by the way, which is more evidence of why a site like Eyeblast is necessary.

4) How important of a role will online video play in the 2008 elections, both at the presidential level and in congressional and local races?

In 2006, I would have answered that question with one word: Macaca. In 2008, it will take two words: Jeremiah Wright. The inflammatory rhetoric of Barack Obama’s preacher and mentor prove that online video is here to stay as a political force. Videos of Wright’s words saturate Eyeblast, YouTube and the blogosphere; the speech Obama gave in reaction to the “Wright is wrong” controversy has been watched by hundreds of thousands online; and now an anti-Obama mash-up created by Lee Habeeb and two other conservatives has led to the suspension of a John McCain staffer.

You’ll continue to see these kinds of video-inspired stories erupt regularly at the presidential level. Some will be genuine controversies; others will be manufactured by the candidates or, more likely, their mischievous online allies. Think nutroots. It will happen at the congressional, state and local levels, too, though not as often. Whether online video will win or lose elections depends on what’s in the video.

5) Now that you’ve given up Beltway Blogroll, where do you suggest those of us who relied on it get our news about technology and politics in Washington?

I’m not aware of anyone who covers all things blogosphere as single-mindedly as I did at Beltway Blogroll, but the news is there to be had. You just have to piece it together from multiple sources. Instapundit is my first stop. Glenn Reynolds regularly linked to my work at Beltway Blogroll because he was interested in the subject, so I know I’ll be able to find links to much of what I’m looking for there. Other blogs I read for politics and technology news include Personal Democracy Forum, techPresident, TechRepublican, e.politics, Blog P.I. and PrezVid.

Beyond that, I follow bloggers on the right and left who contemplate the new media world. You cover the Republican side of the beat well at Bluey Blog and RedState. Other bloggers on the right who have informed insights about politics and tech include Ed Morrissey, Michelle Malkin, Mary Katharine Ham, James Joyner, Patrick Ruffini, Michael Turk and Jim Geraghty. I like new media thinkers Jay Rosen, Dan Gillmor and Jeff Jarvis on the left. I also skim Open Left, MyDD, TalkLeft and Talking Points Memo for their insights on the subject.

Stay tuned for next week’s interview with David Kralik, director of Internet strategy for American Solutions and manager of the Silicon Valley office.

Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Turns 50

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, and as an alumnus of the program, I’m thrilled that the fund is doing well. Today it launched a redesigned website with a searchable journalism schools database and several other improved features.

When I was a Dow Jones copy editing intern in the summer of 2000, the experience took me to the copy desk of the Traverse City Record-Eagle in Michigan. That experience alone turned me into an adult — working more than 600 miles from home with no friends and family anywhere nearby. But it was the two weeks of journalism boot camp beforehand, taught by Temple University professor Ed Trayes,that really made the whole thing worth it.

College students who are looking for a career in journalism should seriously consider this program. It’s well worth it.

links for 2008-03-25

• Arianna Bests Drudge? - Kara Swisher, BoomTown

  Could it be a digital indicator that the Blue states are taking back ground from the Red ones–at least in cyberspace?

  (tags: politics media blogging)

links for 2008-03-24

• The Next President’s Plan . . . - Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Washington Post

  To solve the current crisis, John McCain would shore up the foundations of the companies, growth enterprises and family businesses that are the source of jobs for our nation’s workers.

  (tags: mccain 2008 economy)

• John McCain: A Real Commander-in-Chief - Emory ‘Trip’ Bellard, Human Events

  The fifth anniversary of the Iraq War is a strong reminder that we as a nation must consider which Presidential candidate will beat the terrorists and keep our troops safe, all while moving America forward.

  (tags: mccain 2008 military defense iraq war)

• DeMint taps into power of Web - Robert Behre, Charleston Post and Courier

  U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint is using the Internet more than ever — perhaps more than any other Senator — to mobilize voters across the country behind some of his biggest issues, such as eliminating earmarks and strengthening the border.

  (tags: jim_demint web2.0 blogging congress)

Sports Bring Pride to ‘Downtrodden’ Jeannette

The city of Jeannette, Pa., is back in the national spotlight again today. The New York Times, which has tracked Terrelle Pryor’s path to stardom, writes about the importance of sports in the city of 10,000, where my Dad grew up and my aunt and uncle still live.

Once known as glass city, when 70 percent of the world’s glass was made here, this town is probably better known now as the home to Terrelle Pryor, the No. 1 college football prospect, who signed a letter of intent on Wednesday to attend Ohio State.

Beyond that, though, this economically battered city of 10,000 is fairly unremarkable in southwestern Pennsylvania. Like many cities in the region, it has lost a third of its population, and Clay Avenue, its downtown, is a shadow of its former self.

“It’s just like any other normal industrial town built around one industry,” Mayor Michael Cafasso said. “When the glass plants closed, people left to find work elsewhere.”

As a result, Pryor could be considered one athlete who transcended his community’s circumstances. But Jeannette’s social fabric and volunteer ethic never faded even when the jobs did. Many adults have put in time with the city’s youth sports programs at some point, and sports have long filled residents with pride.

That is particularly true this school year, as Pryor and the Jeannette Jayhawks won state titles in football and basketball.

This is a great story about a city that prides itself on winning, even when the odds are stacked against it.

Pitt’s Remarkable Run Ends, but Inspires Hope for Next Year

Pitt toppled the biggest names in the Big East last weekend with solid shooting beyond the arc from senior Ronald Ramon, a power offense in the paint from junior Sam Young and freshman DeJuan Blair, and a clutch performance from the free-throw line. Unfortunately for the Panthers, just about everything that could go wrong did last night against Michigan State.

The Spartans held Pitt to just 32.7% shooting. They were a pathetic 2 for 17 from 3-point range, and Ramon didn’t hit a single shot from beyond the arc in his final game as a Panther. Michigan State’s tough defense prematurely ended what should have been a long run in the NCAA tournament.

Last week I was so confident in this Panthers’ team that I predicted they would make the Final Four in San Antonio. Both my father and I even followed Bobby Knight’s advice and picked Pitt to win it all. Instead, the Panthers are heading home early, once again failing to make it past the Sweet 16.

If there’s any reason to be optimistic, it’s the play of junior Levance Fields since returning from his foot injury. He proved in the stretch run that he was the leader of this team. His play, combined with the emergence of Blair and the steady play of Young, gives Pitt a solid core for next year.

The losses of Ramon and Keith Benjamin aren’t insigificant, but if there’s one thing I like about Pitt, you can count on its players putting the team first. No one from Pitt ever projects to be an NBA lottery pick, yet the Panthers always compete against the big names in the conference like Georgetown, UConn, Syracuse and Louisville. They will again next year, too.

links for 2008-03-22

• Rove Slams Lefty Blogosphere, Talks Media, Praises iPhone - Matthew Sheffield, NewsBusters

  Are liberal Democrats less likely to have social lives than conservatives?

  (tags: karl_rove media)

• A Union That Turns Away From Democracy - Warner Todd Huston, The Union Label

  The SEIU (Service Employees International Union) is being cast as a union that turns its back on democracy by internal foes of union president Andy Stern who is fighting for his post as head of the union.

  (tags: unions labor politics)

• Not Just for Wonks Anymore: Political Mag Gets Makeover - Peter Carlson, Washington Post

  Politics magazine publishes many fine articles, but the most astonishing, amazing and entertaining thing about the magazine is the ads.

  (tags: politics campaigns elections media)