Eyeblast.tv, originally uploaded by Rob Bluey.

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 ‚Äì- 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‚Äôs success. When the media report on the youth vote these days, they focus on young people‚Äôs fascination with Barack Obama, the poster child of tomorrow‚Äôs liberalism. I‚Äôm sure you‚Äôve 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‚Äôs message straight to their peers. They can be the media.

I don‚Äôt 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‚Äôm happy to say that the Heritage Foundation already is an active member of Eyeblast. Newt Gingrich‚Äôs American Solutions has uploaded content, and Dick Armey‚Äôs FreedomWorks is a member. That‚Äôs a great start to building the premier Web 2.0 community for conservatives and spreading the gospel to America‚Äôs 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.