Bluey Blog - Official Blog of Robert B. Bluey

‘Leave Us Alone,’ Says Grover Norquist

Earlier this week the Heritage Foundation took its weekly Conservative Bloggers’ Briefing on the road to the offices of Americans for Tax Reform, where Grover Norquist gave an outstanding presentation about his new book, “Leave Us Alone: Getting Government’s Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives.”

As usual, David All and Joe Mansour have done a bang-up job over at TechRepublican reporting on the meeting. The Friends of ATR blog also has coverage of the event.

I took a bunch of video and finally got around to posting six clips on YouTube last night. They include Grover’s views on earmarks and transparency, the meaning of the “Leave Us Alone” coalition, why investors are so important to Republicans, and how tax-hiking Republicans destroy the GOP brand.

Where Are the Conservatives? At the Politics Online Conference

It was about this time last year that conservative bloggers like myself began to ask why liberals were doing such a better job online, particularly in terms of raising money but also on messaging and activism. Those threads have largely disappeared, in part because of advances by conservatives (Slatecard and Rightroots to name a couple) as well as better communication among conservative bloggers and technologists.

At the Politics Online Conference last year, Townhall’s Matt Lewis questioned why conservatives weren’t taking a more active role by attending conferences like this one where they could “learn from experts about how to use the internet more effectively.” Lewis observed that liberals dominated the conference, both in terms of attendees and during the awards’ presentation. If 90% of life is just showing up, then there was no excuse for conservatives in Washington to skip a conference a few blocks away.

Lewis’ criticism got me thinking that I should be doing more to encourage conservatives to take an active role in gatherings like this conference. So last summer I sat down with Julie Barko Germany of the Institute for Politics Democracy & the Internet to talk about how the Heritage Foundation could play a role at this year’s conference.

With the conference kicking off this morning at the Renaissance Hotel, I’m pleased to report that conservatives won’t be as outnumbered as last year. As part of Heritage’s silver sponsorship, Julie and I worked out a deal to get a dozen extra tickets (in addition to the four that came with the package) to provide a few of Heritage’s friends and allies in the movement an opportunity to attend the conference.

The arrangement meant that I could invite online innovators from organizations such as Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, National Taxpayers Union, American Solutions, Media Research Center and Family Research Council. Three others from Heritage will also be attending.

This year when Matt Lewis looks around, I hope he spots a few more conservatives in the crowd.

William F. Buckley Jr., R.I.P.

Conservatives across the globe were saddened today by the news of William F. Buckley Jr.’s death, a great loss not only for our movement but for the nation as a whole. Buckley, of course, founded National Review, which transformed conservatism and changed history.

My boss, Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner, said it best in his tribute to Buckley:

Without Bill Buckley there would be no National Review. And without National Review, there would be no conservative movement, no Heritage Foundation, no President Reagan – or an America that’s recognizable today.

We’re featuring on The Foundry many more reflections on Buckley’s life. And there’s not a conservative blog or website where you can’t find others mourning his loss. One, in particular, to check out is RedState, where my friend Ben Domenech has pulled some favorite quotes from Buckley.

Most Memorable CPAC Ever?

The 2008 version of CPAC concluded earlier today with a straw poll that was fitting for perhaps the most memorable conference in CPAC’s 35-year history. Mitt Romney, who dropped out of the race at the Omni Shoreham on Thursday, bested John McCain, 35% to 34%.

I’ve been going to CPAC since 2003 when I was working as a reporter for Cybercast News Service. I continued in that role at Human Events, and for the past two years sat on bloggers’ row in my capacity at The Heritage Foundation. Over the years, I’ve heard countless speeches, spent hours networking and more recently became part of the official program. I moderated a panel on new media today and presented the Blogger of the Year Award yesterday afternoon.

This year’s CPAC will forever stand out in my mind as one of the best — and quite possibly the most memorable ever. The timing of the conference was perfect. Clearly, the highlight of the three-day conference was Romney’s decision to bow out of the presidential race. The former Massachusetts governor gave the best speech of his campaign on Thursday, saving his announcement for the very end. It left the crowd in disbelief.

Only a few hours later, the likely Republican presidential nominee, John McCain, took the stage to a packed house. The crowd was so excited to hear McCain’s message that the room had to be sealed off because it was a fire hazard.

A day later all eyes were on Ann Coulter, whose unofficial CPAC speech was so anticipated that Townhall decided to broadcast it live. For the conservative bloggers who pounced on Coulter last year for her quip about John Edwards, there was widespread disappointment she didn’t push the envelope again this year. Nonetheless, it was amazing to watch the hysteria.

And finally, today featured the other Republican presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, who barely managed to beat Ron Paul in the CPAC straw poll. Contrast Huckabee with today’s other big speaker, Newt Gingrich, and it became clear that Gingrich should have entered the race last fall. On my way in today, a couple of conservatives I met on the street told me they drove in from Latrobe, Pa., early this morning just to catch a glimpse of Gingrich.

Everyone will take away something different from this year’s CPAC, but I was thrilled to be a part of it. Congratulations to David Keene, Lisa De Pasquale, Danielle Sturgis and the others who made it a success.

The Big Winners at CPAC 2008

Yesterday I had the honor of introducing the winner of the second annual Blogger of the Year Award. This year’s award went to Ace of Spades, who was chosen for his unique combination of wit and wisdom.

As an anonymous blogger, it was hard to know how Ace would react to the award. He caught many in the crowd by surprise during his acceptance speech. His fellow bloggers at CPAC had nothing but praise. Check out the coverage from the Weekly Standard, Right Wing News, NOVA Townhall, NewsBusters, Little Miss Attila, The American Mind, and last year’s winner, N.Z. Bear.

There’s video of my introduction and Ace’s speech on Townhall.

The other big winner at CPAC 2008 was Mark Tapscott, my predecessor at Heritage and a current visiting fellow who teaches our Computer-Assisted Research & Reporting class. Mark won the Conservative Journalism Award for his outstanding work at the Washington Examiner. More coverage from the Examiner, Captain’s Quarters and Power Line.

Congratulations to both of them.

Erick Erickson and Chuck Norris

What do the editor of RedState and the Hollywood movie star have in common? They’re both ranked on the Telegraph’s list of most influential conservatives in America. Erickson comes in at No. 69 and Norris is No. 71. The Telegraph is releasing a list of 20 each day this week. (Hat tip to my colleague Maggie Pitts.)

The State of the Movement

I’ve stayed surprisingly silent the past few days about Peter Bienart’s most recent column, which insulted my employer and trashed the conservative movement. While I’ve been busy planning to take over the world, some of my friends in the conservative blogosphere (Soren Dayton, Patrick Hynes, Matt Lewis and Patrick Ruffini) have engaged in a rather spirited debate about the state of our movement. I’m going to hold off writing anything at the moment (mostly because I’m exhausted after a long week), but I do want to say that I’m pleased to see conservative bloggers having this important conversation.

Ed Meese Takes a Stand Against Pornography

Justin Hart announced today the launch of Family Fragments, the new blog of the Lighted Candle Society. My colleague Ed Meese of the Heritage Foundation, who serves as a trustee, kicked things off with a blog post explaining how the organization is fighting pornography by taking the porn industry to court.

I’m very fond of Justin’s work at My Man Mitt and I’m sure he’ll bring success to this new venture as well. The fact the Meese is taking an active role is an encouraging sign.

A Contract for Conservatives

Jim Geraghty has provoked quite a bit of discussion today at On Tap about a future Contract With America. He lays out 10 principles ranging from security and spending to education and energy. His hope is that these “proposals could get 90 percent of conservatives (and a big chunk of the public) to back nine of them.” Could you support them?

A Birthday Wish for Richard Mellon Scaife

Richard Mellon Scaife, the great conservative philanthropist, turns 75 years old today. Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner delivered a special birthday greeting for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review publisher and Heritage Foundation vice chairman.