Introducing Project Battleground

The right needs a few good bloggers.

Actually, more than a few. We need more good bloggers in every battleground state and in every competitive Congressional district in 2010.

As important as having activist blogs like The Next Right is at the national level, it's even more important at the state level. The states are where the mainstream media is breaking down big time, with multiple local and regional newspapers expected to stop publishing in 2009. Media coverage in these areas won't just go away; it will move to the Web and the blogosphere. Many of the reporters and journalistic resources at cash-strapped newspapers will likely land at left-wing "alternative" news websites affiliated with the likes of the Huffington Post, the Center for Independent Media, and ProPublica.

If the right doesn't act now, we could find ourselves outgunned in this next shift in media just as badly as we were outgunned on the Internet in 2008.

We need conservative websites and blogs in every state that are dedicated to winning those states. They should be run by sophisticated activists or consultants who know how politics works, who know where the bodies are buried in the statehouse, or young up-and-comers who are interested in working in the political arena and can use this as a venue to prove themselves. We need sites like the Flash Report in California, Minnesota Democrats Exposed, Red Mass Group, Sayfie Review, run by my friend Justin Sayfie in Florida, or the Politicker network.

Now is actually a very opportune time to what I'm calling Project Battleground. An unusually large number of Republican operatives now find themselves with decidedly fewer opportunities for career advancement as a result of the last election. To those operatives to whom that last sentence may apply: there is no better way to get your name out there than to become a public voice in the political debate in your state, and to do it using new media. Most of the good state political websites are run by people with real experience in politics, whether they're operatives, consultants, or people with significant experience volunteering. If you know what you're talking about, the chances of success are very, very good, and you'll be the key voice defining the public battle to take back a Senate or House seat. I view blogging as essential to what I do as a political consultant, not because I flog my clients or use it to get new ones, but because I can use public arguments to prepare the ground for the kinds of strategies that help get good candidates elected. 

OK, I'm sold, so what do I next? Just click the Read More link below to fill out a form letting us know of your background and interests. You really don't need our permission to start a new site, and you can use the form to make us aware of an effort you're already running or one that's planned. I may use the names to put together a Google Group for leaders in state political blogging -- and if it makes sense, I'm happy to piggyback on similar efforts that may already exist -- with the caveat that Project Battleground will focus more on electoral than policy battles.