Elephant Ears

This blog is dedicated to the political happenings in the Valley and Southwest Virginia. As the the name implies, this blog will have posts based on what is heard by this elephant's (GOPer's) ears. It is also a great treat to get while at the county fair or a carnival.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Blog Effectiveness

Myron raised a good question about blog partiality. He was pointing out how alot of blogs (he pointed largely to the democratic blogs) never attack or even complain about their party or anything they do. They are more of a cheerleader for the party.
I must admit I have operated largely in that respect, but I have tried to give my honest opinion of what I think will/should happen with the Republican Party. I have been critical when I think it is necessary, but I still usually have a generally good opinion of the GOP.

Originally blogs were a great tool for finding out opinions of real operatives and what was going on in the political world without the spin. Now it is more of a party mouthpiece, with a few critical statements along the way.
Has the blogosophere lost its importance as a result of this?

posted by GOPHokie @ 10:37 PM  

13 Comments:

  • At 1/17/2006 11:10 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I can't speak for Democratic blogs because I largely don't read them. However, I do know that Republican blogs, specifically our little band of brothers here in Virginia have been VERY critical of the Republicans here. After Kilgore's loss, we all have agonized over the loss and dove headfirst into the reasons why and made our opinions known. We don't gloss it over and blame falty machines--we have worked in our own ways to figure out to fix our problems. There is constant self-evaluation in the VAGOP, something I don't see in Democrats. Part of our purpose as bloggers is to keep the party honest and to its principles. In that, I think we do a great job and are more relevant than ever.

     

  • At 1/18/2006 8:52 AM, Blogger Megan said…

    I am a cheerleader too. I am a mouthpiece for my candidate...not a party, because you always have scumbags in a party....like Potts.

     

  • At 1/18/2006 9:46 AM, Blogger Dvt guy said…

    "I can't speak for Democratic blogs because I largely don't read them."

    I find that very disheartening and against the spirit of what we're trying to accomplish in the VA blogosphere.

     

  • At 1/18/2006 9:53 AM, Blogger J.R.Hoeft said…

    I do read the Dems blogs -- even link to a few on mine. Wonder if they will ever reciprocate (not holding my breath)?

    At any rate, as an "operative", I want only one thing -- to further my agenda. If there are folks that get in the way of that, Republican or otherwise, look out.

    Thankfully, for the most part, those Republicans that represent me have been doing a fairly good job, so I haven't had to bring out the long knives...too much. :-)

     

  • At 1/18/2006 11:41 AM, Blogger GOPHokie said…

    I dont read a tremedous number of dem blogs, but I read them sometimes.
    You have to know the opposition's strategy after all :)

     

  • At 1/18/2006 2:11 PM, Blogger Ben Kyber said…

    I certainly try to criticize my party from time to time. They do, after all, do some stupid things.

    You guys know that.

    Also, I DO read a tremendous number of GOP blogs on a daily basis.

    I hope you aren't lumping me in a category with those you brand as cheerleaders...

     

  • At 1/18/2006 2:55 PM, Blogger J.R.Hoeft said…

    Ben's a pretty fair-minded guy -- certainly not a cheerleader!

     

  • At 1/18/2006 3:27 PM, Blogger GOPHokie said…

    I think most all partisan blogs are "cheerleaders" to a certain extent. After all, when everyone did their election predictions how many GOPs said Kilgore would lose or how many dems said Byrne or Deeds would lose?
    How about GOPs saying Black or Craddock would lose, or dems saying Annie B would win?

     

  • At 1/19/2006 12:49 PM, Blogger James Young said…

    The difference between Democrat blogs and conservative blogs is simple: it's the difference between those run by myrmidons and those run by thinkers, respectively.

     

  • At 1/19/2006 12:50 PM, Blogger James Young said…

    The preceding, of course, is subject to exceptions on both sides, like all generalizations.

     

  • At 1/19/2006 5:04 PM, Blogger GOPHokie said…

    Nicely put JY.

     

  • At 1/19/2006 7:10 PM, Blogger GOPHokie said…

    VI, I think you are correct about dems not complaining about their party, bc there really isnt much they can do.
    I also agree we must see each other's opinions from their prospective. It has been my experience though that liberals are usually more unwilling to do that than conservatives are.

     

  • At 1/20/2006 9:38 AM, Blogger James Young said…

    VI, there are plenty of lefty thinkers out there, even in the blogosphere. Waldo comes to mind, as does VC (who might object to the "lefty" label; I confess, it might not fit). 'Problem is, too few have any impact on the Democrat agenda, which is frequently reduced to name-calling ("greedy"; "bigot") and/or character assassination. You can fill in your own blanks on the latter. And the objection that most lefties and so-called "moderates" have with some of my comments seems to be that I recognized and identify PRECISELY where they're coming from (my preposition is dangling), and call them out on it, and they hate it when that happens.

    As to my comment above, you might want to familiarize yourself with the rhetorical device of overstatement for emphasis.

     

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