Posted on 05/26/2007 1:49:34 PM PDT by Eurotwit
A few weeks ago – in between Hillary Clinton’s official entry into the presidential race and the first Republican primary debate of the cycle – the fiery online conservative forum Free Republic marked a decade in operation as one of the premier online forums for right-wing political discussion.
It also experienced one of the biggest internal battles to rock the site since the 2000 election of George W. Bush -- a tumultuous campaign year that nearly tore the site apart, as its founder and chief administrator first cleansed commenting ranks of Bush supporters, then, later, rallied to his support.
At the heart of the latest controversy: the fight over the conservative bona fides of Rudy Giuliani.
Over the past few weeks, chaos has reigned in the “Freeper” community as members sympathetic to the former mayor's candidacy claim to have suffered banishment from the site. They were victimized, they say, by a wave of purges designed to weed out any remaining support for the Giuliani campaign on the popular conservative web forum. Another significant chunk of commenters have migrated away from the controversial site over the action, according to a number of former site members and conservative bloggers who have been tracking the situation.
In a plaintive post on the blog “Sweetness & Light,” exiled commenter Steve Gilbert, who says he does not support the former mayor’s campaign, blasted the site’s new “anti-Giuliani, anti-abortion jihad.” Since George W. Bush was elected president, he wrote, “there haven’t been any large scale [Free Republic] purges to speak of – until now.”
The fight began one month ago, when site founder Jim Robinson posted an anti-Giuliani manifesto titled: “Giuliani as the GOP presidential nominee would be a dagger in the heart of the conservative movement.” Then the virtual ax started to swing. Longtime posters to the freewheeling discussion threads, used to serious no-holds-barred web etiquette, were still stunned by the intensity of the anti-Rudy activity; conservative blogs buzzed with the development.
“Jim Robinson has been going on a tear demonizing Rudy Giuliani, because Rudy (agreeing with the vast majority of Americans), is personally opposed to abortions on a moral level…” complained a user on the GOPUSA Web site. “Anyone who posts any support for Giuliani at the site, if it's at all forceful, will be banned.”
(“Normally, we don't allow complaints about other conservative forums,” chided the moderator, but “…because it is being discussed all over the Internet, I'll make an exception.”)
Just a few months ago, Rudy Giuliani placed second in an early Free Republic straw poll; now, his support on the site has been virtually eliminated. “After the ‘April Purge,’ I don't think there are any Rudybots left around here,” noted Free Republic commenter “upchuck” in one recent post. “And if there are, they're not posting pro-Rudy stuff :).”
The forums weren’t the only venue for the Free Republic’s new antagonism toward Mr. Giuliani, which coincided with a wave of comments expressing similar sentiments from other corners of the conservative movement. A few days after Mr. Giuliani’s equivocal Roe v. Wade comments at the Republican presidential debate on May 3, a new “STOP RUDY NOW News & Information Thread” was featured on the site, and a newly-created stand-alone category debuted via a link from the homepage: “The Giuliani Truth File.” (So far this campaign season, Mr. Giuliani is the only candidate – Republican or Democratic – to be singled out for that level of scrutiny from the Free Republic.)
Why Rudy? Why now? Some conservative bloggers and former commenters contacted for their view of the continuing controversy say they believe that site founder Jim Robinson holds ideologically middling Republicans like Mr. Giuliani responsible for the GOP’s congressional loss and current woes. (They asked that their names be kept out of this story for fear of antagonizing the famously frisky site regulars.)
Others claim that the former mayor’s top-tier status is spurring frantic site administrators into action. Finally, one popular theory holds that the Free Republic is secretly hoping for another Clinton presidency that would send its Alexa ratings soaring back to levels it hasn’t experienced since its halcyon days of the Clinton impeachment, when a since-soured relationship with blog pioneer Matt Drudge and overwhelming anti-Clinton sentiment in Republican ranks helped make Free Republic one of the hottest Web sites in the nation. It hasn't recovered that luster since the Bush administration took over.
“It’s not a conspiracy theory, it’s an observation,” said one blogger, who describes himself as a half-hearted Mitt Romney supporter. “They’ve still got a brand name that means something, but they’re not what they were in terms of real-world impact. A Hillary presidency would get them there.”
Robinson himself could not be reached for comment, but his original post laid out his case against Mr. Giuliani – a graphics-heavy presentation of some of the former mayor’s most damning moderate quotes in mainstream media venues, along with a color-coded report card tracking his less-than-doctrinaire positions on abortion, immigration, gays and guns.
Robinson, it should be noted, famously blasted George W. Bush’s presidential candidacy back in 2000, before a dramatic late-campaign about-face that saw him emerge as one of the GOP ticket’s biggest supporters. But whether or not Free Republic experiences a similar election-year shift this cycle, the site’s current campaign is spreading a dangerous primary-season meme of Rudy Giuliani as big-city liberal – and turning one of the most influential web forums in conservatism into an exclusive gathering place for those who share that view.
I didn’t say I thought Rudy would win, or even get the nomination. I have said in other threads and contexts that Romney would be the candidate.But it will be because the RNC will gauge the desires of (R) voters and decide that the Romney choice is the one that makes the base happy. And I will stand by that, with Carrie Underwood and Jordin Sparks at my side.
I didn’t say I thought Rudy would win, or even get the nomination. I have said in other threads and contexts that Romney would be the candidate.But it will be because the RNC will gauge the desires of (R) voters and decide that the Romney choice is the one that makes the base happy. And I will stand by that, with Carrie Underwood and Jordin Sparks at my side.
This one fact alone secures an advantage for Democrats.
Yes, I do, but that has nothing to do with my question to you.
There are ten candidates who would be better war leaders than the incumbent.
I thought I had left out a gender in my response (Obviously I didn't) because I didn't know whether she was a he or she.
I don't recall her ever indicating one way or another in her posts. I only recall her quips which I found so entertaining.
Nice try dear.
I once knew a woman named Julie Annie, no shiite, dude!
Did your Julie Annie friend sometimes dress in MEN’S clothes for comic effect?
No axe to grind. I'm perfectly happy here and respect the rules.
But when I'm freeping and see I bullsh*t, I'm calling them on it.
Like I have time to look for pro-euthanasia posts. Besides, if Rudy lovers were permabanded, their posts might all be deleted. The worst offenders said it was God’s will that Terri be tortured and killed. God had nothing to do with it but His castaway did.
Uh oh, over the hill. As for me I'll be 62 next month. Not that far from the bottom of the same hill.
I wasn’t about to start looking, but I know that ALL of us saw many of their posts.
I am primarily interested in tax relief, looking for real conservatives to support who are social conservatives.
I wasted too much time helping certain politicians who I cannot stomach any more. They shall remain nameless for the purposes of this post.
That phrase is were I come in. lol
I also supported the Florida court decision and The REPORT.
If there were harsh words they came from both directions. They didn't have a monopoly on pestering, ridiculing, cursing and humiliating.
You know the kind of post like Guen's, who gets her kicks questioning a Freepers credentials or motives.
Certain politicians including our governor?
The Administration wants the amnesty bill too but it will die in the House.
i see you married a younger woman....wise move!
If people need assistance, even democrats, they come here cuz they know that we’ll help those in need who are sincere and can articulate what their situation is. Even DUers have come here to get help from our anti-euthanasia team.
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