Top 100 Conservative Political Websites of 2007

Intellectual Conservative ^ | July 30, 2007 | Rachel Alexander

[az4vlad]

The most popular 100 conservative political websites and blogs for 2007 are listed here. Read who made the list and who surprisingly didn't.

Here is a ranking of the top 100 conservative political websites and blogs. Other than sifting and sorting through directories like alexa’s, there’s no easy to determine what are the most popular conservative websites. John Hawkins of rightwingnews has ranked all political websites in order of popularity in the past, but hasn’t put out an updated list since 2004. I have attempted to create an updated list of the conservative websites for 2007, using alexa’s directory and rankings. There are other sites like trafficranking.comwhich use different methodology to rank the popularity of websites, however, alexa’s system, which is based on the web surfing habits of those using its browser helper software remains the most popular. 

Conservative websites fall under various categories in the alexa directory, so I may not have found everyone. If you have been inadvertently left off, please email meso I can adjust the list, even if it means lengthening it to the top 125 or so. In some cases, it wasn’t easy to determine whether or not a site really belonged in this list. I am still open to changing some of the methodology, if you would like to dispute how I included or excluded sites I would like to hear from you. 

Blogs without their own domain name, such as blogs run off of blogspot.com, were not included, since with few exceptions, alexa does not separate them out. Some conservative leaning or more mainstream libertarian sites like the Cato Institute, Reason, and Radley Balko I thought should be included, whereas others that were more traditionally libertarian I left out (those included Neil Boortz’s site, ranked 35,416, samizdata, ranked 90,209, and the Libertarian Party site, ranked 116,978). I left out the Christian Science Monitor(ranked 12,583) because it is not reliably conservative, but I included U.S. News & World Report, since I believe it is still generally right leaning. 

I included think tanks and organizations like the legal American Center for Law and Justice, individual personalities like Michelle Malkin, and newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal. I may have left off some right of center regional newspapers, although I included the biggest ones. I included non-American sites, although there were few, and one German-language site I left off (think tank Konrad Adenhauer Foundation– ranked 176,951) 

I excluded one issue sites, for example sites that deal only with abortion or gun issues. I left off campaign sites since those sites come and go quickly. I left off sites like Politically Correct, which runs political cartoons (ranked 62,714), and conservative libraries like Online Library of Liberty(ranked 320,732). 

Now for the interesting findings. There were some big disappointments. The Republican National Committee barely made the list at 405,641. Scrappleface, which most of us remember as one of the early popular satire sites, also barely made the list at 433,108. The following sites didn’t even make the list: 

Hugh Hewitt – 5,633,009

Federalist Society – 1,245,004

Christian Coalition – 1,002,811

American Conservative Union – 950,055

Independent Women’s Forum – 930,362

Ifeminists.com – 828,382

And here is the list. Intellectual Conservative rounds out the end of the top 100.

1. Drudge Report – 951
2. Fox News - 599
3. Wall Street Journal – 1,043
4. New York Post – 1,778
5. WorldNetDaily – 4,605
6. NewsMax – 5,334
7. Boston Herald – 6,684
8. Free Republic – 7,114
9. Town Hall – 7,915
10. U.S. News and World Report - 8,694
11. National Review Online – 10,502
12. Politico – 11,359
13. Lew Rockwell – 13,174
14. Washington Times – 13,621
15. Rush Limbaugh – 14,117
16. Real Clear Politics – 17,027
17. The Post Chronicle – 19,203
18. Reason Online – 19,942
19. Little Green Footballs – 21,079
20. Michelle Malkin – 23,570
21. Instapundit – 25,661
22. Ludwig von Mises Institute – 28,169
23. Human Events – 28,937
24. Weekly Standard – 43,327
25. Powerlineblog – 41,288
26. Heritage Foundation – 48,044
27. FrontPageMag – 48,461
28. Red State – 49,599
29. Free Market News – 54,314
30. Jewish World Review – 55,733
31. Lucianne – 56,585
32. Ann Coulter – 57,910
33. Cato Institute – 58,391
34. Volokh Conspiracy – 61,682
35. Vdare – 76,539
36. American Thinker – 81,917
37. Michael Savage – 82,673
38. Bill O’Reilly – 83,723
39. Sean Hannity – 87,305
40. RightWingNews – 106,285
41. American Enterprise Institute – 108,262
42. American Spectator – 118,709
43. Mens News Daily – 126,426
44. Laura Ingraham – 145,994
45. Ilana Mercer – 162,520
46. Adam Smith Institute (U.K.) – 162,584
47. Radley Balko – The Agitator – 165,128
48. Snapped Shot – 166,275
49. American Conservative – 181,314
50. GOPUSA – 186,477
51. Acton Institute – 187,367
52. Renew America – 190,345
53. Christopher Hitchens – 194,067
54. Hoover Institution – 200,268
55. Political Crossfire – 200,941
56. Commentary Magazine – 211,054
57. Liberty Forum – 211,445
58. An Englishman’s Castle (U.K.) – 228,967
59. World and I (Washington Times) – 236,083
60. Accuracy in Media – 232,120
61. American Daily – 251,092
62. Media Research Center – 253,620
63. Etherzone – 257,691
64. Heartland Institute – 257,924
65. Café Hayek – 265,888
66. John Birch Society – 273,956
67. Concerned Women for America – 277,015
68. Independent Institute – 281,097
69. National Center for Policy Analysis – 290,051
70. La Shawn Barber’s Corner – 300,533
71. View from the Right – 301,593
72. Becker-Posner Blog – 305,780
73. Fraser Institute (Canadian) – 307,688
74. World Magazine – 307,978
75. Tom G. Palmer – 310,087
76. Talk Show America – 318,999
77. Tom Rants – 346,982
78. MichNews – 361,642
79. RealityCheck – 325,321
80. Family Research Council – 332,263
81. National Center for Public Policy Research – 334,388
82. Insight Magazine – 334,429
83. American Center for Law & Justice – 341,008
84. Club for Growth – 341,118
85. Tammy Bruce – 353,769
86. Sierra Times – 359,115
87. John Locke Foundation – 359,971
88. Enter Stage Right – 361,598
89. Judicial Watch – 367,970
90. Eagle Forum – 381,771
91. Sweetness and Light – 390,593
92. Discovery Institute – 398,031
93. Conservative Underground – 406,018
94. Hudson Institute – 419,364
95. Reason Foundation – 426,451
96. Young America’s Foundation – 450,076
97. Republican National Committee – 405,641
98. Scrappleface – 433,108
99. Claremont Institute – 456,349

100. Intellectual Conservative – 458,064

[blackie]

Bill is also wrong on the 2nd Amendment and SUV’s!

[lowbridge]

10: U.S. News and World Report - 8,694

How does that count as a conservative site?

[Squantos]

Always next year my friend............:o)

[Jane Austen]

Why is No. 53 on the list? Hitchens is way left.

[psycho3lf]

How about me? I am a God fearing laissez-faire economist. The only reason for government is to enforce morality (abortion, murder, adultery, homosexuality, theft, ect) and national defense. God never set up economic controls on his people. Note: do not confuse symbolic law with economic controls, economic controls are made for economic reasons, not symbolism.
Economic freedom and Godliness go hand in hand. Label it something other than conservative if you wish.
Also note, someone can be an economic libertarian and a social conservative. The two are compatible.

[Maverick68]

conservapalooza.com is for sale....

[3_wheeler]

The Republican National Committee in particular and the Republican party in general are no longer conservative. Look at the candidates the GOP is running for President. They’re all liberal/leftist.

[BuffaloJack]

Whadda mean we’re number 8?
The 7 above us are all news media.
The Freepers are number ONE if you count the sites with a membership and an interactive forum with member participation.

[DesScorp]

“Look at the candidates the GOP is running for President. They’re all liberal/leftist.”

Ok, that’s crap. Come on. Fred Thompson...Duncan Hunter...Tom Tancredo, liberal? Even if you think Mitt Romney is lying about his positions, he’s laid out an unrepentantly conservative agenda. John McCain is reliably conservative most of the time. Even Guiliani, who’s law and order credentials have never been questioned, has pledged to govern as a conservative.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

http://www.Freerepublic.com/~aloharonnie/

http://www.Freerepublic.com/~anita1/

.

[WOSG]

“How about me? I am a God fearing laissez-faire economist. ....
Economic freedom and Godliness go hand in hand. Label it something other than conservative if you wish.
Also note, someone can be an economic libertarian and a social conservative. The two are compatible.”

I agree!

[alicewonders]

Agreed! I’m bookmarking also.

[metesky]

Fox News is not conservative, they are just less liberal than the rest. Murdoch is a big Hillary booster and sold a big chunk of FNN to a Saudi prince.

The gun-grabbing Boston Herald is not conservative either just because they have Howie Carr and a couple of other columnists.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Half of these sites are not even conservative.

FOX News??? Puh-lease!

[higgmeister]

From: higgmeister
Subject: Top 100 conservative political websites
To: rachel@intellectualconservative.com

I saw your list posted on FreeRepublic. You did a great job with it and I really appreciate your efforts!

You also invited input to make adjustments to it and I would like for you to reconsider a judgment you made concerning how you filtered websites from the list.

You wrote that you decided to leave NealBoortz.com off of the list because he is a libertarian. I think he should be included for several reasons. You have included many other libertarian websites such as Ludwig von Mises Institute – 28,169, Free Market News – 54,314, Cato Institute – 58,391, Liberty Forum – 211,445, and Café Hayek – 265,888. Additionally, by coincidence, President Bush held his private visit in the Oval Office with Conservative Talk-Radio Hosts yesterday. Neal Boortz was right there with the likes of Bill Bennett, Mark Levin, Glen Beck, and Michael Medved.

Neal Boortz has, for several years, been alienated from a large number of main-stream libertarians by his promotion of The FairTax (as opposed to no tax), and his support for the War on Terror since 09/11 that most libertarians are against for numerous reasons.

Lastly, President Reagan said it best in this quote:
"I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. ... The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom, and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is." - Ronald Reagan

I believe this makes Neal Boortz a pseudo-libertarian and pushes him back under the Conservative umbrella.

higgmeister
Marietta, Georgia.

[DesScorp]

Higg,

I tell you that Libertarians have changed since then. Back during Ronnie’s day, they were generally socially conservative as well. They’re not anymore. Their idea of a social policy (fighting obscenity, vice, etc) is basically anarchy. Furthermore, a lot of the core of the Libertarian party now ENDORSES activities like prostitution and drug use. These aren’t Ronnie’s Libertarians.

[IslandJeff]

Christopher Hitchens? Smart, drunk, pro-military, but he’s essentially as socialist as they get.

[higgmeister]

They have changed since 9/11, the WOT, security concerns, and the immigration reform issue.

Their craftily worded phrases such as - "let peaceful people cross borders freely" - allowed a few liberals and a few conservatives to be seduced from each camp into their tent for a time. The coalition was tenuous all along and was only conscionable because Republicans had no spine to stand up to socialists.

The crux of the matter is, how do you tell the peaceful ones from the terrorists, and what do you consider freely? The liberals say no control at all because citizens of the world should not recognize arbitrary lines on a map that do not exist in reality. The conservatives say a fence with a checkpoint and a smile if you are not on a terrorist list is free enough for a visit.

The rebirth of nationalism after 9/11 allowed the liberal libertarians to win their petty schism when all of the Libertarians from the right side of the graph fled back home. They are welcome to their fraction-of-a-percent of the population. Just because the LP are now pacifists and libertines in practice, does not negate their founding libertarian tenets and Reagan's words. I am still a Goldwater libertarian objectivist Republican.

[higgmeister]

I forgot to note that, as a side benefit, the liberal vote will now be split with the Greens, Democrats, and Libertarians while the Republican vote is less fragmented by the infusion of former libertarians that were forced to fish or cut bait concerning philosophical dreams versus harsh reality.

[potlatch]

Ping of interest