Fresnan pioneers Web grass-roots conservatism "[FR] is the granddaddy of all these political sites"

The Fresno Bee ^ | 11/10/2008 | By John Ellis

[Jim Robinson]

A Democrat is poised to take the reins of power in Washington, D.C., and Fresno resident Jim Robinson is feeling a sense of déjà vu.

It was President Clinton's 1992 election that sparked Robinson's political activism, driving him to create a Web site that made him a grass-roots leader among conservatives before Clinton's term was over.

This year, as Barack Obama prepares to sweep into office on another tide of Democratic votes, Robinson and denizens of that Web site, freerepublic.com, are preparing to do battle again. "We'll double and redouble our efforts to fight for what is right," Robinson says. "We've got people just spitting nails."

Free Republic, founded by Robinson in September 1996, doesn't attract much attention from the national press and is not well-known among political experts. Many of its postings have a decidedly fringe feel.

But long before Red State, Daily Kos and Little Green Footballs arrived on the Internet political scene, Free Republic was building an audience -- and becoming a formidable political force among conservatives and libertarians that is admired even by some who disagree with its political philosophy.

In a study last month by the Internet ratings firm comScore, Free Republic ranked fifth among political blogs, just behind heavyweights The Huffington Post, Politico, Drudge Report and Real Clear Politics.

The Huffington Post had more than 4.5 million "unique visitors" -- those who visit a Web site more than once during a specified period -- during the election season, according to comScore. Politico, Drudge Report and Real Clear Politics all had more than 1.1 million unique visitors. Free Republic was fifth with 987,000 unique visitors, according to comScore.

Robinson said Free Republic has more than 300,000 registered users, though not all are active on the site, and its normal 1 million daily page views grew...

[Brad’s Gramma]

There ya go!

[Lady Jag]

Been using it a long time.

[Lady Jag]

[narses]

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Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment

Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”

[tomkat]

..doesn't attract much attention from the national press and is not well-known among political experts ..

[tomkat]

Not to hog the thread, but

The Huffington Post

[Albion Wilde]

It's astonishing how long it has taken the media to give you a tiny little nod, Jim. If you were a Democrat, you'd have had your own slot on an alphabet news station for years now.

God bless you for everything you do for this nation, however extremely unsung. He knows.

[Syncro]

Good job, “Grandpa”

They keep empowering us, cool

[MaggieCarta]

Nice read!

[MaggieCarta]

The writer is doubtless using “Denizen” as a noun in either the first or second most common definition. Personally, I would have preferred being called an “habitué”.
From Dictionary.com:
1. an inhabitant; resident.
2. a person who regularly frequents a place; habitué: the denizens of a local bar.
3. British. an alien admitted to residence and to certain rights of citizenship in a country.
4. anything adapted to a new place, condition, etc., as an animal or plant not indigenous to a place but successfully naturalized.

[Cacique]

bfl