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Pioneer Behind Grass-Roots Conservative Web Site Gets Ready to Do Battle Again (Free Republic)
AP via St. Louis Today ^
| Tuesday, November 18, 2008
| John Ellis
Posted on 11/19/2008 12:26:59 PM PST by kristinn
A Democrat is poised to take the reins of power in Washington, D.C., and Fresno resident Jim Robinson is feeling a sense of deja vu.
It was President Bill 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 RealClearPolitics.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
TOPICS: Breaking News; Free Republic; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 111th; bho2008; faq; fightingback; fr; freerepublic; frinthenews; internet; jim; jimrobinson; johnrobinson; lookmaimadenizen; netroots; newmedia; obamanation; patriotism; preparefortrolls; robinson
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To: kristinn
121
posted on
11/19/2008 1:59:55 PM PST
by
SFR
To: kristinn
Hey, look at me! I’m a denizen.
122
posted on
11/19/2008 2:00:36 PM PST
by
savedbygrace
(SECURE THE BORDERS FIRST (I'M YELLING ON PURPOSE))
To: nralife
123
posted on
11/19/2008 2:03:18 PM PST
by
magslinger
(Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors. And miss. R.A.Heinlein)
To: kristinn
Free Republic was the first to let users set the agenda -- an approach later copied by the left-leaning Democratic Underground.DU is "left-leaning"? Gee, you can't really tell some days.
To: kristinn
"
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." Better known than John Ellis, who ever he is, I bet.
125
posted on
11/19/2008 2:03:56 PM PST
by
editor-surveyor
(Obama - not just an empty suit - - A Suit Bomb invading the White House)
To: kristinn
To: All
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.Okay, so the author Ellis is clueless.
To: mmanager
"
University of California....need I say more!" Yes, you need to say that its the "Angela Davis" Campus. (the mighty Bananna Slugs)
128
posted on
11/19/2008 2:08:07 PM PST
by
editor-surveyor
(Obama - not just an empty suit - - A Suit Bomb invading the White House)
To: kristinn
We'll double and redouble our efforts to fight for what is right," Robinson says. "We've got people just spitting nails." Yep, and yep.
129
posted on
11/19/2008 2:08:52 PM PST
by
vox_freedom
(G K Chesterton: "If there were no God, there would be no atheists.")
To: unspun
Got so tired of seeing all the hyphenated-American posts, I thought of having “I AM AN AMERICAN, WHAT THE H*** ARE YOU?”
embroidered on my motorcycle jacket.
Haven’t done it yet, but still might.
130
posted on
11/19/2008 2:10:55 PM PST
by
wizr
(GOD BLESS AMERICA, one Nation under God.)
To: kristinn; Jim Robinson; laurenmarlowe; The Mayor; Kathy in Alaska; Colonel_Flagg; GodBlessUSA; ...
We ARE ready to do battle for our
American way of life
and our brave troops who protect our freedoms!
Thanks Jim and John, Kristinn and
all the "pioneers" here who have
inspired us to be activists!
God bless this place!
131
posted on
11/19/2008 2:11:24 PM PST
by
luvie
(Now....on to 2012........Palin/Jindal)
To: Jim Robinson
Overall, I thought this was a mostly fair piece.
Congratulations, Jim.
To: kristinn; Jim Robinson
To: TribalPrincess2U
would we increase the ratings if we used Freerepublic.com in our comments instead of just shorting it with FR?
134
posted on
11/19/2008 2:15:54 PM PST
by
longtermmemmory
(VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
To: unspun
Another word to use now instead of conservative is American.Another word that desperately needs replacing is "liberal". They are NOT liberals. They are leftists.
To: kristinn
fringe? harrrumph..
But congrats on the article.
To: Gene Eric
Christ and our Founding Fathers were fringe in their day too.
Good observation. Our founding fathers were, in fact, commiting high treason.
To: Old Sarge
Standing by Sarge. We'll get those commie trolls.
138
posted on
11/19/2008 2:19:47 PM PST
by
dragonblustar
(Once abolish the God, and the government becomes the God - G. K. Chesterton)
To: TribalPrincess2U
***FR is more then a blog site. We hash existing news***
Yes “hash” but also correct, eviscerate, lampoon, excoriate, etc.
139
posted on
11/19/2008 2:20:51 PM PST
by
Mrs.Z
("...you're a Democrat. You're expected to complain and offer no solutions." Denny Crane)
To: Chet 99
The one thing Kos has done that FR does not seem to do is encourage its readers to donate to sympathetic candidates and causes.
That's because liberals feel that people are too dumb to think for themselves. And have to be told what to do, along with needing help (from the government, of course) to just make it through life.
Conservatives know people can do better on their own and respect each person's ability to make their own decisions. I'm sure you knew this - I'm just putting it into perspective as to why FR doesn't to around telling us what to do.
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