Free Republic

Many thanks to the people who were willing to talk with me by phone. They were genuinely educational conversations for me.

I'm outta here now.....

Best wishes to you all.

Michael

Thanks again to everyone for your continued helpful comments.

I think the criticism that I have focused only left- oriented protests to date is a fair one. Surely, I should pay more attention to groups like Free Republic, which is, indeed, what I am trying to do today.

However, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First, protest is mostly a thing of the left, and is much less a thing of the right. Anti-abortion protests is the obvious major excepction. And there is a reasonable amount of work by other scholars that is taking up this topic.

Second, I didn't survey protesters at the DNC largely because I didn't think of the idea unitl shortly before the RNC. That would have been a great project, though, to have been able to compare the two. However, two things to keep in mind. First, the protests at the DNC were much smaller than those at the RNC. Second, if I had surveyed protesters at the DNC, most of the protests came from the LEFT. Yes, most of the protests against the DNC were from groups saying the DNC wasn't left enough.

Third, my doctoral dissertation on health policy does interview the left and the right fairly evenly. I've interviewed people from the National Right to Life Committee, the Christian Coalition, Americans for Tax Reform, the Chamber of Commerce, etc., in addition to left-leaning groups.

Michael

Thanks to all who have posted responses to my inquiry.

I'll respond to some of the questions that have been raised.

1. bmwcycle asked me to state who I am, honestly. I received my Ph.D. in Political Science and Public Policy from the University of Chicago in 2004. I have a one-year postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University for 2004-05 in the Institution for Social and Policy Studies. In August 2005, I will join the faculty of the Department of Political Science at the University of Florida as an Assistant Professor of Political Science. My area of specialization is "interest group politics."

2. tgslTakoma asks why I didn't talk to Free Republic people during the rally. Actually, I did. I conducted about 5 short interviews with members of your group. I also spent some time listening to your bull-horn speakers, and have some pretty good audio of it. Now I'm following up.

3. Alia asked if I am working from a research grant. My postdoctoral fellowship is paid directly out of the Yale endowment. It covers my salary, office space, and includes a research budget of $3,500. The results of my research will most likely be presented this summer at the annual conference of the American Political Science Association or the American Sociological Association. With any luck, it will also result in the publication of an academic article, though it is impossible to say where at this point.

4. A couple of people said that I am interested in collecting names to give to other side. I'm not interested in names, but in organizational tactics and messages.

5. On the question of CODE PINK, I do understand why you don't like this group. But my question is really why you are attacking them IN PARTICULAR. I can imagine that there are lots of groups that you don't like that you could attack. But why FOCUS on them, give that you could have focused on lots of others too.

Thanks again for the attention and interest. I've appreciated the reponses/postings.

Sincerely,

Michael T. Heaney

I'm impressed by the quick responses to my posting.

For those of you who have asked me to leave, I'd like to point out a few things.

First, I haven't disguised my identity. I stated plainly that I'm conducting research. I've provided accurate contact information. I don't think that such behavior constitutes "trolling."

Second, the google search you conducted on my name confirms that I am a researcher. Indeed, you can find examples of my work and comments on it by others. (I think you'll find a balanced portfolio, I've written for both the WASHINGTON TIMES and the WASHINGTON POST. I'm quoted by the National Right to Life Committee as well as the National Breast Cancer Coalition. I'm doing balanced research.)

Third, the comments you found on ncpeaceandjustice.org web site confirms that I am conducting research as well. I did attend the rally weekend and made a follow-up visit to Raleigh during the weekend of April 1-3. The "cosponsorship" you refer to was a $30 fee necessary to attend the Southern Organizers Gathering on March 20. Essentially, this fee covered my lunch and share of renting the space. All of this is consistent with conducting research on the event.

Why am I interested in Free Republic? I'm interested in how organizations frame protest events. Why is one message chosen rather than another? Why are certain tactics used? For example, Free Republic focused much of its attention at the rally against Code Pink. While I understand the reasons you don't like Code Pink, you could have chosen to focus on other organizations in attendance -- perhaps you could have focused your attacts on International ANSWER. In general, I'm interested in your choices of strategies and messages.

Think about how you would respond if I wrote an article about the event and didn't take into account your position. You would charge me with bias. Or, worse, if I talked about Free Republic without actually talking with you. You would probably say, "I wish he had talked to us before he wrote this article."

If you don't want to talk with me, that's fine, of course. But I am very interested in talking with someone who attended the event. Again, my contact information is michael.t.heaney@yale.edu. I would be happy to set up a phone call with you if you are willing to talk.

Sincerely,

Michael T. Heaney