Free Republic

How Republicans won the Internet By Mindy Finn and Patrick Ruffini Sunday, January 24, 2010 Scott Brown's supporters became fans of the candidate on Facebook, where they commented on his status updates and uploaded their own photos. The Republican Senate hopeful took to Twitter, using the #masen hashtag to let his followers know how the race was going. His campaign powered its field operation through targeted online ads and Web-based spreadsheets, and raised $12 million from 157,000 individual donations in the last two weeks of the race. After he won last week, his team live-streamed the election-night party in Boston...

Reaching across the aisle must have been too uncomfortable for a man who is used to standing around and watching admirers crawl up that same aisle to offer obeisance. In his first televised press conference since being elected to become All Things to All People, Barack Obama dropped the pretense of giving a crap about what anybody else thought. Those of us who have been paying attention to the man rather than the media-spun myth were less than surprised by the development. Three weeks into his tenure, Mr. Obama acknowledged that his effort to change the political climate in Washington...

A number of interesting observations have percolated throughout the Interweb in the aftermath of the 2008 election - arguments about the "youth vote", the "center-right versus center-left," pushing aside social conservative issues, etc. But one of the most thought-provoking topics receiving attention is the issue of the presence (or lack thereof) of the Right in the online "Web 2.0" universe. As a technology geek by trade, this topic is near and dear to my heart. Much has been made of the aforementioned "youth vote" in the post-election analysis, and within that discussion are implications that the youth were energized by...

A pair of tech-savvy Republican activists have started a new online, interactive fundraising tool that they say will help energize the conservative grass roots and further close the gap with their more high-profile "netroots" liberal counterparts. Slatecard.com, which opened to the public yesterday, aims to be a clearinghouse for Republican presidential and congressional candidates who want to reach grass-roots voters who haven't normally been included in traditional media outreach efforts, such as direct mail or large-scale fundraising events. "Not everyone can, or wants, to go to the traditional chicken-dinner fundraiser," said Slatecard.com co-founder David All. "This lets Republican candidates hear...

We're up to $6,962 from 136 donors for Jim Ogonowski for Congress, and today's the deadline. Since it's pretty clear we'll break through the 150 donor mark, why don't we make it 175 donors by the fundraising deadline at midnight? $10,000 would be a nice round number to reach by October 16th, but right now, we're focusing on getting as many donors as possible. Can you chip in, even if it's just $5 or $10? Here's what Human Events had to say about this race yesterday: There are more concrete signs that if Lt. Col. Ogonowski can raise enough money...

Rightsroots by ABC PAC Launches New On-Line Donation Website Wednesday, August 22, 2007 Patrick Ruffini ABCPac For Immediate Release ABC PAC today announced the launch of Rightsroots by ABC PAC, a new on-line donation website for contributions to Republican candidates for federal office. The site can be found at http://www.rightroots.com Rightroots by ABC PAC is a one-stop resource to contribute to Republican candidates for federal office. Rightroots is the answer for those in the conservative community online who have been clamoring for a Republican counter to the Democrats who have, so far, out raised Republicans on the Internet. Rightroots is...

Call it ActRed. There’s something of a competition brewing between three new Republican groups angling to cut into the online fundraising advantage enjoyed by Democrats and their Internet money machine, ActBlue. Rightroots, Big Red Tent and Slatecard.com are the latest in a series of as yet unsuccessful efforts by GOP operatives to close their party’s Web-cash gap with Democrats. All three will allow visitors to their websites to contribute to Republican candidates running for federal offices, plus in Rightroots’ case a few who aren’t – namely might-be presidential candidates Fred Thompson, Newt Gingrich and Chuck Hagel. The committees will forward...

...while liberal bloggers haven't had as much success as conservative bloggers at breaking big stories, they have done one thing extremely well: raise money for liberal candidates. Granted, they don't have much of a win and loss record, because more often as not they seem to support candidates that don't have any chance to win, but that doesn't change the fact that they are funneling lots of lucre into Democratic coffers. So, why have the liberal bloggers been able to raise so much money when conservative bloggers have been unable to do the same thing? Well, as RNC eCampaign Director...

Just a quick post to tell you about an exciting new website: Rightroots. Rightroots provides you with a quick and easy way to financially support conservative congressional candidates... I have proudly endorsed Rightroots and I hope you will too, by visiting them today and making a contribution to one or all of the candidates Rightroots has listed. If the Democrats gain control of the Congress, “today’s environment” will seem mild compared to what we’ll have to endure in 2007 and 2008 – total gridlock for the President and for the country. I see the tactics of Harry Reid and Nancy...