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The whole blogosphere has been talking about this article in The Hill, which basically states that blogs could never match up to Rush Limbaughs talk radio show as regards to impact. Predictably most of the blogosphere has been pissed off about this article and disagreeing with it. John Hawkins at RightWingNews even stole my thunder by writing a point-by-point critique of it about 4 hours before I planned on writing on. The guy is out to ruin me I think.

But anyway, Hawkins be damned I’m writing a rant. Mainly because I don’t share the same opinion as he does. I think it’s likely that no one blog will measure up to Rush. I’m not saying it’s impossible but I sort of doubt it. Although I will say that I think the political blogosphere as a whole will definitely outdo Rush regarding the impact it has.

So in general I agreed with the article….until I got to the four reasons Dr. David Hill used to supporting his theory. They are completely asinine. And despite Hawkins stealing my thunder I’m going blindly forward with my critique.

First, most bloggers don�t match what Rush calls �show prep.� Rush is almost always armed for his shows with reams of data and analysis from a wide variety of news and information sources. His commentaries indicate that he has actually read his sources, thought about their meaning, and prepared his own in-depth analyses before trying to persuade audience members during his three on-air hours each day.

Oh my lord, has this guy even read a blog? Most bloggers use a huge sum of data each day. I fully realize I do less research than many other bloggers but even I research something from many different angle before ever writing anything. Many bloggers write very well thought out essays on their topics. Bill Whittle of Eject! Eject! Eject! is a perfect example. His essays are long yes, but they are very well researched and well thought out.

By comparison, many bloggers� preparations for their stream-of-consciousness commentaries seem limited to reading the ruminations of other bloggers and scanning Internet news. Because some bloggers, even prominent ones, spend so much time writing throughout the entire day, they don�t research their own ideas well enough to be persuasive.

First of all do you realize how much information and data is only a keystroke away on the internet? You can search the internet for information a million times faster than any other media.

Plus his reasoning is what makes the blogosphere so powerful. Other people reading your thoughts, can look at the issue from another angle and perhaps improve or strike down a theory. Until as a whole the blogosphere has a very powerful statement and message coming across to it’s readers.

In addition, the vast numbers and widely diverse backgrounds of the blogosphere authors means that on almost any given topic there is likely an “expert” out there somewhere. By feeding off this ingrained knowledge other bloggers can help spread the message.

Second, Limbaugh is a master of production technique. Rush started in the radio business as a record-spinning disc jockey and understands the value of using punchy �bumper music� to open his segments, for example. Though Rush cares most about the message, he understands that the packaging is essential to the communication process.

By comparison, most bloggers seem oblivious to the production details that might polish their communication efforts. Few seem to care about the principles of effective Web design. Some even seem to consider the primitive style of their blogs a badge of honor.

This is the most pathetic point of all of them. I can almost guarantee this is the type of person who still things dozens of animated graphics all over a page is “cute”. When people are reading an essay on the blog pretty colors are the last thing they care about. Simplicity is better than anything else. You want to be able to access the information quickly and easily. Too many “features” can kill a blog.

Third, Limbaugh understands that entertainment value is essential to building a mass audience for political communication. His use of highly produced song parodies and other irreverent spoofs keeps a segment of his audience entertained that would desert him if he were �serious� 100 percent of the time. Some bloggers use humor effectively to punctuate their commentaries; few exhibit Limbaugh�s comedic skill, timing and wit.

Humor?? What the hell?? Now I know he’s never read a blog. First of all if you want humor Scrappleface, IMAO, and others provide plenty of it. John Hawkins has his ACPOTI (Anyone Can Post On The Internet) section which always leaves me in stiches. The Blogfather of Instapundit is always using witty comments to spice up his site and draw the audience in.

Fourth, Limbaugh builds bonds with his audience. He provides enough details about his personal life that loyal listeners know something about his parents, brother, wife, their cats, his golf game, his diet, his hearing problems, etc. Those revelations allow listeners to have a �friendship� relationship with Rush that solidifies their place in his daily audience. Though some nonpolitical bloggers write much about their personal lives, the most influential political bloggers reveal few intimate details about their personal lives, making it more difficult for their readers to bond with them.

Bonding? Once again ever read a blog?? In a blog you can interact with the author. And most people absolutely do. In the comments areas you can flesh out ideas with each other. Offer criticism or support for their ideas. My bloggers hold IM conversations about issues and then publish the transcripts. Many bloggers reveal details about their personal lives a great deal. Plus the blogosphere is essentially a community, with bloggers interacting both in discussing ideas and also in the general business of running a blog. Quit trying to make it so sterile.

There now that I’m knocked Dr. Hill for a loop let me tell you why I originally agreed with him. Blogs take time out of ones day, radio generally does not. Many people who listen to radio do it as a distraction or side event. They may be driving in the car, they may be at work and need something in the background to listen to, or they may be busy around the house and have the radio on to keep them company. It’s there, and you don’t have to take away your concentration. This makes it much easier to listen to. An audience is reached much easier.

Blogs, however, take time out of ones day. You have to stop what your doing and read the blog. Getting any sort of consensus requires reading more than one. Granted you can search for topics that interest you rather than what Rush forces upon you but it does take some special effort that radio does not.

Even Dr. Hill slightly acknowledges this point, while simultaneously seemingly destroying his.

Although estimates are that just 4 percent of the online community reads blogs, they are followed by a better-educated and more upscale, influential audience than that for talk radio.

But in the end I don’t expect any one blog to become more influential than Rush Limbaugh, although the blogosphere as a whole likely will. But then again is it really necessary? We’re not competing for the same audience. I personally would like to see Rush publish a text of his shows. Allow bloggers to reference and get his message out to an even wider audience…an audience that even Dr. Hill points out is “a better-educated and more upscale, influential audience”.

Having grown up in a very liberal state (Minnesota) and having gone to a liberal university (St. Cloud State) whose leftist tendencies has been well documented by the SCSU Scholars website I can sympathize with the subjects of this rant.

More than a few times during my schooling I was presented with situations where expressing a conservative opinion meant a lower grade. It was often dressed up with some PC term but it was obvious enough that basically I was supposed to regurgitate some bullshit the liberal community had come up with.

In fact my first day at SCSU it was drilled into me that I was an absolutely horrible person and should be ashamed of myself because I am:
1) White
2) Male
3) Heterosexual
4) Outspoken of my beliefs

My opening orientation essentially implied I was already pre-disposed to rape, beat or oppress the minority groups on campus. Being young and impressionable I left feeling dirty as if I was already guilty of some crime that I wouldn’t even think of committing.

Essentially the point I’m making is that for years the Left has hijacked our educational system and used it to drill their ideology into the young, occasionally innocent and almost always impressionable minds of millions of young adults. Often time their opinions are passed off as irrefutable fact and dissenters are seen as insensitive, racist, sexist, , etc. Punishment is not unheard of. I’m not going to spend much time on this because this has already been tracked, debated and analyzed to death by hundreds of others.

My point here is times-they-are-a-changing. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on the gathering of conservative students at the Capital. And Gary Aldrich writes on the rise of young conservatives on our campuses.

Amongst the stories are ones I find all too familiar:

To hear the conference attendees tell it, liberal orthodoxy in the halls of learning is enforced with a rigidity reminiscent of China under Mao.

Well it’s been in place for years. It’s hard to shake up a system overnight.

“Most professors are liberal. They try to preach to you, and it’s hard to disagree with them because your grade is on the line,” said Lisa Stewart, 20, a junior at Bentley College, a business school outside Boston.

And from my experience those same “professional” professors find no problem in reminding you how much control they have over your grades and how much it can vary either way.

“It isn’t easy for them. Students have been dragged before campus judicial committees for their beliefs. Some have been failed in courses for disagreeing with teachers.”

Once again…not new information. But once again I digress.

Finally the youth of our nation is sick of it and a definite movement is forming and gaining speed fast. Just look at these numbers:

While College Democrats of America has disappeared altogether from 20 states, its chapters dwindling from 500 in 1992 to fewer than 300 now, the College Republican National Committee has 1,148 campus chapters, and its membership has tripled since 1999.

And don’t think they are your typical right-wing extremists either.

For years, the media portrayed young conservatives in an �Alex P. Keaton� light. Well, thanks but no thanks, Michael J. Fox. Gone are the days of the nerdy, sport coat-wearing, socially out-of-place Republican youth � if that stereotype was ever true.

But can you really blame the youth? After all look at what they’ve been subjected to all these years. Even back in my early high school years I knew what was happening. I dubbed it “The Rubber Band Theory” and see no reason to change it. Essentially the farther you pull people in one direction the farther they snap in the other. The Left has dug it’s own grave by trying to drill their diatribes into peoples head and have instead created this.

College students today are more conservative than their parents, numerous studies have shown, on matters of sex, drugs, war and taxes - and getting more so.

That’s right. These people are here and they are here to stay. More importantly they behave differently than their elder conservatives. And I for one find the change refreshing especially since I’ve shared the same thoughts for years.

They also serve as an important resources for their conservative brethren across the nation. They represent a grass-roots effort like no other. Full of energy, dedication, confidence and increasingly large numbers. More years the left has utilized their defacto union supporters as a human army to accomplish much of the busy work needed to conduct a campaign.

Not only do these student groups get the message out but they form an irreplaceable resource….manpower. Lots of hands and mouths. And their youth and support base can be seen as an indicator of stamina for the conservative causes. In a time when the Democratic party is suffering from a lack of real leaders, this group of young people demonstrate that the future is bright for the Republican party.

Already many of these young people have held offices in conservative youth organization. Positions which required them to deal with hostile faculty and administrations. Even going to far as to take action with the state governments such as happened in Missouri. They’ve already learned how to play the game.

Which is, perhaps, the part I find most refreshing. They’ve watched their elder conservatives play nice and get trampled all over by the Left. Fewer are willing to play that game. They refuse to play the victim and more importantly refuse to be silenced by leftist rhetoric.

I’ve often thought that the conservative leaders too often try to take the “high road”. Too often they let the left talk as much as they want without a rebuttal. In the absence of a defense many people will assume guilty. Simply taking it won’t work anymore and it’s time to point out the numerous flaws in the logic of the leftist ideology.

Seeing this as a defining trend of this new wave of conservatives is all too refreshing. No longer will conservatives simply concede points to the liberals.

No longer will the Left be allowed to call the Right racist without it being pointed out that the only former-KKK member in Congress is a Democrat.

No longer will the Left be simply allowed to be the anti-Right. Instead they will be forced to answer “Ok so what’s your plan??”.

No longer will the Democratic party claim to be the party of the people when it is the Republican party that is mostly funded by small private donations.

No longer will the Republican party be called the party of the rich when the top 1% vote and donate almost exclusively Democratic.

And to sum it up, this guy is ready for his diploma:

“Conservatives want to run their own lives,” Robinson said. “Liberals want to run other people’s lives and spend other people’s money.”

Good luck students…America is counting on you!