The conservative synergy between talk radio and blogs

Wall Street Journal:

Political activism on the Internet -- and in the so-called blogosphere, in particular -- has long been considered a liberal stronghold. But conservative bloggers show increasing signs of their own coming of age.

They took a major leap forward by playing a central role in scuttling the Senate immigration bill. Meanwhile, many of the most popular talk-radio hosts are now posting on blogs, and the frequent collaboration of the two media is creating a unified conservative voice that is likely to be an important factor in the 2008 elections.

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But the immigration bill marked the first time conservative Web logs could claim to have targeted and derailed a major piece of legislation. The triumph underscored their increasing influence and signaled that the balance of online power may be evening out in the political arena.

The confluence of blogs and conservatives' dominance on radio is an especially potent mix. Talk-radio and conservative bloggers don't always work hand in hand, but they have been effective when they do.

The Bush administration was forced to withdraw former White House Counsel Harriet Miers's nomination to the Supreme Court after conservatives on talk radio and on blogs complained about the choice. Currently, the two are railing against talk by some Democrats about bringing back the "Fairness Doctrine," which required broadcasters to balance coverage on controversial topics.

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By endlessly picking through the evolving immigration legislation, bloggers kept up a steady stream of material for each other and their readers. Talk-radio-show hosts relied on the bloggers for material, but so did voters, who swamped Senate offices with calls and faxes at the urging of conservative Web sites.

The public mood against an immigration bill seems to have developed swiftly after that. The Senate last summer passed a bill that was seen as more generous to illegal immigrants, but "talk radio was nowhere" then, said Roy Beck of NumbersUSA, a Washington group that opposes increased immigration.

But with Democrats in charge in Congress, opponents of the bill feared a better chance of final passage this time around, and talk-radio hosts began jumping in, says Mr. Beck.

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Conservative blogs did not get as exercised by the previous Senate Bill because they knew it was not acceptable to the Republican controlled House. The felt like their only back stop this time was getting 40 plus senators to vote against cloture and they wound up getting a majority to vote against it.

Motivating people to opposition in great number requires passion, and in the debate over immigration the passion was clearly on the side of the opponents. Liberal "anti war" activist have had their passion, but they will feel the wrath of conservative passions if it ever appears they can engineer the defeat they crave in Iraq. At that point the debate will not be about defending a policy but defeating an effort to surrender to despotic terrorist.