Conservative bloggers and Washington

Washington Times:

Conservative bloggers still may not carry the political clout of their liberal counterparts, but a group of Washington-based online journalists and activists has increased its influence in the past year.

One prominent example is the "Conservative Bloggers Briefing," a weekly discussion hosted by the Heritage Foundation's Robert Bluey.

"These meetings started out as strategy sessions for conservatives to talk about policy," said Mr. Bluey, who co-founded the briefings about a year ago while writing for the conservative publication Human Events. "They've quickly evolved into a destination for members of Congress, authors and others in the movement to share their ideas with an active audience of bloggers."

Guests have included House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, who discussed earmark reform; National Republican Campaign Committee Chairman Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who invited the group to NRCC headquarters to discuss 2008 election strategy; and Washington reporter Robert Novak, who promoted his best-selling autobiography, "The Prince of Darkness."

"It will only grow from here," said David All, a Republican Internet consultant who is a regular at the blogger briefings. "There's nothing like a face-to-face contact, and the bloggers here have continued to impress."

...

While there is nothing wrong with politicians communicating with a key support base, and conservative bloggers have much more common sense than liberal bloggers, politicians should be wary of embracing the passions of the moment that are sometimes reflected by bloggers. If you take a look at the Democrats in congress you can see how their interactions with the liberal Daily Kos and MoveOn types have driven them off a cliff on issues like Iraq.

Fortunately, for Republicans, conservative bloggers have had the opposite effect keeping them from going over the cliff on issues like immigration. I am noticing more interaction with conservative voices in Washington and I think that is a good thing for both sides, but the power of the Daily Kos will be a negative for Democrats for years to come.