GOP Retreat Features Talk on Blogs, Hispanic Outreach

According to an NYT article, the GOP is starting to take blogging seriously:

Senator John Thune of South Dakota introduced senators to the meaning of "blogging," explaining the basics of self-published online political commentary and arguing that it can affect public opinion.

My advice to the Republican National Committee and the 2008 Presidential campaigns: resist the temptation to make their blogs more interactive by allowing readers to post comments.

The 2004 Bush-Cheney blog was criticized for being little more than a list of events and press releases. Such criticism is fair and constructive. The complaint that the blog should have allowed readers to post comments, however, was neither.

The DNC site serves as a warning for what can happen when others are allowed to post comments to your blog. Through much of the 2004 campaign, the official DNC site and other DNC-sympathetic sites contained some of the most vitriolic, bilious and inane rantings of the year. This is precisely what would happen to the GOP blog if it were opened for posted comments. Readers who wish to share their opinions can be given the opportunity to e-mail comments to the blog rather than posting.

The GOP also discussed the 2004 campaign and how to reach various groups, including Hispanics:

In a possible sign of what to expect in 2006, Republican senators heard presentations about the strengths and weaknesses of Mr. Bush's presidential campaign and about how to reach blacks, Hispanics, Jews and blue-collar workers, groups not traditionally drawn to the Republican Party, people present said. The sessions were closed to journalists.

The presentations underscored the effectiveness of Mr. Bush's appeals to those groups on public expressions of faith, traditional values and especially the issue of marriage, including opposition to same-sex marriage, aides said.

The GOP should expect to have some success reaching Hispanics with those issues because it is becoming increasingly difficult for Hispanics to vote for candidates who do not support, and in some cases mock, their values. How long will Hispanic voters continue to vote for Democrats when Democrats tell them that observant Christians are ignorant zealots; that those who oppose same-sex marriage are bigots; and that poor children should stay in failing public schools rather than be given school choice through vouchers? Can Democrats continue to count on the Hispanic vote with those positions and with obstructionist tactics on Hispanic nominees such as Miguel Estrada and Alberto Gonzales? The 2006 mid-term elections present an excellent opportunity for the GOP to try to get the answers to these questions.