Rethink.

The “Rebuild the Party” Plan | Rebuild the Party at Ning.com

The GOP should really be proud of what is going on with this “Rebuild the Party” project. It should be noted that the plan is a bit wordy and not every goal makes perfect sense. I’d rather the people behind this lead by example, and create a blog or site introducing us to various candidates and the areas they want to represent, creating buzz while fundraising for them. The goal of getting Congressional candidates to raise a certain percentage of their funds through the Internet seems arbitrary, and only designed to make candidates be online.

And if you go to the Ning site, you’ll notice the place is crawling with crazies, particularly those of the “Ron Paul is right about everything and he has a blimp” stripe.

However – what the project does right, it does amazingly well:

• Republican bigwigs – including candidates for RNC chair – are directly in touch with everyone on the Ning site.
• The plan may be wordy, but the goals are clear, it’s readable, and people are invited to critique it. Some really good ideas about how to approach campaigning with all this new technology are already emerging.
• Non-crazy people are talking to each other on the Ning site, sharing links to articles about ideology and campaigning, making it clear that being Republican or being conservative is about learning and articulating principle, not just liberal bashing.
• The main blog of the project sets a tone and informs, but refuses to dominate. People are free to talk amongst themselves, organize how they like, ask questions and learn from people in campaigns/politics generally as they see fit.

In terms of engaging the web properly, the Ning site especially is a gem. The potential for getting conservative bloggers to pay attention to the site and the GOP generally is huge – if they see traffic coming from the site, the buzz will be automatic. And the Ning site is fun: that’s not something one gets to say about politics routinely, but it is definitely true in this case.

The Left had better watch out – the opposition is very apt right now. The only steps that need to be taken to consolidate this are:

1. More users generally involved with the project. Right now there are 2,000-3,000 on Ning. That number needs to be more like 100,000 for the project.
2. Getting up a blog or site that takes the audience and makes them useful to candidates directly.

• A Waste of Resources: The GOP’s New “Republican for a Reason” Site
• For My Republican Readers: Why Do We Need a Party? And How Are We Going To Win Elections In the Future?
• “Doing” Something for the Republican Party Instead of Whining has yielded this Extended Whine
• For My Republican Friends: Let’s Play a Game, And See If Dividing the Democratic Party Permanently Is Possible
• Briefly Noted: James W. Ceaser, “The Roots of Obama Worship”

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