BlogHer has long held that they are a non-partisan organization but their members are not. Fair enough. What I’ve noticed, though, is that the Democrat/Liberal members of BlogHer are more likely to voice their opinions thus giving the impression that BlogHer is predominantly liberal.
To be fair, in the past few months American Princess and Backyard Conservative have made an important appearance and have tried to shine a light on the "other side" and encourage the rest of us conservative women to join the conversation. Of course, many times the discussion is taken over by liberals demanding that we show compassion for the masses and give our hard-earned money to the poor. If we don’t, we are ignorant of the facts and don’t understand the issues.
Conservative women, I urge you to join the conversations at BlogHer. I believe liberals assume they are the popular majority simply because they are making the most noise. I am tired of having every political discussion I join deteriorate into emotional bullying vs. fact.
Will you please join the conversations? Will you please make your thoughts known? Comment on current political articles, or write your own and post it to BlogHer and invite your readers to join you there.
My one piece of advice: Be polite, but be firm. Trust me when I tell you that I have seen many a comment forum turn from facts to name-calling in the blink of an eye. Don’t take the bait.
If you post at BlogHer, please let me know. I’d love to see your posts and your comments and offer my own.
{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
I know what you mean! I have also found that liberal thinkers are much more vocal than us conservatives. I guess that’s why we’re called the silent majority. Some of my best friends are liberal and we just plain don’t talk politics. They tend to spout a lot of the same rhetoric and sound bites with nothing to back it up. I have yet to hear from one single one of them why they think Obama is the right person to be the next president. They can only say “change”, “better the country”, but never how.
Dawn
Okay. This crunchy con mommy has long refrained from such things because of the old “Special Olympics” maxim about arguing on the Internet.
But, as long as the discourse remains civil and charitable, I will give it a try.
I totally don’t write blog posts, but I READ them, and comment sometimes.
And, as someone who is slightly to the right of Attila the Hun, I get totally frustrated by the left-leaning nature of the MSM.
So, a friend sent me this, and if you can get it into wider circulation, do it!
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/09/powerful_video_addressed_to_ob/
Maybe I will actually start posting to the blog that I do have, but never post to. Hmmmm.
I really do wish more conservatives would express their views and opinions regarding this current election because I am normally a conservative, but am not liking what I see this year and want to hear WHY all the others are so sure about their decisions. It would help this Mama out!
Steph
I get frustrated with liberal thinkers because they think that no matter what, they are RIGHT! As a conservative, my views may not be the most popular, but they are the ones that work for me, or for may family. Oh, and sometimes, my views…they do actually change.
If liberals would not try to show me the error of my ways, call me names, or insult my intelligence, then maybe it would be more inviting to participate in political discussions.
Thanks for the post, I will venture back into the political arena of BlogHer and see if it’s any more welcoming to the conservatives!
Am glad to hear more conservative voices are speaking up. I may give it a try (am VERY conservative), but I am very non-confrontational!
Hear, hear! I clicked on oe the other day that you had commented on and was crazed at the arguments from some of the liberals out there.
I’ll join in when I can!
Oo boy…
Like a lot of conservative women, to be honest I’m just exhausted. I’m tired of being poked at. I’m tired of having sound bites thrown at me. I’m tired of losing friends because they’ve been told Republican = evil / racist / anti-environmental moron.
I’m just tired.
I started blogging to have an outlet. To make some friends. Not to have “political discussions” that mainly consist of being ganged up on with no actual exchange of ideas.
I really just don’t think my readers would…
Oh yea…! I don’t have any readers.
I’ll be there in five minutes!
Nancy
P.S. My URL link thingy in the comment form here isn’t working. I’m at http://www.youllcrackyourheadopen.com . It should work fine. I don’t know what’s up with that.
I have to admit I was flabbergasted when I saw this post. I don’t go to Blogher too often, so I wasn’t aware. From the blogs I read, I would have sworn that the opposite was true. It looks like I need to expand my horizons a bit.
Liberal Lefty speaking here…..
I try not to post about political issues on my blog, mainly because I know what my base readers are. They don’t want to hear it.
That being said, I’m open for any discussion of THE ISSUES. My husband is very emotional, but I try to stay rational when responding. It’s becoming harder and harder to do with all of the right-sided rumors that have been swarming my candidate (keep in mind, all my family is in the deep south…they come up with some doozies), but I do try.
I’m up for an honest discussion.
That is exactly why I started Moms In The Right, because I could not find a conservative political mom voice on the net. I need to reapply to be listed on BlogHer. When I tried before I was told I had not been blogging long enough. Incidentally, I have the same issue with The Political Voices of women site. Liberals there are much louder than conservatives, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t conservative moms on the web.
Excellent Post!!
I’m not afraid of the Big Bad Lefties! Consistently posting conservative commentary and video for discussion. C’mon over!
If you’d like to join the conversation but want to make sure you have your facts straight, I’d invite you to stop by Politics for Moms where you’ll get an unbiased look at the candidates and campaigns.
Sometimes our comments get a little heated but we were just given this compliment by GJ Sentinel: “There’s Politics for Moms, a more middle of the road, “let’s be nice,†kind of site. I think independents and moderates would like this one.”
We definitely have independents who read but I’d say the majority are conservatives who do know how to have a healthy discourse.
Thanks for the invitation, Chilihead!
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thanks!
I’m very conservative but have always stayed away from the subject of politics, then last week I guest blogged Moms in the Right. You can read the post here: http://www.momsintheright.com/2008/08/this-is-first/
Thanks!
I was doing an interview yesterday with a reporter from the Anchorage Daily News who wanted to talk about the issue relative to mombloggers and she had emailed me saying “I’m a fan of your blog . . . ” but then it became apparent when I googled her that having graduated from Smith college in Women’s Studies, being a reporter since 1996 and then marrying her girlfriend last year (no kids) I’m guessing she wasn’t really a fan. Then when the interview progressed it became also apparent that she’d never ever read my blog.
The media in general is pretty liberal.
Quite frankly, I’m sort of in the middle and feeling totally lost – especially, during this Presidential election – discussing politics on the Internet can get really ugly, you know?
The media has made it cool to throw out personal attacks and judge a person’s family (increase in rating hits, anyone?) and less importance is placed on real issues.
Left, or right – it just doesn’t seem to matter, anymore.
I guess we are too conservative in our comments, too!
Great post and I will take your advice – thank you.
I am ultra-conservative in my politics, but generally avoid discussing the topic on my blog. However, I truly loathe the liberals lashing at the conservatives. So I’m willing to blog from the conservative political view and will do so tomorrow.
Heh! I just joined the foray at Blogher last week on Palin being an uber-mom.
Can I tell you how shocked I was at women’s fervor and negativity?
I have lots of different views on my own blog and encourage liberal friends to give me their opinion on issues/candidates.
However, what was going on at Blogher is crazeee! Calling for posts to be vetted or edited before posted ie limiting freedom of speech if it’s not liberal. Rants about conservatives daring to post ideas different from their own. Pissy about conservatives taking over Blogher. Absolutely dumbfounded.
Believe me, as a Republican and ROTC cadet who survived a Political Science degree from Berkeley, I have a very tough skin. However, any newbie coming into that forum with a conservative thought would feel bullied, demoralized, and isolated.
But did I mention I’m stubborn? Heh!
I’ll be back.
~Scout’s Honor
Heh! I just joined the foray at Blogher last week on Palin being an uber-mom.
Can I tell you how shocked I was at women’s fervor and negativity?
I have lots of different views on my own blog and encourage liberal friends to give me their opinion on issues/candidates.
However, what was going on at Blogher is crazeee! Calling for posts to be vetted or edited before posted ie limiting freedom of speech if it’s not liberal. Rants about conservatives daring to post ideas different from their own. Pissy about conservatives taking over Blogher. Absolutely dumbfounded.
Believe me, as a Republican and ROTC cadet who survived a Political Science degree from Berkeley, I have a very tough skin. However, any newbie coming into that forum with a conservative thought would feel bullied, demoralized, and isolated.
But did I mention I’m stubborn? Heh!
I’ll be back.
~Scout’s Honor
Heh! I just joined the foray at Blogher last week on Palin being an uber-mom.
Can I tell you how shocked I was at women’s fervor and negativity?
I have lots of different views on my own blog and encourage liberal friends to give me their opinion on issues/candidates.
However, what was going on at Blogher is crazeee! Calling for posts to be vetted or edited before posted ie limiting freedom of speech if it’s not liberal. Rants about conservatives daring to post ideas different from their own. Pissy about conservatives taking over Blogher. Absolutely dumbfounded.
Believe me, as a Republican and ROTC cadet who survived a Political Science degree from Berkeley, I have a very tough skin. However, any newbie coming into that forum with a conservative thought would feel bullied, demoralized, and isolated.
But did I mention I’m stubborn? Heh!
I’ll be back.
~Scout’s Honor
Heh! I just joined the foray at Blogher last week on Palin being an uber-mom.
Can I tell you how shocked I was at women’s fervor and negativity?
I have lots of different views on my own blog and encourage liberal friends to give me their opinion on issues/candidates.
However, what was going on at Blogher is crazeee! Calling for posts to be vetted or edited before posted ie limiting freedom of speech if it’s not liberal. Rants about conservatives daring to post ideas different from their own. Pissy about conservatives taking over Blogher. Absolutely dumbfounded.
Believe me, as a Republican and ROTC cadet who survived a Political Science degree from Berkeley, I have a very tough skin. However, any newbie coming into that forum with a conservative thought would feel bullied, demoralized, and isolated.
But did I mention I’m stubborn? Heh!
I’ll be back.
~Scout’s Honor
“I am tired of having every political discussion I join deteriorate into emotional bullying vs. fact. “…
Hear hear! Thanks for the push to remind me, and others, to get out of our safe zones and let our conservative voices be heard. We keep hearing the base has been ‘energized’. I look forward to reminding them we’re out here, too.
Thank you!
Mommy Koz