Conservative Grassroots Movement Ignited by Obama’s Policies on Healthcare, Economy

Sunday, September 13, 2009 5:08 PM

By: David A. Patten

This summer's raucous healthcare debate may cause President Obama a lingering headache due to the explosive growth it triggered in grassroots, Internet-based groups that are able to mobilize their enthusiastic legions at the touch of a button.

The spontaneous and rapid expansion of conservative networking sites, largely in response to the president's plans to "fundamentally transform the United States of America," has just begun to impact the well-laid plans of D.C. politicos.

Grassfire.org, Tea Party Patriots, Resistnet.com, the 912Project, and SmartGirlPolitics all report that voters' profound alarm over off-the-charts federal spending, combined with new social-networking tools, have lit a grassfire among the conservative grassroots.

New Web sites, e-mail campaigns, and social-networking groups are springing up on an almost daily basis. And these "silent majority" activists aren't satisfied with just shooting off angry e-mails to their congressional representatives, either.

This summer's effective mobilization of grassroots conservatives and town hall protesters, initially dismissed by Beltway skeptics as "Astroturf" demonstrations financed by the GOP or self-interested corporations, has progressed so rapidly that it now threatens to alter not only policy debates, but future electoral outcomes as well.

"What I have seen in the last two months," says national Grassfire coordinator Darla Dawald, "is people really getting involved. And I think it has had so much to do with the healthcare debate … "It's mobilizing people. They see the government is getting off course. They thought they elected people who would run the government the right way, and they thought they were doing their part and being responsible. But they found out they've been wrong. They didn't vote in the right people. They didn't stay on top of their government. And now they're seeing how that will affect them."

Grassfire.org – the site founded in 2001 by Internet political guru Steve Elliott to distribute "citizen action alerts" on important legislative issues -- decided last fall to establish a social networking site where people could coordinate efforts with like-minded folks in their own region, sharing news of upcoming events.

The result: Resistnet, a full-fledged social-networking site with many of the features found on sites such as Facebook or MySpace, including personal profiles and "friend requests."

Resistnet launched in mid-December and leveraged off Grassfire's 1.5 million members to quickly enlist 20,000 supporters within six weeks -- a very successful launch.

Then came Rick Santelli's "rant heard round the world" in February. The CNBC correspondent's monologue of rage from the floor of Chicago's CME exchange struck a tender nerve in the nation's body politic.

"How many of you people want to pay for your neighbor's mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can't pay their mortgage?" Santelli asked traders on the floor of the exchange. Their collective response: A loud round of boos directed at the Obama administration's $787 billion stimulus bailout plan.

"President Obama, are you listening?!!" Santelli fairly bellowed on live TV.

"When that happened in February," Dawald tells Newsmax, "the whole tea party movement went viral very quickly."

Santelli's suggestion for a tea party protest caught on, and soon each big-government proposal emanating from Washington -- the auto-industry takeover, energy cap and trade, and healthcare reform -- served only to further bolster the digital grassroots' ranks.

The growth of conservative grassroots groups on the Internet further accelerated when the healthcare debate began to pick up in earnest about two months ago, sources say.

Today, barely nine months after launch, more than 61,000 conservatives have joined and created Resistnet profiles. Most of them also have enlisted in various state, regional, and topical sub-groups on the site. These aren't folks who just log on to receive the occasional e-mail alert, either.

From tea party protests to town hall meetings to the impressive 912Project's turnout at Freedom Plaza on Saturday, grassroots conservatives involved in social networking have proven that they are willing to do what it takes to stand up and have their voices heard.

"I think this is huge," says Scott Graves, the former president and editor-in-chief of RedCounty.com who runs his own new media consultancy in online development. "What I've seen is this: A true movement away from what we would call traditional media, and a complete emersion and embrace of new media, at all levels of the demographic spectrum and in all levels of the political spectrum.

"Information flow is so easy," Graves tells Newsmax. "Technology has come of age. It's kind of a perfect storm if you will … more people involved, better technology, and so much technology out there now that people can choose how they want their information delivered to them."

Most notably, the grassroots Internet groups -- which transcend party lines -- appear to be bridging the vast gap between having a political opinion and becoming a conservative-movement activist.

Teri Christoph is a stay-at-home mother of four who, along with blogger Staci Mott, co-founded the brassy, up-and-coming social networking site SmartGirlPolitics about 10 months ago. It gives conservative women a way to participate in "a conservative women's movement."

The key, Christoph says, is the site's ability to help women network with others. Social networking has helped women who are political newcomers overcome the barriers that might otherwise discourage them from expressing their views and attending rallies.

"Knowing you're not out there alone, knowing others are going to a meeting too, sharing information, and then sharing experiences on how they might better handle events in the future -- it gives you courage to go out and do it again," Christoph tells Newsmax. "Because if you've never done it before, it's really daunting to get out there and be active. But it's a great thing to be part of, and it's very exciting."

SmartGirlPolitics grew gradually and really took off over the summer, according to Christoph. The social networking site now has about 11,200 members, plus another 7,000 followers on Facebook.

Ironically, sites like SmartGirlPolitics and Resistnet rely on many of the same Internet tools that then-candidate Obama used in November to help him win the election. Those technologies are now being used to block his agenda. Conservative Internet groups link to each others' Web sites, collaborate on joint events, and share information and resources to help the entire movement be more effective. And grassroots conservatives tell Newsmax they're planning to push political networking to a whole new level.

"The liberals have been using the Internet a long time, and doing it better," Dawald tells Newsmax. "But we've got to use technology to our benefit. We can't just do it the same old way. We've got to find a way to use this technology to make an impact…. We have to take the technology available to us and make it work for what we're doing."

One of the latest events to bolster the conservative grassroots movement: The left's attack on Fox talk host Glenn Beck for his pointed criticism of President Obama.

Initially, it looked like progressive organizations might bulldoze Beck's advertisers via a petition drive and boycott. Then a citizen's army of Beck supporters went to work, launching several Web sites such as DefendGlenn.com and SupportGlenBeck.com; creating pro-Beck Facebook and meet-up groups; and organizing a grassroots lobbying effort to pressure advertisers to stand strong and not cave in.

"When someone like Glenn Beck comes along willing to stand up and says what he believes in, says that you should ask your government tough questions, it makes him a very strong resource for the conservative movement," observes Dawald.

"We just exploded," Christoph says of the pro-Beck backlash. "I had no idea Glenn Beck had such a passionate following. We created a sub-group three or four weeks, and it's grown to three or four hundred members. It just gets new members every day."

Some conservative bloggers have suggested the attack on Beck was really triggered by his revelations about Van Jones, Obama administration's green-jobs czar, who also happens to be a co-founder and former executive of the Color of Change organization orchestrating the anti-Beck boycott. After mobilizing to defend Beck, the conservative grassroots movement is stronger than ever.

Interestingly enough, the mainstream media largely ignored Van Jones' inflammatory statements until his participation in the "9/11 truther" movement came to light. His resignation caught them by surprise.

To which Seton Motley, the director of communications for the Media Research Center, remarked: "Since the old media didn't cover it, and he was forced to resign, that's another victory for the new media, wouldn't you say?"

This year's summer of grassroots discontent did change one thing: Progressives have largely given up trying to dismiss grassroots conservative protests as mere Astroturf.

"I know that has to be scary for the left," Christoph says of the growth of Internet grassroots conservatism, "because it's very real. It's real people taking the time off from work to go to a meeting -- which is a big thing -- and attending events and getting their voices heard. They're not just sitting behind their computers ranting and raving."

Oh, the Internet activists offer a friendly word of warning to politicians planning to run in 2010: Resistnet users are organizing themselves down to the congressional precinct level.

Source: 2009 Newsmax

http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/heathc ... 59525.html