Joe Carter and Bill Hobbs wonder where the top conservative bloggers are.
Joe Carter wonders why there is no conservative blog in the top 10, while the Left has Josh Marshall, Atrios, Kos and Kevin Drum, while the libertarians have Glenn Reynolds and Volokh. Actually, Carter wondered why there are no social conservative bloggers in the top 10. I've wondered for awhile now why no conservative blog - social, economic and foriegn policy conservative - is among the 10 largest political blogs.I think the answer is a pretty simple combination of two factors. First, most conservatives probably agree with most of what the libertarians write. The second factor facilitates the first: the major libertarian bloggers don't rant against religion or spend much time promoting their socially liberal views.
The major libertarian bloggers are hawkish on defense and generally support President Bush, so there's a lot for conservatives to agree with. Additionally, even the things libertarians criticise the president for -- spending, protectionism, &c. -- have traction with many conservatives.
Although the major libertarian bloggers occasionally display the stereotypical libertarian distain for religion, they generally try to treat the topic with respect. Why? Possibly because they value the emergent libertarian-conservative blogger coalition and don't want to tear it apart over issues that are, at the moment, less important than the areas of agreement.
While I agree that libertarian bloggers don't make a point of their opinions on religion, I think that it is more a case of exercising the libertarian belief of to-each-his-own. Check out the furor that erupted over President Bush's endorsement of the idea of an anti-gay marriage amendment.
The reason is simple: most conservatives don't take part in that ranking. To do it you have to use a specific counter and then submit your site. Conservative sites with heavy traffic, such as National Review, don't participate. Neither does mine. It's a crappy ranking with few participators.
JC: You only have to use the SiteMeter counter for the traffic ranking. I think the "top 10" we're talking about is the ranking based on links, which means you only have to submit your site.
What ranking system, if any, do you use?
MW--
You ask an excellent question. The Revolutionaires are working on that very problem. We just purchased a fairly substantial hosting plan to deal with it. I will keep you updated. I will also CC this comment in "Into the Ether."
There's a fairly wide gray zone that links conservatives to libertarians. I'm something of a cross-breed between them, myself, and I'd imagine many bloggers could say the same.
By contrast, a liberal is a liberal is a liberal. When he's not a screaming hairy-eyed Communist lunatic, that is.
As for the "libertarian disdain for religion," that might be softening somewhat. It used to be quite pronounced, back when I was involved with the LP, but it seems to have lessened. "Opinions change with age, else what is age for?" -- James Blish.
I've always assumed that really strong conservatives don't last as bloggers because when conservatives get extreme, it ain't funny.
Imagine the most extreme liberal wacko and you'll laugh your tush off. When you imagine the most extreme conservative, you get images of some really horrific stuff.
The result of all this is that conservative blogs and such that make it are the more moderate ones and blend in with the libertarian blogs easily. The really strongly conservative sites close quick.
I actually think it has more to do with the same reason you don't find a lot of conservatives as government professionals or journalists--the smart ones are too busy getting rich to worry about such nonsense and the ones that aren't, aren't so smart. (Thus the hair-on-fire aspect to their rhetoric.)
The exceptions are rare, though (thank Grid) growing in number, and seem to tend toward a desire for greater dignity and a paycheck. They therefore tend to aggregate around nodes of power such as NRO and TAS.
JMHO.
M
MA: Hm, but there are some pretty smart libertarians (ok ok, and liberals) blogging.
I think part of the reason most libertarian-leaning bloggers don't diss religion the way liberals do is that religion doesn't threaten libertarianism the way it does liberalism. Liberalism is, for all intents and purposes, a competing religion. Libertarian leanings, by contrast, are not. This means that religion and libertarianism can coexist peacefully, while religion and liberalism often cannot.
Obviously enough, libertarian types don't really have a beef with conservative (religious) types who don't try shove their version of life at them, at least in the interfering legal ways which really annoy libertarians.
And vice versa, (religious) conservative don;t mind libertarians because libertarians basically don't care to shove anything in their faces.
Duh.
X and F: Logically I agree with you, but I've met some libertarians who are awfully hostile to Christianity.
Michael, there is a seperate ranking for links, in which conservatives do well. The one that Joe is talking about makes you use a specific counter. Joe is not referring to the links counter, but the traffic one that requires SiteMeter.
It's also a function of the fact that liberals need to go exploring. Isn't their motto 'All Things Considered'? Everything outrages them so they are always looking for something new to spout off about. The world is wrong remember? Liberals have to correct it.
Conservatives inherently have less to say.
[quote]
The major libertarian bloggers are hawkish on defense and generally support President Bush. . .
[/quote]
What exactly are you smoking?
Libertarians have no desire for a large military and generally think Bush is a lying, unethical, power mongering, statist.
M.J. Taylor
Editor
http://www.ReasonToFreedom.com
Weekly libertarian magazine with articles on subjects such as politics, health, homeschooling, golf, toll roads, SUVs, national debt, humor, and the Free State Project. Motto: "Reason is a natural life-giving activity of the mind. We regard independent thinking as the most important virtue, as well as the best hope for a free society."