Thursday, March 18, 2010

Riehl World View On Armey and FreedomWorks

Dan Riehl posted on a conversation today with FreedomWorks over recent Dick Armey comments which seem to be in contrast with FreedomWorks mission.

FreedomWorks reached out this AM regarding a flap over some recent comments by co-chair Dick Armey. Later, I had a positive telephone conversation with Matt Kibbe, President and CEO of FreedomWorks.
Meanwhile, Melissa Clouthier conducted an interview with Dick Armey for podcast. While an unfortunate distraction from the only issue that really matters right now, defeating bad health care reform that will prove to be disastrous for America, it's extremely positive to see their aggressive effort in directly reaching out to new media sources over the flap. That they did it demonstrates how far new media has come on the Right and also that FreedomWorks takes it very seriously. That's not insignificant. If you want to influence the discussion, you have to be a part of it. So, I very much credit FreedomWorks for its efforts.
Riehl has this one right.  Kudos to Matt Kibbe for extinguishing the fire while still somewhat of a spark.  Also, this is one of those "coming of age" moments for what we refer to as "New Media", and defining the weight it carries in todays world.

IMHO, Conservatives have been playing catch-up for some time within the electronic community - be it social networking or the blogosphere.  And the reality is that in the lightning-quick world on the Web, people will say things, or do things which they might not - if given a mulligan.  Not referring to bad people doing bad things - but people at times, well, screw up.  Occasionally, badly.  And printing a retraction on page 6 of the tomorrows newspaper won't cut it anymore.
It's great to see Conservative voices wielding power in the digital world.  It's grander still to see us garnering a presence equal to, or in some cases exceeding that of our liberal counterparts.  Matt Kibbe and FreedWorks seem to have grasped how to play the game well, and in this case spot-on.  Hat's off to them.
Now back to defeating the Healthcare Bill That Ate America...

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