The revolution starts now: Michael Steele sounds the call for conservative bloggers

I meant to take part in what turned out to be profoundly important bloggers' teleconference call Friday afternoon, I was in an unsettled state at the time--workmen were installing a new furnace yesterday.

Former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, a candidate to become the next chairman of the Republican National Committee said had this to say yesterday to the conservative blogosphere:

...Thanks for ‘blogging’ in… I think that the fact that I'm on the phone with you guys should give you some indication of where I want to take this party next. It has always amazed me that we have under-utilized an incredibly important resource and that is the men and women out here who blog, and who share information, collect information, and spread the word around. We have not, certainly at the national level, effectively utilized some of our strengths, effectively utilized certain strategies that will allow us to reach out with our message across this country. So, part of the parcel of what I want to do as chairman is to kick-start this in a different direction. Technology is my friend. I blog quite a bit. I'm usually on the net 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning which is crazy, but fun because I get a sense of what is going on around the world and tap into the thinking of a lot of our grassroots players out there and that includes you. So, it’s a real honor to welcome you all to this and let me just tell you this will be just the first of a series of conversations leading up to the election of the next chairman and one that process is done, many of you will be at the table in helping to shape an internet strategy, a communication strategy, that will be second to none.
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When it comes to what you do as bloggers, now my understanding and appreciation of blogging is that this is something that Republicans really kind of started back in the Clinton era. There were a lot of guys and gals that started communicating amongst this thing so why did we let this enterprise drop? Why aren't we actively engaging you to test ideas, to find out what's going on in the streets, and sharing the information of what we’re doing on policy, on tactics, on all these things that get people excited and want to be a part of something...

I can assure you there is movement taking place in combining the forces of conservative bloggers. Some projects are still in the creation phase and I won't reveal them here. But others, such as Grizzly Groundswell, are already up and running.

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