Tools for Pro-Palin blogging

I was blessed with the opportunity to speak on the topic of blogging at the first Conservatives 4 Palin meetup last weekend. One of the ways that we can support Governor Palin and the conservative movement is through blogging. I simply wanted to lay out some practical ways to begin blogging for the Governor, the conservative movement, and our country.

A lot of political blogs use either Blogger or Wordpress. Each platform has its advantages. From my personal experience, Blogger is a little bit more user friendly. However, Wordpress is a little more aesthetically pleasing, and you can ban "trolls" who leave unacceptable comments, which will happen if you write supporting the Governor. If you are concerned you won't be able to start and maintain a blog, do not fear. You can do it! Here is a tutorial for using Blogger and a tutorial for using Wordpress. Both formats provide a step-by-step method of starting a blog, and actually writing a blog post is very similar to writing an email.

With a blog, you can write about anything. However, if you are looking for a way to support Governor Palin and the conservative movement through blogging, here are a few ideas, but be creative and try whatever you feel may be effective.

• Fact Checking and Fisking- The media often misrepresents Governor Palin's record and statements. Governor Palin has often said she has our back. Blogging to support Governor Palin and correct the record is a way for us to have her back. Fisking is a blogging term that means taking apart an argument presented by the main stream media or pundit.
  This can also entail doing the job of critical analyzing the Obama administration, something that the mainstream media often fails to do. Highlighting the ineptness of liberals allows the conservative alternative to be seen more clearly.
• Expanding upon Governor Palin's policy positions-This could mean breaking down what Governor Palin said in a media appearance or a Facebook post and simply expanding upon what she said by using her previous statements or other sources. Here is an example.
• Compare Governor Palin's policy positions to those of President Obama. Obviously, the contrasts are pretty stark, but putting them side-by-side helps illuminate these difference further. Here is an example regarding how Governor Palin and President Obama differ on handling the oil spill and energy independence.
• Personal Narratives- Over the past year or so especially, people have had the opportunity to hear the Governor speak or have meet her at a book signing or the like. Sharing your personal experience is a unique way to articulate about the Governor's sincerity and intelligence.
  
• Cut-and-paste- As long as an article or Facebook post is properly linked or attributed, sharing a well written piece about the Governor or a Facebook post from the Governor is a way to further spread the message.
  

If you are looking for good resources for Pro-Palin blogging, look no further than the Governor's Facebook page, which provides a good overview of her policy positions. If you are in need of information regarding her gubernatorial record, check out the archives of her Alaska governor's site. Additionally, with the assistance of many others, I put together a two sheet overview of the Governor's gubernatorial accomplishments. Feel free to post the link and/ or print out copies to hand out.

There are a variety of ways to use other forms of new media.The American Majority has a nice overview of using some such components of new media (Twitter, Facebook etc) to support conservatism. See here (H/T Peter S.) If you wish to use twitter, which is further described at the American Majority link, here is a mechanism to "auto-tweet" your blog posts. You can also link your blog to other pro-Palin blogs using Palintwibe and Blogs4Palin.

I hope these can be useful resources that you can use to get started with Pro-Palin blogging. Governor Palin has our back. Let's show her in every possible way that we have hers.

Cross posted here.