Blog Bash FTW

Conservative political bloggers are having the equivalent of a midlife crisis. A recent explosion of right-leaning groups and publications that pay bloggers--much like liberals have done for years--has left some of the old-schoolers wondering if their trade is worth the effort.

For years, they have toiled at their home computers after long days spent working full-time jobs, writing on behalf of Republican candidates and battling online with their counterparts on the left. Most of them don't live near the East Coast power cities of New York and Washington. They spend their own money traveling across the country to attend political conferences and even hit the campaign trail on their own dime, loading gigabytes of video onto their sites.

So, on the first night of the Conservative Political Action Conference, while the VIPs held a pricey reception at a Marriott hotel in northwest Washington, many of these rogue scribes held their own party. You probably weren't invited. Which was the point.

Well I was! Yahoo!'s "The Ticket" ran an article today on the Blog Bash at CPAC, which I was lucky enough to attend.

Organizers used the party to announce the formation of a new nonprofit started with seed money from millionaire Santorum-backer Foster Friess. Called the "National Bloggers Club," the group will use donations to fund private reporting projects. It also hopes to issue press passes, serving as a clearinghouse so event organizers can differentiate between a blogger with honest intentions versus someone looking for a free pass by starting a Blogspot account. But mostly, the organizers said, the new organization will support and encourage online writers.

"On the left, they take care of their own. They respect their own," Clouthier said. "They take care of their bloggers."

 Maybe the National Bloggers Club will be the first step toward taking care of our bloggers (aka Me).