The pickings were slim on Friday morning at the Defending the American Dream summit. Apparently conservative activists have actual jobs they have to go to. Later in the day there would be a flood of latecomers bussed in from neighboring states in time for the keynote address, but in the morning options for interviews were limited, so I took the opportunity to chat with representatives of a couple of the sponsoring organizations, with the handy digital video running.
The first person to sit down with me was Dan Gainor, Vice President of the Business and Media Institute. which sponsors the site newsbusters.org and the new video hosting site eyeblast.com which offers a nice, streamlined alternative to massive sites like YouTube. He had some interesting thoughts on the left-leaning media, media accountability, and in particular on the effect of the media in "talking down" the economy and the potential to develop an alternative voice in the new media to present a more balanced view of the world. This kind of development of a right-leaning voice to counter the left's domination of the old media and head start in the blogosphere is at the heart of what the Defending the American Dream conference is all about. The video is about 8 minutes long and it's a good look at the issues.
My second guest in the blogging arena was Phil Kerpen, the Policy Director of Americans for Prosperity, a good person to give us a basic look at AFP and its goals. The interview gives a good look at how a political organization works to develop a strong grassroots following state by state. He also writes for National Review. Take note of the opening surprise question about Christopher Buckley's unexpected endorsement of Barack Obama. Something to write more about later if I have the time.
It's on to Day Two of the conference and the promise of many more interview opportunities. Stay tuned for more video and commentary.
Article comments
1 - Joanne Huspek
Interesting interviews, Dave. Especially good tips for activists to use the Internet to expose misspending...
2 - DaveNalle
Glad to see someone actually watched the videos, Joanne. I've got three more coming today from yesterdays interviews. A couple of them are very interesting.
Dave