FamousDC and Politico have both already weighed in on “Republicanville” – which is, apparently, supposed to be a Facebook-type social network for Republicans. Meghann Parlett at TechRepublican has the best take on it, and it only takes two words: she calls it a “walled garden” – an online utility exclusively for Republicans that doesn’t really help counter the left-leaning tendencies of other social networks, online news sites, or (most importantly) the last two election cycles.
For the last few years, this has been a consistent trend. I’ve seen people try to bill themselves as “conservative comics,” and they almost always suck. “Conservative filmmakers” tend to make good factual documentaries (sometimes), but lousy dramas and comedies. Conservative alternatives to pop culture entities are never as cool as those entities because the “conservative alternative” is by definition all about politics first, rather than entertainment.
That’s not to say that Republicanville will be a wasteland – surely, with enough financial backing, they will recruit membership. But “walled gardens” aren’t the places to make a difference.
Jim Eltringham 