Reagan21 and the Web
by Patrick Ruffini :: November 1st, 2007 5:45 pm Like most conservatives, I was pumped to hear about the Reagan21 coalition — and then deflated once I saw their web site. All that’s missing from this 1995 vintage are <blink> tags.
(A staff member for one of the group’s more forward thinking members assures me they’ve heard us, and that changes are on the way.)
One of the things I try to impress upon people when I give talks on Web strategy is the idea of leading with the Web. The only way for someone outside Washington, D.C. to interact with the cause or group you’re launching is through the Web. Your online presence should be the very first thing you think about when launching your group, not the last. Though I’m sure this was the work of a well-intentioned press staffer who had a dozen other things to do, this leaves exactly the wrong impression with grassroots activists across the country. Just by sticking on a “Join” form, placeholder sites can be an opportunity, not an afterthought.
The messaging on this is also dramatically off. Maybe this is the 29-year old South Park Conservative in me speaking, but for a group committed to ushering in a 21st century political movement, this seems old, strewn with overly formal, self-important language. Setting the presentation aside, how does talking down to me with language understood only by other Members of Congress inspire me to join the cause? The beauty of the Contract with America is that it was written in language real Americans could understand.
Efforts like Senator Jim DeMint’s 100,000 Strong for Earmark Reform provide a much better way to engage people in a cause. Each time you go to JimDeMint.com you see one thing: a big honking signup form with a personal invitation to join a movement. That’s compelling. That builds lists. That raises money. That gets you real power.
Tagged: conservatism 
movement online politics
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Oh, my. That website is bad.
I could not agree more. I was shocked at how “-1.0″ it looked. Jim DeMint’s site on the other hand rocks. It’s very unfortunate though, because it has Reagan’s name on it. It needs more than a thorough redesign.
[…] Two young conservatives, Patrick Ruffini and Erick Erickson, were quoted in The Hill last week voicing their complaints. Patrick’s were focused on the lack of a web strategy for Reagan21 (it still doesn’t have a website), but Erick’s addressed a more touchy subject. “I think the intentions are good, but I seem to remember Reagan being dead,” stated Erick Erickson, editor of RedState.org. “Basically, what it says is ‘We’re completely unoriginal and uninspired, so let’s go back to the old playbook.’” […]
[…] This goes all the way back to the critique of the leaderless Reagan21 coalition. I expressed my disappointment in their lack of new media savvy — ironic since their members tend to be the most plugged-in on the Hill. But Erick raises a broader point: how much should 21st century conservatives really be harkening back to Reagan? […]