RedState

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RedState
Type of site
Political blog
Available inEnglish
OwnerSalem Communications
Created byJoshua Treviño, Ben Domenech, and Mike Krempasky
EditorCaleb Howe
URLRedState.com
RegistrationOptional, required to comment

RedState is an American conservative political blog. It functions as an opinion based discussion forum and group blog for a variety of conservative activists. Annually, it organizes RedState gatherings for grassroots political activism which feature many prominent public figures in conservative politics.[2]

During the 2016 presidential election, numerous writers on the blog endorsed Hillary Clinton for President and stated that they preferred her to Donald Trump. [3] This generated substanial criticism from a large amount of alt-right and conservative organizations. Other right-wing commentators such as Ann Coulter, Richard Spencer, Brittany Pettibone, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham have argued that it abandoned conservatism. [4][5][6] The website has also been criticized by President Donald Trump.[7]

Since the 2016 election, it has been considered a site of moderate Republicans dissatsified with the right-wing nationalist and populist direction of the party.[8] The site also deviates from modern Republican orthodoxy on free trade, strong opposition to Russia, police reform, and support for confirming Merrick Garland; among other issues.[9][10][11] Due to this, the website has been seen as part of the centrist, center-right, and establishment wing of the Republican Party.

History

RedState as founded in 2004 as a 527 group by conservative bloggers Joshua Treviño,[12] Ben Domenech,[13] and Mike Krempasky.

In March 2006, co-founder Domenech was hired as a blogger by the Washington Post Online, but was criticised for alleged plagiarism in some of his prior writings during college. At the end of his first week, Domenech resigned, eventually admitting to plagiarism.[14] He took a leave of absence from RedState at the time, from which he returned in July 2006 under a new handle (his own name).

On November 16, 2006, former congressman Tom DeLay posted a diary.[15] Several other members of the House of Representatives and the US Senate are regular diarists at RedState.

On December 20, 2006, RedState announced its sale to Eagle Publishing, Inc.,[16] effective January 2, 2007. Erick Erickson remained Editor-in-Chief.

On July 12, 2008, RedState launched a new version of its site, called RS3, introducing new features such as the ability to organize contributor and user diaries by state; action centers allowing users to take action related to emerging political issues; links to share posts via other networking sites such as Facebook, Digg, and MySpace; and easier searching between related content on the Internet.

On August 13, 2011, Texas Governor Rick Perry announced his candidacy for President of the United States at RedState's 2011 RedState Gathering.[17] The Austin American-Statesman reported that this was due to the growing influence of the site and Erickson.[18]

RedState has also created numerous offshoot blogs on specific political topics, including a site opposed to then Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Arlen Specter and a site supporting the judicial nominees of President George W. Bush.

Salem Media Group

In January 2014, Eagle Publishing was acquired by Salem Media Group.[19] In October 2015, Erickson announced he would be leaving the site by the end of the year to focus on his radio show.[20] Erickson and Leon Wolf were succeeded by former RedState contributors Caleb Howe and Jay Caruso as Managing Editor and Assistant Managing Editor respectively.

Notable incidents

In 2007, RedState banned new contributors who were posting in support of Ron Paul. The announcement on the blog read, "Effective immediately, new users may *not* shill for Ron Paul in any way shape, form or fashion."[21]

In June 2011, Politico reported that an account executive from Eagle Publishing sent an email advertising a "RedState Endorsement Program Featuring Erick Erickson", including "Erick's Video Endorsement (subject to final approval by Erick)".[22] Erickson said that neither he "nor his boss at Eagle" had seen the email before it went out and that "[his] endorsements are not for sale".[23]

In August 2015, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was disinvited from the annual RedState gathering following controversial statements he made about American journalist Megyn Kelly. Kelly was invited to the gathering instead.[2] Since then, RedState has been one of the main centers of conservative opposition to Trump's campaign for the Presidency, with most of its writers and editors vocally opposing Trump.[8][24]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Redstate.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
  2. ^ a b "Trump is un-invited to influential RedState Gathering event | Fox News". Fox News. 2015-08-08. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
  3. ^ Woodruff, Betsy (2017-01-30). "When #NeverTrump Becomes #ImWithHer". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  4. ^ "Laura Ingraham to Erick Erickson: Could You Write An Op-Ed On RedState.com Explaining Why You Prefer Clinton to Trump?". www.realclearpolitics.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  5. ^ "'Cuckservative' — the conservative insult of the month, explained". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  6. ^ http://www.washingtontimes.com, The Washington Times. "Sean Hannity rips Red State over race row, claims 'site has been destroyed'". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2017-05-08. {{cite news}}: External link in |last= (help)
  7. ^ Draper, Robert (2016-09-29). "How Donald Trump Set Off a Civil War Within the Right-Wing Media". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
  8. ^ a b http://www.salon.com/2016/05/04/top_conservative_pundits_lash_out_in_disbelief_after_ted_cruz_and_john_kasich_fail_to_stop_donald_trump_we_are_going_to_get_our_asses_kicked_in_the_general_election/
  9. ^ "Conservative blog calls for GOP to confirm Merrick Garland". POLITICO. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
  10. ^ "Erick Erickson on Trump: 'I got it absolutely wrong'". POLITICO. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
  11. ^ "We must change thinking to heal our racial divide". Retrieved 2017-05-08.
  12. ^ "Joshua Treviño Profile". The Guardian. London. February 9, 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  13. ^ "Heartland Institute staff bio- Benjamin Domenech". heartland.org. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  14. ^ Jim Brady (March 24, 2006). "Red America". Blog.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  15. ^ Tom DeLay (November 16, 2006). "What's That Thumping? It's Time We Get Back To First Principles". RedState. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  16. ^ The Directors. "RedState & Eagle Publishing: Growing The Conservative Movement Online". Redstate. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  17. ^ "Perry Makes It Official: He's Running for President". Fox News. August 13, 2011.
  18. ^ Embry, Jason (August 11, 2011). "Perry's announcement highlights RedState's growing influence". Austin American-Statesman.
  19. ^ Salem Communications Buys Eagle Publishing
  20. ^ Gold, Hadas. "Erick Erickson to leave RedState". POLITICO. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  21. ^ Grim, Ryan (October 23, 2007). "Redstate.com bans new Ron Paul supporters - Ryan Grim". Politico. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
  22. ^ Smith, Ben (June 7, 2011). "RedState sells 'endorsement'". Politico. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
  23. ^ Erickson, Eric (June 7, 2011). "Selling Endorsements? [updated]".
  24. ^ http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/05/03/when-nevertrump-becomes-imwithher.html

External links

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