The Declining Readership of the Left Blogosphere

Tim Blair links to this post at Bloggasm about the decline in readership of left-wing blogs and the subsequent increase on the right.

It's an interesting trend--and yes, six-months is a trend--whereby the largest of the liberal echo chamber blogs are seeing a declining base of readers. There's no one reason but a conglomeration of many that have led to this. First in my mind would be the utter negativity of the left as a whole. Nearly every post is devoid of humor or contains only humor that is sarcastic and infantile. The right wing blogs are generally upbeat and we tend to find humor in any situation--probably because we firmly believe this to be the greatest nation ever created and things aren't as bad as the MSM and liberal Democrats would have us believe. The Liberal mind believes that America is the root of all evil in the world while the Conservative mind believes that America is a beacon of light in an oppressed world. The lefty paradigm invites bitterness.

Second, blogs on the right will post links that are against their position and refute the writer of that post. We have no fear that our views are wrong so we allow for a free and open discussion of all topics. Readers are sick of post after post of politics stating only one point of view--again, the echo chamber effect is not all it's cracked up to be. Go back through my posts at AOL and here throughout the years, I believe in that credo of the right wing 'sphere that says you link to others frequently whether you agree or not--in other words, the free flow of ideas. That's not happening on the left.

Finally, I think that the average is just now understanding that the left in this country and around the world want us to lose the War on Terror. You're seeing more evidence of this on a daily basis whereby the left wants impeachment or retreat and the public understands that we've turned the tide in Iraq and isn't buying into the downbeat scenario created by the libs.

I would also add that the atrocious leadership (if one can call it that) of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid has quite a bit to do with the Lefts disillusionment and frustration. Think back to this time last year; the Dem's had won both the House and Senate and they were planning that "first 100-hours" thing that was supposed to change the country. Instead, here we are 365-days later and they've got nothing to show for their victory except a dubious energy bill (with a major sop to the agriculture industry and companies like Archer-Daniels-Midland) and many, many failed attempts to undercut the military and force withdrawal. Well, they did pass many non-binding resolutions I guess.

The overall tenor of the Dem's/Libs is one of schism and resignation--schism over what candidate to back, resignation that the average American citizen saw through their propaganda and is increasingly supporting the war in Iraq and the realization that they may well be stuck with Hillary as a candidate and that she'll be buried in the general thus maintaining the Executive Branch for the GOP.

Whatever the cause of the downturn in readership on the left and the increase on the right, it says something that just as the primary season is heating up, they are showing tepid returns. I for one am enjoying the hell out of it.