THE US REPORT

Ed. Note: I met Bryan Del Monte through Blog Catalog as he was establishing the conservative site Right Commentary. Bryan is a senior policy and strategy consultant to government agencies on a wide range of defense issues. He worked for the US Government for four years in the Pentagon. A Republican since Reagan defeated Carter in 1980, Bryan is a former Bush Administration political appointee.  I blog at Right Commentary when time permits, and what strikes me about Bryan’s content is the lack of vitriol common to many other political blogs whether they’re conservative or liberal. He agreed to an email interview with The US Report after I asked him why people like us spend time blogging.—Kay B. Day

Day: Why does a busy person like you decide to spend time blogging?
Del Monte: I started blogging in a way before blogs became popular. In graduate school, I used to have an email list of news stories with commentary that I would write weekly. It was a combination of bizarre stories and comment - some political - mostly current events. I had about 100 people a week at my university who used to get it. When I stopped being on campus all the time, I didn't write as much, so eventually it collapsed.

My family owns an internet marketing company, and my brother was talking to me about blogs. I had played a bit with blogging - set one up on a free service. Since I had written for publication before, it seemed simple to me to write articles on the things I was interested in. Moreover, no editor or publishing process to go through - instant gratification, both a curse and a delight. My brother told me a bit about WordPress. I downloaded it and I liked the functionality of it. I could quickly set up a professional looking blog. Right Commentary first launched a series of in-depth political and foreign policy review pieces in March, 2006.

Day: So basically, you revived your original concept, maybe tweaking it?
Del Monte: When I became a political appointee, I had to stop writing and I shut down Right Commentary. It was inconsistent with my obligations as a political appointee to comment on policy outside the political framework. However, when I left the Administration in October, 2007, I decided to start up the blog again. I began putting together some articles, and started researching what it was going to take to put up a good blog again.

Day: How is Right Commentary different from other political blogs?
Del Monte: Few [conservative] blogs are anything more than just some sort of dialectic screed that is little more than "Screw Democrats!" While I understand the zeal, in large part, most of what is written in the blogosphere is truly uninformed. There are some very good blogs out there, but most of them, quite frankly, suck. The Democrats, largely because of their habits, developed a rather robust "leftosphere" in blogging. HuffPo and DailyKos started as small experiments in individual journalism...

Day: So how’s the initial response been?
Del Monte: I'll be honest. If my traffic is any indication, there doesn't appear to be much of a market for solid blogs on the right. I like PowerLine, RedState, etc., but again, those blogs really tend to boil down to "Screw Democrats!" as their theme. As a guy who's been in government—that rhetoric winds up being not too useful. Moreover, the "Republican" or "conservative" movement is not really held together through dogmatic positions, as I perceive the Democrat Party supporters are—Hate Bush, Hate Rove, etc. I've concluded that while Republicans vote together, they are less likely to "think" together on issues. I'll be honest. I don't know what the long-term prospects are for a webzine/blog like Right Commentary.

Day: Are there any benefits to your work at Right Commentary?
Del Monte: I'll admit there were some personal reasons to do it.  It's broadened my contacts within the Republican Party. I've met some nice people, and some of them became writers at RC. I am trying to build a cadre of serious-minded "right-ites" and build a "big-tent" model of writers from the right. Not everything I've had published at RC have I totally agreed with in full.  But I think the writers I've attracted write good thought-provoking pieces and represent the myriad people who make up the Republican party. I want to do more of that, where ultimately I'm not driving a lot of the content anymore—where the blog truly becomes a "Vanguard of Conservatism" and those on the tip of the edge of the party feel they can come, read, and contribute. That's my ultimate goal. I'd love to go toe to toe with "the biggies"—quite frankly, I know I'm experienced enough in both government and as a writer to do it. It's just a question of time, and will the market bear the product? Only time will tell.

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