Atrios gives us a little background on Free Republic (McCain)

[AnnInLa]

Sam Rosenfeld discusses the McCain issue. One thing which has been left out of the conversation is the internet caucus. A little internet history is in order. Obviously the Free Republic is no longer the primary nexus of online Republicans, but it still has its place. Back before the 2000 election Freeperville's Leader, Jim Robinson, was a hardcore McCainiac. There was a big spat and all the Bushies, including Lucianne and Matt Drudge, fled to Lucianne Goldberg's new place. At the time Lucianne tried to pass it off as a moderates vs. the extremists spat, though Ldotters these days are more batshit crazy and extreme than Freepers, as hard as that is to believe.

Then, of course, Bush won the primaries and Robinson had to retool the place back into Bush worship central. Another round of purging and fleeing, yada yada.

The Freepi themselves hate McCain generally, though I'm not sure where Robinson is on the issue. In any case, as I said, freeperville is not the force it once was, with conservative blogs becoming more relevant and influential.

Still, one important point remains. As David J. reminded me in comments, Matt Drudge cannot stand McCain. That's a big hurdle of McCain to get over. One wonders if he's even aware.

Trivia: Michelle Malkin's onetime freeper handle was Little LuLu.

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_03_12_atrios_archive.html#114229484104835771

[NMDemDist2]

1. "Little LuLu"

:wtf: :puke:

[la la]

2. she does kind of

resemble Little Lulu - especially when she makes 'those' faces!

--Where's Tubby?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

3. What ARE some influential RW blogs then? You can't post on Drudge, can

you?

Do large numbers of Repubs post at Hannity or Rushbo's sites? What ARE the RW equivalents to DU, kos, etc?

[Pirate Smile]

4. I've heard of Little Green Footballs, Red-State, Powerline.

I've never looked at them but those are the other names I've read about along with Free Republic, Lucianne and Michelle Malkin.