What's your family background?
I come from a family of proud Irish, German, English, and Scottish Americans. I grew up in the Midwest and learned to love my family, my faith and my country. I attended school in Iowa but have lived and worked in St. Louis most of my adult life. I have made my home St. Louis, the Gateway to the West. I have a chemistry and human resource background. It is a great Midwestern city with a terrific history. I do like it here.
What got you into blogging?
I started following blogs before the last election. I came upon the blogs by chance and immediately was attracted to the conservative blogs out there that were giving the whole story and not just the liberal side of the news. If you don’t believe it, you only have to follow the conservative blogs for a few days to see what you are missing.
The day that “rathergate” broke was really an exciting day. It was amazing to see all of the experts from around the country dismantle the fake documents being pushed by Rather and CBS just weeks before a national election. By noon the day after the broadcast there was no doubt that the documents were fakes typed years after they were supposedly written. That was very exciting to watch.
Soon after the November election in 2004 I started Gateway Pundit since I was of course writing from the Gateway City. This is my first attempt at a blog or and it started out with just a few readers a day back in November-December 2004.
Who have been your blog heroes?
Powerline - the Minnesota lawyers and blogging pioneers have always been professional and brilliant with their reporting- they broke Rathergate and really made blogging a household word.
Glenn Reynolds - All blogs lead to Instapundit. Glenn is amazing in that he is one of the leading blogs, he writes, teaches law, podcasts, etc. He said today that, “My goal is to see the blogosphere render me entirely obsolete!” I don’t look forward to that day.
Michelle Malkin - What she has done with her blog and her career in the past year is inspirational. She is amazing, opinionated, charged and brilliant!
I have several blogs listed in my favorites that I enjoy daily. Little Green Footballs, Hugh Hewitt, Lucianne, CC, CQ, The Anchoress, Wizbang with Lori Byrd, Free Republic, Jawa, LaShawn, Just One Minute, Memeorandum, NewsBusters, Pajamas, Protein Wizdom, Ace, Riehl, Tammy Bruce, Roger Simon, TigerHawk, and WILLisms, Zombie, Publius, and several others listed at my blog.
I also have deep respect for international bloggers, Iraq the Model- who give a picture of Iraq that the mainstream cannot compete with. Freedom for Egyptians, Sandmonkey, Big Pharoah, Free Thoughts, Medienkritick, Dead Animals, No Pasaran!, Mark in Mexico, Tim Blair, etc.
Military bloggers are another valuable venue of information Mudville, Black Five, Ace, Open Fire, OPFOR, Michael Yon, Counterterrorism blog.
What was your vision at the beginning?
My vision right away was to be a part of the conservative blogosphere. I also have very strong belief in democracy and freedom and like to follow stories of hope, change and courage.
You must have the longest blogroll in the biz...how many sites do you check each day? Gotta be more than Drudge, and he uses a staff.
Funny - I like having the links there to save on time and have the information at the fingertips. I couldn’t tell you how many websites I check each day. A lot of it depends on what is going on in the world.
How many hours a day do you spend doing research? How many hours a day do you spend creating the new areas of your website? When do you sleep, fer goodness' sake?
It depends on the day, on how much I blog. Obviously, I enjoy it.
Your blog clearly has a conservative bent. At what age did you realize that it was that side of the political spectrum that interested you?
I grew out of my liberalism in my 20’s and didn’t pay much mind to anything before that. My mother brought us up in a strict, Christian, conservative home and I thank God for that today.
How many visitors a day does GP receive?
I passed 3 million visitors yesterday. It varies quite a bit depending on the day. I have had as many as 27,000 visitors a day and bottom out around 3-4 thousand per day.
You've been probably the most diligent in covering election fraud locally. Why do you think this is so underplayed in the Post-Dispatch?
St. Louis is the voter fraud capital of the country. I don’t believe it would be a secret if it were 16 Republicans who were sentenced instead of 16 different Democrats including one who tried to kill the government witness against him.
