Andrew Breitbart at home in his bathroom in Los Angeles on March 15, 2010
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Breitbart's online competitors are both impressed and wary. "Andrew has an eye for stories that never make the New York Times," says a journalist with experience in old and new media. "When I see him, he'll say, 'Why aren't you covering this?' And he's right. But some of what he publishes is irresponsible. He represents something fascinating about today's culture but also something deplorable." John Harris, editor of Politico.com says, "I regard Andrew as a skilled media and ideological entrepreneur, but as he becomes a combatant, he is going to get scrutinized like one."
To Breitbart, the dismissive reviews are a form of flattery. To speak ill of people in the new media is to do them a favor, generating hits on their sites, which drives revenue. Furthermore, Breitbart is a true believer. "I'm Upton Sinclair 2.0," he says, "except instead of attacking rotten meatpacking houses, I'm attacking the rotten political establishment and the mainstream media that discourage dissent in this country." As for the charge that his sites pay too much attention to the prurient side of issues, he responds, "I like decadent. I like rambunctious. I like mirth."
However polarizing, Breitbart's efforts appear to be flourishing. Technorati, a website focusing on new media, ranks two of the Big sites--Big Government and Breitbart.tv--on its influential top-100 list. (At No. 24 in March, Big Government--while trailing the No. 1 site, the Huffington Post--was ahead of such liberal sites as Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo.) According to Solov, he and Breitbart have not sought outside investors, funding the sites with their own money along with ad revenue. But this may change. In the months ahead, they plan to launch Big Peace, which will cover national security, followed by Big Tolerance (aimed at conservative gays, blacks and Jews), Big Education and Big Soros (which will address the world of institutional giving).
Tea Party Tycoon
It is a brilliant weekday afternoon, and Breitbart is at the wheel of his Range Rover, driving to the Los Angeles bureau of Fox News to make a live appearance on Fox's politics and business show America's Nightly Scoreboard. He'll then tape a segment for the late-night talkfest Red Eye, whose host, Greg Gutfeld, is a contributor to Big Journalism. On Scoreboard, Breitbart takes another jab at Blumenthal. On Red Eye, he shoots for bigger game. "I want it to be in the history books," he proclaims, "that I took down the institutional left, and I think that's gonna happen."
Breitbart observers are divided about what his future will bring. Political blogger Mickey Kaus, an acquaintance and longtime Breitbart watcher, thinks the Big sites will become exactly that--big. "I've always thought of him as an empire builder," he says. "He has the temperament of a tycoon, a conservative Ted Turner. He has what they all have--that slightly crazed look in the eyes." Boehlert sees a different ending: "What's ahead for Breitbart is some sort of spectacular flameout."