Wow. The Red State Gathering/Mini-Convention Rawked.

Joy with the next President of the United States.

I’ll file a preliminary report here, but please keep in mind that I’m sleep-blogging, and have been for days: I never made up the sleep I lost by staying up all night on Wednesday night. In fact, I think my sleep deficit has increased since then.

This is a Good Thing, since it saves me money on alcoholic beverages. There is, however, a cloud around the silver lining: I sort of sway whenever I stand up, which means all security personnel at this event, at the airport, and at the local transit station seem to want to keep an eye on me, as if I may want to start speaking loudly in tongues at some point. And in fact I might; can those guys read people, or what?

Anyway, the Red Staters have done a terrific job on this: Erick Erickson is playing emcee, beautifully, on nearly as little sleep as I’ve had. Mike Krempasky kicked matters off yesterday morning, though I did not see that in person (I was sucking down coffee, fishing around in my purse for a Ritalin or three, and eating the best grits I’ve ever had in my entire life).

RedState’s Caleb gets special accolades since he’s the one who snagged them this beautiful venue, the Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead, and negotiated a sweet enough discount that it was worth it to stay on-site despite the fact that there are two or three other hotels across the courtyard or across the street. He also hit enough sponsors up for nice little extras that the event simply does not feel like it’s being put together on a shoestring: American Majority and Americans for Prosperity have been the biggest supporters, along with a few private supporters for this event, and The American Spectator.*

The reasons this event, and RedState, are important: 1) RedState remains the go-to site for legislative action alerts: they are not unduly shrill about it, either–so when they tell us to burn up the phones on a particular issue, we know it’s important. I generally do it, and I let my readers know that they ought to do the same. The Red-Staters are also very good about providing the information one needs to get started on these matters. Furthermore: 2) Red State is able to tell us which races around the country are going to give the conservative/libertarian/reformist/anti-corruption movement the best bang for its buck, so if the time is not yet right to “finish off” a corrupt, left-leaning, or too-passive public figure in your own local or statewide race, there are races around the country that will be able to use any money you can spare to keep the dream alive. Once that first incursion fails next year (2010), we’ll be able to help the movement spread to the tougher regions, states, and counties.

By 2012 we will have the experience we need to take the White House back without leaving the road there to the “expert navigators” in the GOP’s establishment leaders–or, should they be unable to handle the required change, do That Thing I Do Not Want to Discuss (engage in third-party politics).

* I know I’m missing one or two sponsors; would someone please cluebat me, so I can update the post appropriately?