This article at NY Mag makes a good companion piece to Marc Danziger’s column and to the story about Joe Lieberman filing to run as a petitioning candidate.
The sudden Democratic obeisance to the Netroots fills many in the party’s centrist cadres with despair bordering on panic–for they see the likes of Stoller and Moulitsas as “McGovernites with modems,” in the choice phrase of Marshall Wittman, a Republican apostate now ensconced at the Democratic Leadership Council. More than a few leading GOP lights agree, happily foreseeing the liberal bloggers’ leading the opposition down (okay, further down) the primrose path into lefty irrelevance. As Newt Gingrich put it bluntly in Newsweek, “I think the Republican Party has few allies more effective than the Daily Kos.”
Read it all.
I think the DNC is more harmful than the Daily Kos to the Democratic Party. Unsurprisingly a bunch of young political activists hold far-left opinions. There has always been a far-left in American politics, and the internet has just given them a megaphone. Rather than praise their energy and idealism while continuing to advocate for whatever sort of watered-down centrism they think will win an election, though, The Party allows itself to be divided. Imagine if the media gave cause for moderate Republicans to be as concerned about their shared ideological interests with Coulter and Savage as Hillary Clinton with the DU/DKos.
In case you’ve missed it, Republicans have been called on to “apologize” for statements by guys like Falwell on a regular basis, so it’s not like the media DOESN’T do it.
And an echo chamber is a bad idea and leads to even worse policy.
And, as a blogger wrote, if Lamont DOESN’T win, it could effectively kill Kos’ dream of being a king-maker. God knows his record thus far is exceptionally terrible.
-=Mike
Well, Kos did score a half win in this year’s primaries, when the kook-lefty candidate for Senate won the nomination in Montana. He may have been the only one that Burns could beat, though.
In general elections, Kos has yet to pick a winner.
Which shows America isn’t ready to go completely insane just yet . . .
Adjoran: “In general elections, Kos has yet to pick a winner.”
0 for 20, I believe. And KOS et. al. continue to believe that failure rises from not being left enough, which makes one wonder whose disconnect is most serious, the DLC’s, the old “mainline” Dem politicos, or “screw them” KOS Kidz.
It sounds like co-enabling disconnects to me. The more shrill KOS gets the more fearful the mainliners become, the more defensive and cloaked the DLC goes, and, well, the more Howard Dean spouts bile, venom, illogic, and whatever the far left wants to hear.
“the more Howard Dean spouts bile, venom, illogic, and whatever the far left wants to hear.”
Gerry – please back up your statement and list 3 proposals Dean has had that are “far left.”
Put up!
Also, very easy to attack a website that endorses candidates. Right-wing websites simply don’t endorse at all. There is no comparison. Based on Wizbang’s error rate in their stories, I’d say they would be right up there with Kos on endorsements.
And I suppose if you don’t count the Obama endorsement, he has lost. A lot. Fuzzy math though!
Hey, Lorie … would you mind collating a list of weak Republican senators? Maybe if we pass it along to the Kosettes they’ll go do something mildly effective.
–|PW|–
This statement perfectly summarizes the far left mentality of Howard Dean: Bill of Rights for terrorists, but none for fellow American Tom Delay who was attacked by a corrupt Democrat prosecutor. So typical of the far left (no respect for the constitution of the US).
http://polipundit.com/index.php?p=7711
I knew that we would benefit by having Howard Dean at the helm of the Donkey Party.
This week:
“I think Tom DeLay ought to go back to Houston where he can serve his jail sentence.”
Last year:
“I’ve resisted pronouncing a sentence before guilt is found…I still have this old-fashioned notion that even with people like Osama, who is very likely to be found guilty, we should do our best not to, in positions of executive power, not to prejudge jury trials.”
So there you have it. DeLay MUST be guilty. Osama, well, possibly not.
Go back and read, jp2.
He said that Dean has said things the far left wants to hear, not things that are far left policy.
Things like lending credence to the notion that President Bush may have known about 9/11 before hand and let it happen anyway.
That the traditional definition of families being composed of a mother, father and children is outdated and bigoted.
Stating on national TV that Karl Rove is guilty of perjury, despite the grand jury passing on charges
He said that BUsh was spying on Americans ala Nixon and Agnew
UNder no circumstance allow school choice
Supports the “global test” and allowing the UN to deal with Iraq
Raise minimum wage (national) to $7
Says neo-cons endanger the world
Wants to reverse Bush tax cuts
Supports the Bush lied meme
Now, you may agree or disagree with Dean on these issues. But they are what many on the far left want to hear.
I really wouldn’t consider any of those “far left” at all. I think most of those are mainstream beliefs. Actually, the only data to use under these circumstances (polls) confirms it!
Most people believe Bush is not honest.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/PollVault/story?id=1278080
Most feel that invading Iraq was a mistake and that is has raised the amount of terror in the
world.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1011-24.htm
(Yes Common Dreams, but an AP article w/ polls)
Most people don’t like Bush on taxes:
http://www.pollingreport.com/budget.htm
Most people favor a raise in the minimum wage.
http://www.pollingreport.com/workplay.htm
Most people think Bush’s program invades privacy too much.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12771821/site/newsweek/
News flash! The traditional American family is outdated. Did you know that in 2000, only 24% of families were considered traditional? That 1/3 of young people will have a step-family?
http://www.magazine.ucla.edu/features/american-family/
I know everyone lives in their own world, but it’s becoming more and more evident that the right-wing, in general, is out of the mainstream with American values. Perhaps Wizbang and it’s readers will realize that soon. Let it swirl around for a while. I’m not going to go through every point you listed – but clearly you are mistaken that it is just the “far left” that believes in these policies/ideas.
Again – Dean has been in government for at least a decade right? Can you name at least 3 policies of his that are “far left?” Seriously – try.
Maybe they will get to it, but I responded with a very nice piece chock full of polling data SCSI. The point of it was that most of your points listed above are in-line with most Americans.
Seems they have taken a liking to censoring me. Not the guys who advocate killing and murdering people (liberals of course – so it’s okay) on this site, but good old jp2.
Which points, jp2?
And what was the source of the polling data?
If you put too many links in your post, it will be held until somebody verfifies you aren’t a comment spammer.
But don’t let that detail keep you off that cross.
Wow. Common dreams.
Pollingreport
UCLA
No, no agenda to be found there…
And Newsweek, home of the toliet Koran riots. There may be some integrity left over there, but when they are the lighthouse in your fog, you’re pretty far out to sea, skipper.
SCSI, exactly which news organizations
can be cited as credible sources on right-wing blogs? I’m starting to think that there is a check list with every media organization on it; and once one of their reporters or editors admits that Americans think Bush is a failure (as a majority do), they put a check mark beside them so they can tell which ones to ignore in the future.
Look at the polls and try to find errors in their methodologies. If they don’t disclose this information, that’s bad, and you should say so. However, if they used a sound methodology, who cares if it’s Noam Chomsky giving you the information? It shouldn’t be this easy to write off empirical arguments, but when the data don’t fit your presuppositions…
A very dissapointing response SCSI. I won’t try to use logic with you again.
let me know when you try the first time.
TM
Pollingreport and CommonDreams are not news sources.
Yes, yes. I know. W is the most unpopular person in the history of the world and yet you have to go back almost 30 years to the last time he lost an election. Amazing, aint it. I would have thought that when he “lost” the 2004 elections according to the polls but won where it counts – you know- like- at the -like- ballot box, some of our friends from the loony left might have learned something. But, no, they just keep looking at polls and claiming victory, while the GOP keeps running the whole thing.
It seems to me that history has often vindicated those leaders who “stay the course” and do not succumb to the temptation to win popularity contests. The tendency to rely on polling data, which is always fickle, question format sensitive, and represents those of us with a television sitcom attention span, is a Democratic Achilles’ heel.
The ability to have a vision and see it though is one Bush shares with the likes of Ronald Reagan and Winston Churchill. Star Wars defense system? How many of us are thankful that this system is almost complete? Hitler a menace? Thank goodness Sir Winston stayed the course. These men were also mocked and villified in their time…yet history proved them right!
While the Democrats pander to the far left for the sake of primary wins, they too know that the course GW Bush is taking is necessary while it is painful and full of travails. The are simply exploiting this difficult process. If elected, they will most likely tell us how much they want to change course, but that they can’t because of Republican mistakes. Even they are not stupid enough to retreat in the face of this danger. To do so would ensure our decline as a world power and guarantee assaults on the homeland.
Of course, any true leader knows that decision-making is a lonely exercise and not for those who would cower when the going gets tough. God help us if the likes of Howard Dean get national power!