Interesting Peter Daou post on blogging

[whometense]

THE TRIANGLE: Limits of Blog Power

A very interesting read. I'm just quoting the Kerry-pertinent section here.

http://daoureport.salon.com/synopsis.aspx?synopsisId=147a2536-4de0-4716-9cc0-6c681e095ffd

The second obstacle, and the more serious one, was the unwillingness of Democratic strategists to heed BC04 campaign manager Ken Mehlman’s prediction that the party that dominated the Internet would win the election. I had faith in the collective wisdom of the netroots – I believed that if the Kerry campaign truly internalized the confrontational disposition of the netroots, Kerry would win, just as I knew that if Bush channeled the fire of the rightwing blogs, Kerry could lose. And I made my case as forcefully as I could. Many in the campaign understood the new political reality, including John Kerry himself, who was very attentive to what bloggers were saying. But the natural antagonism of the old guard toward the new was an institutional problem and the marginalization of the netroots as a communications force, as well as the hyper-focus on Internet fundraising, hindered the online-offline alliance.

<snip>

Whereas rightwing bloggers can rely on their leadership and the rightwing noise machine to build the triangle, left-leaning bloggers face the challenge of a mass media consumed by the shop-worn narrative of Bush the popular, plain-spoken leader, and a Democratic Party incapacitated (for the most part) by the focus-grouped fear of turning off "swing voters" by attacking Bush. For the progressive netroots, the past half-decade has been a Sisyphean loop of scandal after scandal melting away as the media and party establishment remain disengaged.


It would seem reasonable to conclude, then, that the best strategy for the progressive netroots is to go after the media and Democratic Party leaders and spend less time and energy attacking the Bush administration. If the netroots alone can’t change the political landscape without the participation of the media and Democratic establishment, then there’s no point wasting precious online space blasting away at Republicans while the other sides of the triangle stand idly by. Indeed, blog powerhouses like Kos and Josh Marshall have taken an aggressive stance toward Democratic politicians they see as selling out core Democratic Party principles. Kos’s willingness to attack the DLC is mocked on the right, but it is precisely the right’s fear that Kos will “close the triangle” that causes them to protest so loudly. Similarly, when Atrios, Digby, Oliver Willis, and so many other progressive bloggers attack the media, they are leveraging whatever power they have to compel the media to assume a role as the third side of their triangle.

[TayTay]

1. I just saw this and was going to post

Wow! Maybe someone from the PAC or something does read here. Oh dear. :hide:

Ahm, you know that was intended as satire, right?

[sandnsea]

2. Progressive Blogger

Operative words. Perhaps Pete still doesn't get that we can't win with only progressives. I wouldn't have thought that to be the case, but maybe it is. It's like that election report I just posted. My gut instinct is that every "progressive blogger" will rip it apart because it doesn't go far enough. Based on media reports. And if a mainstream Democrat points to the aspects that we can build on, they'll be called a sell-out. That's how I see the "progressive bloggers" operating and that's why I think they're the ones that have to change first. Then, if the Liebermans start to capitulate, at least the "progressive bloggers" can show that they did more than just whine and bash.