Over at Powerline, Paul picks up a piece about the extreme lefties and their powerbase
Jim VandeHei at the Washington Post reports on the attack of the angry leftist bloggers on liberal Democrats who are trying to broaden (or at least prevent further erosion of) the party’s appeal to mainstream voters. The piece includes this quote from Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic operative and lobbyist:
The bloggers and online donors represent an important resource for the party, but they are not representative of the majority you need to win elections. The trick will be to harness their energy and their money without looking like you are a captive of the activist left.
Now, Kosbat had a hissy fit (what else is new?) over this, go read it and laugh at the juvinality. It is no wonder that every politician that Markos has campaigned for has lost. But, while Elmendorf is technically correct regarding the wacko lefties not being representative of the majority you need to win elections, the bloggers and online donors are representative of the way your average lefty thinks today.
Those of us who do this blogging schtick tend to come across the moonbattery quite often. We see the lefty blogs, the DU nuttery, ACT, MoveOn, Common Dream, and so many of the other large sites. You run across humor sites that have beyond normal trashing of the President. And, as a sidebar, they all seem to be attempting to raise money for not only themselves, but for the Dem party, something you do not see all that much on the Right.
You look at the Left-o-sphere, where there aren’t that many Liberals/Progressives/Whatever’s in the top 1000. Why? Well, first, if you do not parrot Kos and the lefty line, you tend to get ignored. Second, why read someone else’s blog when it is all said at the few large ones, like Kos, AmericaBlog, Oliver Willis, etc. There is alot of diversity in the Right-o-sphere, with folks writing what they want, and people still come and read it. And the writings of the Left-o-sphere represent what seems to be the largest segment of those who voted for John Kerry.
How else to account for a really, really, really poor candidate like John Kerry doing well in the 2004 General Election? No need to go over his street creds, y’all know them. Bush hatred only goes so far. The Moonbat Wing of the Democratic Party is the one that is heard from. There are other factions, like the one that always votes Democratic, and the one who believes in Liberal principles. But the Moonbats rule. How often have you been out somewhere and heard moonbat dogma coming from the mouths of friends and strangers? Or heard one of these mouth breathers on the radio or TV as a caller? Or seen their Letters to the Editor?
And the more that these folks get their messages out, with so much of the Exempt Media helping out, the more people follow. As Democratic leaders mouth the same platitudes and moonbattery, more people follow. Elected Dems recieve petitions time and time again with hundreds of thousands to millions of signatures. In the back of their minds, they may think it is BS, but, they ignore that little voice in favor of money and being reelected.
This didn’t come about overnight. This flapping of wings movement hasn’t happened overnight. It is something that has been gaining steam since the Clinton Impeachment. At one time, the Democratic Party wasn’t beholden to Socialism and the USSR. That changed in the 40’s, but the movement gained steam in the 30’s. With the internet, they can really push their agendas.
How can one tell the difference? Legitimate Dems want to discuss policy literately. They have ideas of their own, which do not depend on "get rid of Bush" as the primary root. Conversations do not include extreme, over blown, rhetoric about what the GOP or Bush has done. Real facts are involved. Sometimes, it can be difficult.
Alot of folks in the Right-o-sphere seem to think that Kerry has no shot at getting the nomination in 2008. But, I disagree. He is exactly the kind of guy that the Moonbat Wing of the Dem Party wants. They feel that he lost because of GOP cheating, evidence to the contrary. And they are the biggest wing of the party right now.
