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Did the Leftist Blogosphere actually help Obama?

Submitted by aberman on Tue, 12/02/2008 - 09:59

Yes, this is in somewhat of a contrarian vein.  But take a look at the facts:

1)  That a Democrat would win an election with a Republican brand in shambles, recession, financial market collapse, and sky-high oil prices, can't be considered a surprise.

2) That a young African-American would increase voter turnout amongst young and African-American voters can't be considered a surprise, either.

3) Yeah, Obama raised a lot of money.  But he had a terrific organization and a perfect environment for Democrats..  How much money was the DailyKos really responsible for?

4) Obama's staffing choices suggest a center-left coalition-- and we're still waiting for the left part of that coalition to show up in cabinet appointments.

So really, aside from forcing Democratic Primary candidates to genuflect towards them, hurting them in the general elections, just what is it that the Kossacks  and the MoveOn Morons achieved?

 

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Now BHO is not a Marxist-Leninist?

Submitted by johnson springs on Tue, 12/02/2008 - 12:04.

I agree that the radical, far-left socialist Obama is essentially the product of over-zealous talking points and over-heated imaginations. My sense is he's more a Chicago-style ward healer/heeler who is going to govern by building consensus when he can and playing politics when he can't. His stated intention to preserve and grow Bush's faith-based initiative is a case in point; peel away some fraction of social conservative leaders, organizations and causes in exchange for taxpayer dollars. At the same time, he'll temper the corruption inherent in machine politics with big government programs aimed at continuing to build a long-lasting Democratic majority.

That said, there tends to be a focus on Obama's victory as if it happened in isolation.

So really, aside from forcing Democratic Primary candidates to genuflect towards them, hurting them in the general elections, just what is it that the Kossacks  and the MoveOn Morons achieved?

My recollection may be a little fuzzy (it all happened so long ago) but didn't the Democratic Party make solid gains in the House and Senate, statehouses and state legislatures in 2006 and 2008? How were Dem candidates hurt in the general? Do you think they would have done even better if the netroots didn't exist? That's an interesting and somewhat frightening suggestion.

Honestly, I think we often apply the similar excesses to describe the netroots as we have with Obama. We put on our Bill O'Reilly glasses and suddenly everyone on the left is a "far left radical extreme socialist/communist fringe what have you". But my take is we shouldn't fear a Stalinist police state emerging from the fever swamps of the left. We should fear the gentle embrace of a soft-edged, post-partisan machine politics powered by federal tax receipts.

you sound like you've got your head screwed on straight

Submitted by RisingTide on Tue, 12/02/2008 - 12:16.

now which Democratic constituency do you want? ;-)

Strategy says you can't win with the Republican pieces, so you need a Democratic one or two.