Kos

A survey found that 65% of Daily Kos' discussion of a recent Olbermann segment is negative.  

Last week, Fox News' Sean Hannity made an off-the-cuff offer to partake in waterboarding for charity, an announcement that MSNBC's Keith Olbermann met with his own charity offer.

"For every second you last, a thousand dollars -- live or on tape, provided other networks' cameras are there," the MSNBC anchor said. "A thousand dollars a second, Sean, because this is no game. This is serious stuff. Put your money where your mouth is, and your nose. Oh, and I'll double it when you admit you feared for your life, when you admit the horrible truth -- waterboarding, the symbol of the last administration, is torture."

Over the past few years, members of the liberal blogosphere have been among Olbermann's most ardent supporters, perhaps none more so than the diarists at Daily Kos. During every show of his the community hosts an "open thread" and Olbermann himself often blogs at the liberal site.

But the negative response the Kos community had for this Olbermann segment and others indicates a certain level of animosity is growing towards the MSNBC host. As of this writing, Olbermann's charity offer has spawned nine diary posts and nearly 1,400 comments at Daily Kos. I surveyed a sizable percentage of these comments and found that approximately 65% of the discussion of Olbermann is negative. About 30% of the comments are positive, while the remaining 5% is neutral.

"Someone should ask Olbermann why he would want to inflict any such treatment on any other living human," one commenter wrote. "And, if what he is proposing comes up short of what we did with our 'enhanced interrogation techniques' what's to be gained by giving Hannity any attention."

Much of the negative coverage followed in this vein, while Olbermann supporters said that the anchor's offer was a good idea, one that would finally teach Hannity that waterboarding constitutes torture.

"I disagree," one person wrote. "This is co-opting Hannity's stunt. I think Hannity is now in a losing position. Either he backs out, or Olbermann makes some actual good come out of Fox News."

This isn't the first indication that the Daily Kos community has soured on Olbermann. When CNBC's Jim Cramer appeared on the Daily Show -- an appearance that many considered an embarrassment to CNBC and its parent company -- the Kos community harshly criticized Olbermann for not highlighting the interview on his show. Many accused him of bowing down to alleged demands that MSNBC anchors not mention the Cramer/Stewart interview. Olbermann himself showed up in the comment threads to defend himself from these charges.

But if this is a sign that the Kossacks have turned on Olbermann, who will take his place in the cable news lineup as the liberal blogosphere's darling? Both Rachel Maddow and (ironically) FNC's Sheppard Smith have been getting favorable coverage from Daily Kos in recent months. Might one of them become the blog's newest champion?

Simon Owens is a media journalist and social media consultant. Email him at simon.bloggasm@gmail.com or read more of his writing at his blog

Next Right diarist Warner Todd Huston challenges the Kos claim that the Leftosphere is "firmly on the mainstream on just about every major issue facing our country".  Huston is skeptical.

I'm not so sure that Kos is wrong, though.  There are two evaluation problems here:

• "Mainstream" does not necessarily mean "majority", so what is the popular support percentage required to make a position mainstream?   
• Polls suggest that 70% of Americans support Issue X.  Other polls suggest that 70% of Americans oppose Issue X.  Polls show state preference - but they are a poor proxy for revealed preference.

Bearing those problems in mind, is Kos actually wrong?   I don't see it.  Among the top national issues today, polls show that...

• Majorities prefer universal health care.
• Majorities think oppose the war in Iraq and want to get out very soon.
• Majorities believe anthropogenic global warming is occurring.

 I'm sure there are more granular and specific items on which positions are reversed and they are in the minority, as well.  But we're generally talking a sizable minority, not a small minority.   The public "trust" for Republicans has eroded even on core issues like taxes and foreign policy. 

All that to say, while their reputation as bitter partisans and bomb-throwers is well-deserved, I'm not sure that they are actually outside the mainstream of American politics.   And if that's true, then it is a reality we need to acknowledge and address. 

So, make the case.  Are Kos and the leaders of the Leftosphere outside the mainstream of Americans politics?   If so, on what general major issues are they outside the mainstream?

UPDATE

Sean Oxendine makes an interesting point in the comments:

[their reputation as bitter partisans and bomb-throwers is] why they are outside of the mainstream.  Sure you can point to support for many of their public policy platforms (though on things like FISA, impeachment, etc, I'm not sure that you can).  For that matter, I can point to support for many of the public policy platforms of the Communist Party or the Constitution Party.  That doesn't place those groups within the mainstream.  It's a stylistic difference and the degree to which they are willing to take otherwise-popular positions.

Style is also one of the major differences between the Progressive Netroots and the Democratic Party establishment.   The Progressives want what Matt Stoller once described as "someone who would be with you in a political bar fight."   They want a Fighting Progressive.   

I understand that desire, but I'm not sure how an assertive, aggressive liberal plays with a public that, while often operationally liberal, is still often philosophically conservative/libertarian.   When Democrats make the tangible costs of their policies so visible, the public is more likely to teach them the difference between stated preference and revealed preference.

Today on DailyKos, well....you have to go see this one for yourself...

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/6/5/115643/8150/700/530192

Good grief....

Remember this about Mccains teeth. They were all knocked out by the North Vietnamese that were torturing him while being held captive in Vietnam.

it really is delicious to see the Moonbats , and one of their precious leaders no less, leaving a curtain open to witness for ourselves how the mind of a Libaloon operates.