Generic Liberals

The press likes to say that liberal blogger activists (I hate the word "Netroots") are a bunch of wild-eyed loonies who are obsessed with the Iraq War and are driving the Democratic Party into a ditch.

The blogger activists think that they are a relatively non-ideological grass-roots group who are putting some much needed spine and organizational capacity into the Democratic Party.

So who's right?

According to research by Scott Winship, the "Netroots" (shudder) are extremely liberal, more committed to liberalism than the Democratic Party per se, and are generally motivated by opposition to the Iraq War and support for populist politics. Winship is concerned that these activists don't realize that a candidate as liberal as they has little chance to win the Presidency.

I'm not as concerned by these results as Winship. From my point of view, the populist politics fits in nicely with the need to build a new activist base for the party - it's kind of inevitable, actually. I also think that populist politics, properly constructed, can be successful politically.

As for the Iraq War litmus test, I don't see it. The bloggers fell in behind John Kerry, who voted for the war. There are many of them who now like Edwards, who supported the war. And by the way, the blogger activists were right in opposing the war. The American people are moving steadily into the anti-war camp, as is the Democratic Party. This doesn't sound like irrational ideology to me. It sounds more like good judgment.

At the end of the day, I think that the blogger activists are generic liberals who have a commitment to liberalism overall, rather than any one subset of liberalism (abortion rights, the environment, labor, etc.). They are people who want to use the Democratic party as a vehicle for advancing that liberalism by direct participation in the party. They support their preferred candidates in the primary, while always backing the eventual nominee enthusiastically whether that candidate was their favorite or not. Hillary is very unpopular on the internet, but if she gets the nomination, they will become her most ardent defenders.

All of these are only good things. For years the Democratic Party has been splintered by interest group loyalties, governed from the top down, and with an aging activist base. Kos and his buddies are trying to change that, and all I have to say is: good for them.