Who's "we," paleface?

An interesting piece of weekend reading: the spat between The New Republic (Clintonian "New Democrat" bible and "liberal hawk" iconoclast) and the denizens of the Daily Kos (the world's most popular "liberal" blog site).

It all started when TNR writer Jason Zengerle launched a broadside against Kos and its ilk, taunting them for emphasizing "winnerism" but backing no winners.

Kos, as it happens, is part of the so-called "liberal blogosphere" (sometimes known as "netroots") that largely grew out of Howard Dean's 2004 presidential bid. Supported by blog sites like Kos and Eschaton, the movement tries to swing political races through blog power and internet fundraising, usually in favor of "dark horse" or "outsider" liberal candidates against Republicans and mainstream "establishment" Democrats.

Zengerle pointed out that netroots candidates, such as Dean, Paul Hackett, and Ciro Rodriguez, have a win record of precisely zero. He later wrote that "the [liberal] blogosphere's involvement in the [Rodriguez] race was indicative of the scattershot, emotional, sometimes almost counterproductive approach it takes to politics."

Then Kos returned fire. Citing TNR's declining circulation as evidence that the "New Democrat" movement is crumbling, Kos (who wisely shortened his name from Markos Moulitsas Zuniga) stated that the objective of netroots is not victory in the short term for anyone who wears the Democrat label, but long-term victory for candidates who uphold purer principles.

Says Kos:

Backing the underdog means you will lose more often than not. Backing outside-the-establishment candidates mean we have to build momentum over time. Good thing for the modern conservative movement that they didn't pack it in after Barry Goldwater got crushed. They knew they were in it for the long haul, unlike the bitter, obsolete crew over at New Republic, cursing that newfangled people-powered media that has stripped them of whatever ill-gotten influence they used to wield.

Adds a Kos reader: "I would like to reduce the size of TNR so that it can be drowned in a bathtub."

Ouch.

Zengerle fires back weakly here (and even more weakly here), but the fight is finished. Kos has him with the circulation argument. No matter how many races Kos and the netroots lose, TNR and its rationalist/centrist movement are losing the Democratic party. Riding a wave of anti-Bush rage, Kos, Howard Dean, and the revanche Democrats have seized the initiative.

My only question is: Initiative to do what, exactly? Kos talks about "we," and I assume he means the liberal blogosphere/netroots. But how united are these people? What do they support, exactly? A thorough search of Kos reveals very few policy crusades (nothing, for example, to counter conservatives' rallying cries of "lower taxes" and "ban abortion"), just a lot of centrist-bashing, Republican-bashing, and Bush-bashing. How do we know Kos is a liberal site at all? What kinds of liberal things would these people like our leaders to do?

The answer: Don't ask. Kos' most prolific blogger, Armando, ridicules the notion that "Dems need a positive agenda" as being a "GOP talking point". This elevates to the level of a religious belief the idea that Democrats should place attacking Republicans above any and all policy goals.

So, in Kos' liberal blog universe, "we" = "Democrats" (but not all Democrats), and the purpose of "us" is to win more victories for "us." And if anyone tries to stand up and ask exactly what "we" stand for, that person is a Republican collaborator ("them"). Have I got it about right?