Meet the New Bosses
After crashing the gate of the political establishment, bloggers are looking more like the next gatekeepers.
Last June, Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, former soldier, one-time Reagan Republican, and proprietor of the wildly successful liberal blog Daily Kos, sent an email to an invitation-only listserv known as Townhouse. Consisting of some 300 liberal bloggers, journalists, activists, and consultants, the list was an outgrowth of weekly strategy sessions held at a D.C. bar—a forum for brainstorming on issues and tactics, and a means of creating a "unified message," as Moulitsas later put it. Its members were bound by one main rule: Nothing from the list was to be quoted or distributed, which, this being politics, meant that a leak was bound to happen.
In the message that would end up putting Townhouse, briefly, on the outside world's radar, Moulitsas asked list members to "ignore" a blog item by the New York Times' Chris Suellentrop that revealed that Jerome Armstrong—founder of the popular liberal blog MyDD and a close friend and business associate of Moulitsas—had once been implicated in a stock-touting scheme. Suellentrop noted parallels between stock-hyping and bloggers' touting of candidates such as Howard Dean, who had hired both Armstrong and Moulitsas as consultants during his 2004 presidential campaign. Moulitsas, who had recently coauthored the book Crashing the Gate with Armstrong, told Townhouse members that these revelations were "a nonstory." "So far," he wrote, "this story isn't making the jump to the traditional media, and we shouldn't do anything to help make that happen." He urged participants to "starve it of oxygen."
When The New Republic's Jason Zengerle blogged about the Townhouse email, "The Kos" urged readers to cancel their subscriptions, writing, "It is now beyond clear that the dying New Republic is mortally wounded and cornered, desperate for relevance. It has lost half its circulation since the blogs arrived on the scene and they no longer (thank heavens!) have a monopoly on progressive punditry. We have hit their bottom line, we are hitting their patron saint hard (Joe Lieberman) and this is how they respond. By going after the entire movement." Many of Moulitsas' followers—Kossacks, they call themselves—then filled Zengerle's inbox with all manner of invective.
The irony is this: Moulitsas' reaction echoes the very control-the-message philosophy the blogosphere once rose up to fight. Indeed, challenging the methods of an entrenched political elite was the subject of Crashing the Gate.
MoveOn Keeps Moving On
Michael Cornfield, Political Scientist, Tech Consultant
MoveOn has somehow found a way to continuously wield power. To me, they remain the most fascinating players online, far more than the presidential candidates.
David All, Republican Tech Consultant
Did you listen to the MoveOn town hall last night? I mean, that thing was awesome—a perfect use of technology. We have nothing on the right that compares to that.
Phil de Vellis, "Hillary 1984" Creator
How many people listened to that thing? 40,000? 80,000? Which is fantastic. But to win an election, you need hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, depending on the state.
Eli Pariser, MoveOn Director
If you ask any MoveOn member, they say this is an easy way to stay connected to politics in five minutes a month. And that's part of the service we provide. We find those people and move them and give them ways to go deeper. That's not a socioeconomic thing.
Chris Rabb, Afro-Netizen.com
MoveOn is incredibly popular, but I've never met an active black person in MoveOn.
Today, top liberal bloggers have become an elite in their own right—one that is increasingly part of the political hierarchy. They've joined campaigns and drummed up lucrative consulting work. One, Swing State Project contributor Tim Tagaris, was tapped by the Democratic National Committee to head up its Internet outreach efforts, went on to work on Ned Lamont's Senate campaign, and is now a member of Senator Chris Dodd's campaign staff. Berkeley-based Moulitsas is in regular communication with Democratic leadership aides, and, on occasion, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid himself, according to the Washington Monthly. "Politicians court big bloggers now," says a national political reporter who wished to remain anonymous for fear of blogger wrath. "They have dinner with them. They have lunch with them. They stroke them in the hopes of getting favorable things written about them and harnessing that energy." Some politicians probably prefer holding court with bloggers rather than old-school pundits, says Michael Turk, the e-campaign director for the Bush/Cheney '04 campaign and, later, the Republican National Committee. "They say, 'Here's a way to make people who think like us echo our comments.'"
Almost as soon as the netroots arose, so did the questions—about conflicts of interest, motivation, and disclosure. After the 2004 election, Zephyr Teachout, who with her colleagues at the Dean campaign was widely credited with creating a new model of Internet outreach, noted on her blog that the campaign had retained Moulitsas and Armstrong "largely in order to ensure that they said positive things about Dean." (Dean's campaign manager, Joe Trippi, has disputed Teachout's characterization, as has the campaign's director of Internet communications, Mathew Gross.)
As it turned out, Armstrong took a hiatus from blogging during the campaign, and Moulitsas put a disclaimer on his blog's masthead disclosing his relationship with Dean, urging readers to "take what I write with the proper grain of salt." But by then, Moulitsas and Armstrong had formed a consulting firm (since disbanded), whose clients, aside from Dean, they refused to name. And in the end, whether the conflicts of interest were real or perceived didn't matter: In politics, as in journalism—the two worlds the blogosphere straddles—it's often the appearance of taint that counts. "I don't trust the framing of anyone who is regularly writing and speaking about people they are taking money from," as Teachout put it.
The 2006 midterms saw a new wave of bloggers sign on to campaigns. Among many others, Lowell Feld and Abraham Chernilla (Raising Kaine) went to work for James Webb; Jon Henke (QandO) became the netroots coordinator for Webb's opponent, George Allen; Matt Singer (Left in the West) worked for Jon Tester's Senate campaign; and Aldon Hynes (Orient Lodge) and Tim Tagaris were on Lamont's payroll. On Election Day, Senate Majority Leader-to-be Harry Reid saluted Daily Kos readers in a video message: "In the past five months, you have donated countless hours exposing Republicans and volunteering for Democratic candidates," he said. (The Kos community had also raised more than $1.5 million for Democratic candidates through the fundraising site ActBlue.) "Without the netroots, Democrats would not be in the position we are in today," Reid added. "It is as simple as that."
"It's a very conscious effort to build a power structure," says Gross, the former Dean staffer who's now advising John Edwards. "These are people who are not just blogging, but who are thinking very sophisticatedly about what the Republicans did for 20 years to get to the point of being able to dominate the cultural discourse."
In many ways, says Gross, "it's the oldest story in the book. The establishment sort of loses its bearings, loses its compass, and from the bottom people come up, get involved, and make their way into the centers of power." He laughed. "Then in 20 years someone's going to come along and lop off all our heads."
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What are you laughing about, Gross? That's exactly what's going to happen. The net is unlimited so as soon as you become truly sold out and sans ethics another blog will come along and expose your bull[deleted]. After 20 years of the Republican party we are going to be in no mood to tolerate your greed and willingness to go along with the corporate mantra.
I think that the angle of
I think that the angle of the danlge is inversly proportional to the heat of the beat.
I assume you mean dangle?
I assume you mean dangle? lol.. That was great in beavis and butthead lol.
I will not read any of Daily Kos blogs ever again. So let it be said, so let it be read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This article is about 3 years too late. What the F is with you "big name alternatives" to the "big name liberals" anyway?
Jesus F'in Kroyste. I was complaining about this nonsense of gate-keeping and hypocrisy 3 years ago, getting booted off Daily Kos 3 years ago blah blah blah.
Well at least you "broke" the story before 2010.
What I see here is a continued conflict between left/right,conservation/liberal,Republican/Democrat. Has it occured to anyone that there are forces controling both sides of the equation. It's the classic thesis/antithesis/synthesis. It's been going on for quite some time now. The puppeteer controls both sides for a guaranteed control of the equation. Duh
"Moulitsas' reaction echoes the very control-the-message philosophy the blogosphere once rose up to fight."
Horse[deleted]. First of all, "controlling the message" isn't a philosophy. It's just about organization and discipline. Grover Norquist has a weekly meeting of right wing journos, lobbyists, and other assorted hacks at which the wingnut messages and sound bites are handed out.
What's wrong with the left doing the same thing? How else are we ever going to get rid of the fascists? It's not organization and discipline that are fascistic, it's their policies. Should the US Army in WW II have done away with their command structure and soldiers' ranks, just because the Wehrmacht had the same structure and ranks? stupid...
Besides which, Moulitsas wasn't telling people to lie, as the right wing does. He's telling people it's a good idea to ignore a nonm-story. So what?
"it's often the appearance of taint that counts"
Hell yeah I second that. It ain't a party until someone shows their taint.
I third that. Very good
I third that. Very good point.
what a whinner! this is truley a non-issue. go back to the rubber stamp crowd or open your eyes to what really is happening. sorry to waste my time reading the three page non-story.
It was Drama Diva
It was Drama Diva continually expressed in scatological terms and continual violations of site rules to make sure she got the foulest language in the title of her diaries. But most of her contributions had more to do with the “Woe is Me” variety or the flat out “Look at me. Me. Me. Me. With those kinds of antics taking all the air out of a room, it becomes impossible to conduct any mature discussion concerning politics at all.
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Why no mention of the Free Republic crowd in the blog dominance game? Or is it only oppressive when a bunch of whiny, do-nothing leftists decide they have credible opinions?
Grover Norquist helped to assemble the Devil's Alliance between Big Oil, AIPAC, Right Wing Fundamentalist, Corporations and who ever else was interested in oppressing the common man. Theirs is an alliance based on mutual support of each others agenda and in turn their agendas are also supported... hence companies like Wal-mart allowing their pharmacist to refuse to sell contraceptives least their fundie partners be miffed. Fundies are the first in line to support false arguments for climate change to the cheers of their oily brethren.
Kos ain't no Grover.
His idea of alliance is to bash all of the traditional Democratic base and force them to parrot so called "Democratic" talking points which are very similar if not identical to GOP talking points...and always against their own interest. In Koslandia these people are called "Purists" and "Concerned Trolls"... ie anyone who is against support Republican Democrats.
Kos has made it his personal vendetta to rid the Democratic party of pro choice advocates (he has recently allowed abortion diaries on the front page...only because his hits are taking a dive)... I guess that Kos has never read the statistic that 60% of the Democratic party are women... those "sanctimonious women set" ( http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/6/6/1125/10793 )
If there is any good to come from this article is for once and for all that Kos stop perpetrating the fraud that he is liberal or even progressive, as he is neither. He is nothing but the talking parrot and stenographer of the DLC an organization formed exclusively to push the Democratic party to the right in line and in cahoots with the Republican party. As Kos admits himself he "jumped the shark" four years ago. My guess is when he became a fellow at NDN and organization that was created to screen and obstruct liberals from getting elected into the Democratic Party by pimping "selected" candidates to corporate Johns. Kos takes ads from Chevron then pokes a finger in the progressive eye on his front page telling the world that he actually voted for their anti energy reforms in CA... a true progressive... then recently he touted Ah-nold as the Democrats best friend... what more does this man have to do to proclaim that he is not progressive... he refuses to even call himself a Democrat, Kos say he is a Libertarian... wake up people and get a clue.
The majority of those that are still on Kos are operatives and staff members of DLC office holders... or looking for a job. Their goals on Kos is to root out and kill any progressive talk and to pump up the volume of right wing talking points. Is it any wonder that the "netroots" candidates (selected in secret with no known criteria) ended up in the Blue Dogs contingency whose first order of business upon taking office was to meet with Bush and get their orders.
It has become a farce. The the DSCC instructed the "netroots" to get behind that candidacy of Casey-(PA nutter) who had no business even uttering the word Democrat... now the DSCC is sending out tearful "calls for action" because there are not enough Senators to vote for stem cell without a veto... yet it is this very same DSCC that cleared the field in PA for Casey to run.
Kos is just a symptom of a Democratic Party beholding to everyone else but their own base. Therefore, the only blame that I can assign Kos is that he is just a mouthpiece but worse than Tony Snow because at least Snow is working for the good of his GOP base...Kos is working to the detriment of the Democratic base and for the "selected" few in leadership.
As for fund raising... Kos is now toxic.
Way...way...way... too many bait and switches on candidates that were supposedly progressive who turned out to be solidly regressive conservatives Bean, Herseth, Murphy, Salazar, Webb, Casey etc. etc.... starts to make a pattern... (after the fact true progressives that they finally came to promote are not listed)
You can fool some of the people some of the time but you can't fool all of the people all of the time... the Kos ATM is running on empty. People have to have a little trust in what you are saying for them to open their wallets...
Very late to the game. This ihas brrn rehashed over an d over again! It's a drama that people like MSOC like to believe is still current. Now she's horrified but before this recent take she was very much trying to be a big shot! The blogs have influence because somebody needed to take on the negligence of the MSM. Since they don't seem willing to criticize Bush and his administration, preferring instead to recite Karl Rove's talking points, the blogs will continue to hsve influence. Get a grip on ehy they became so important to beging with. Now that might be a story worth reading!
Mary Scott O'Connor and a few others cast themselves as victims of the evil empire. Yet it's O'Connor's own piss-poor instincts and behavior that knocked them out of any A-List. O'Connor has always been more concerned about what she perceives as her natural right to stardom than any larger goal. And when she isn't accorded full adulation, she throws fits. I've been around a few of these people in real life, and they're not reliable. Their instincts and information aren't reliable, and their motivations are suspect.
Kos and the other A-Listers aren't perfect and have made some monumental blunders. But such is life. At least their blogs offer a degree of reliability and accountability, and the motivations are clear: elect Democrats. The same can't be said for O'Connor.
In addition to the astute comments of A Nona Moose, MSOC knows absolutely of which she speaks when she says that politics is sexy and that bloggers will do anything or almost anything to get a seat at the table because she has tried almost everything resulting only in demonstrating how little she knows about politics. It was Drama Diva continually expressed in scatological terms and continual violations of site rules to make sure she got the foulest language in the title of her diaries. But most of her contributions had more to do with the “Woe is Me” variety or the flat out “Look at me. Me. Me. Me. With those kinds of antics taking all the air out of a room, it becomes impossible to conduct any mature discussion concerning politics at all. Disregard for copyrights finally did her in but she had done herself in long before the actual banning with the community.. And my point about doing anything includes the 6 or so sockpuppets she has created since her banning to continue to heckle and make mischief. Therefore anything she says about “the boyz” (she refuses to recognize the other women) with a “block” of salt.
Not a Winger
"I think that certain bloggers, the big ones, think politics is sexy," she said. "They want in, and they're getting in. They'll do anything to get in, almost. They want a seat at the table. They want to be in the inner circle of the Democratic Party."
In every venue of every human endeavor, it has always been thus. To expect that, on average, people might behave in some other way is the height of folly. It's not so much that power necessarily corrupts - 'corruption' is a pretty charged word - but that power is magnetic, strongly magnetic. If you don't like what the newly powerful are doing, it's up to you to starve them of oxygen by removing your support. If, on the other hand, they are furthering your agenda in smaller or larger ways continue to support them. It's OK to lose sight of individuals; just don't lose sight of ideas.
Bush adopted KGB methods. This sort of thing happens. It's natural. The Jews exterminate people all the time. You become your oppressor.
This is a non-story if ever there was one.! What a disappointing take for Mother Jones. It says nothing that aware people in the netroots didn't know before, and attempts to discredit bloggers because they've been successful and taken places at the table. The Democratic party has been hampered for years by inside-the-beltway "consultants" who collect huge fees and do do nothing more than give bad advice and help liberal candidates to lose. People who blog are knowledgeable, not easily herded, and perfectly capable of giving the "leaders" hell if they think the big guys (and gals) have gone astray. The blogs give a voice to those who haven't been heard by the establishment that uses them for an ATM machine. Not surprising that the establishment media - which Mother Jones seems to have joined - takes such a dim and condescending view of the blogosphere.
My goals are for a grass roots effort to demand an end to the war, eliminate campaign financing by lobbyist, and deveop a program of socialized medicine.
Hillary Clinton may be a Democrat,
but is in the pocket of the medical industry, and she voted for the war, and she appears to lean to which ever side is the most expedient. We don't need another Bush/ Cheney in the White House. Why can't people see this, and why doesn't the Democratics in the House and Senate stand up to the Republicans. They stand up and then cower down. I certainly hope Gore runs for President.
Very interesting - even the bloggers are seeking power, not just sharing information!!!
You goy think you can effect world politics. You're so stupid.
Zionism rules.
Kucinich 2008!
I stopped reading Kos when he trashed Dennis ^o^
Remember "Dictatorship of the Proletariat" is still dictatorship! THINK FOR YOURSELF. Do your own fact checks and let the truth prevail. NO side has a monopoly on truth; it has to be pieced together. But we're so much better off with the bloggers than without-don't forget that, either. Otherwise, it's FOX NEWS and nothing else. ugh.
surprised?
it is like that famous cyberspace saying: "hello my big big honey!"
Now that you've read the hype about Kos, if you really want to understand him (his stint in training with the CIA), his super-wealthy right-wing Salvadoran oligarchy family that pollutes the Jaltepeque Estuary. These truths about Kos can all be found, with copious links to government and commercial websites, at "The Truth About Kos" blog.
A lot of people are eulogizing the wonders of Kos, without ever bothering to research the "The Truth About Kos."
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