I think it's unfortunate that many in the netroots seem intent on destroying their own movement. That the preachers of "people-powered politics" don't recognize a people-powered campaign when it's right in front of them. Worse yet, when given a real choice between the Democratic establishment that we've been attempting to reform, and the new generation - too many are failing to recognize the choice.
Kid Oakland's diary outlined Barack Obama's commitment to the 50 State Strategy, building the party in places where no other Democratic Presidential candidate has been.
I live in a state where we haven't voted for a Democrat since LBJ. And, yeah, it's real easy to write off Nebraska, which I guess would explain why Bill Clinton never set foot in our state until the very last year of his second term. But when Ben Nelson was running for re-election in 2006, there was Barack Obama, speaking at a Baptist Church in heavily African American North Omaha. There he was, even then, making the argument that we can't ignore anyone. We cannot afford to write anyone off.
And yet the message is being missed. The clear choice between a candidate who speaks in "We"s and the candidate who speaks in "I"s. The candidate who speaks for change and the candidate who speaks for "experience." The candidate who opposed the war from the start and the candidate who converted shortly before she announced. The candidate for all Americans and the candidate for just the ones who voted for her.
A number of people have taken the wrong lessons from Karl Rove and the Republican Party. From decades of below-the-belt hits and dirty politics. From partisan witchhunts and a generation of Democratic political consultants who pushed the party to the right. They forget who runs the party that refused to fight back at the moments we needed it most.
The new generation of the Democratic Party saw the last twenty years and said: enough. Enough of the politics of fear. Enough of the slime, the mudslinging, and the outright lies. Enough of "swiftboating," enough of the distortions. Enough. They said: We can do better than this.
The establishment lesson from Karl Rove was quite the opposite: We can do this better.
Right now, Obama is trying to crash the gate. Right now, Clinton and the Democratic establishment are trying to slam the gate shut. Anyone who believes Hillary Clinton represents a long-term Democratic majority better take a long look at who will be running the party if she gets the nomination.