TWIB Notes

Up until the NSA story exploded the blogosphere was dominated by the Richard Cohen-lefty blog blood feud and reactions to it. The Blogometer chose not to cover the blow-by-blow action and instead takes a look at what this blogswarm says about the state of the blogosphere.

Labeling anything often betrays nuance at the expense of expediency (see this space's daily use of crude left/right distinctions) but it can also aid discussion by providing common reference points. Even as just a small subset of the blogosphere, the political blogosphere, is still huge and its varying intentions and functions are hard to describe but can be roughly broken as follows:

ATM Machine: The blogosphere has definitely made a name for itself as a vehicle to raise campaign funds. Witness ex-Pres. candidate Howard Dean's fundraising prowess. The right is not completely absent from this field but it is definitely dominated by the left (see ActBlue)

Citizen Journalist: Pretty much every blog includes the first hand observations of its author/s and more and more of them are devoting significant resources to original coverage of events (see TPM Muckraker). Both sides also have great resources for staying abreast of campaign news (see MyDD and Swing State Project on the left and RedState on the right).

Traffic Cop: Right and left are quick to call foul when the MSM makes an error, or, in the minds of a blogger, does not cover a certain story or give it enough attention. The right was able to bring down a major news anchor (Dan Rather) and the left outed Jeff Gannon and got Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell to correct an misstatement. It could also be argued that in the same traffic-cop vein the righty blogosphere played signifcant roles in the demotion of Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) and the removal of WH/Counsel Harriet Miers' nomination for SCOTUS. The left is currently trying to flex a similar muscle by ousting Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT).

Evangelist: Kos admits that he is more concerned with winning elections than with policy discussions but their are plenty of bloggers that engage in well reasoned rational debate on a daily basis. On the left Talking Points Memo, The Political Animal, TAPPED, and The Huffington Post all feature mature, obscenity free policy discussion on a daily basis. Instapundit, Captain's Quarters, Andrew Sullivan, and the Corner do the same on the right. Their are many smaller blogs I am leaving out, but the beauty of the blogosphere is the plethora of voices it supports and the way it can elevate any one voice that hits upon a particularly insightful idea. More importantly of all the roles blogs play this one is the most likely to persuade and influence the behavior of those that don't already agree with you.

The Richard Cohen/Stephen Colbert debacle mostly fits under the traffic cop label but before we get to that debate let's focus on an exchange between TNR contributor and Lieberman-agnostic Jonathan Chait and kos. Writing about his qualms in supporting businessman Ned Lamont's primary challenge Chait described lefty bloggers as "the sorts of fanatics who tore the party apart in the late 1960s and early '70s." Kos took umbrage and responded: "Okay, the part about us being "extremists" blah blah blah is obvious crap."

Obvious to whom? Kos' readers probably think Chait's description of lefty blogges as "extremist" is obviously "crap", but who else would? If kos stepped outside his house and grabbed somebody off of Telegraph Ave. that person would probably also find Chait obviously wrong. But as great as the Bay Area is (if I could live anywhere it would be there), it comes no where close to representing the rest of the country. So who else would consider kos so obviously right? Righty bloggers definitely think lefty bloggers are extremists. The 62M Americans who voted for Pres. Bush in 2004 would almost certainly agree. What about independents? What about journalists, who as a group, self identify as Dems more often than most Americas do?

This is where the bloggers role as traffic cop can torpedo their role as evangelist. Ideologically Cohen ought to be sympathetic to lefty blogger causes. Despite what lefty bloggers say, no objective person would ever conclude that Richard Cohen is a supporter of Pres. Bush. In fact I'd be willing to bet he voted against Bush twice. In trying to play traffic cop the lefty bloggers completely alienated a potential convert...and many others.

But don't take my word for it. Lefty Mahablog writes: "We might, however, want to take Cohen's charge a little more seriously. Beltway insider conventional wisdom already says that we netroots lefties are nothing but radical malcontents, and that close association with us is a political liability. Not exactly the effect we want to go for, I think. ...I get angry, too. But I think it's possible that this angry left meme, as unfair as it is, could hurt us. (Since when is swift-boating fair?) And, as I argued here, displays of anger are counterproductive to persuasion. Cohen is right about the antiwar wing of the Democratic Party helping to elect Richard Nixon. I remember it well."

And let's say that kos succeeds and Lamont wins the Dem primary. What if Lieberman then runs as an independent and trounces Lamont in the general with support from independents and moderate GOPers. Kos will have selected a Dem nominee with an army of supporters that agree Chait is obviously wrong about them...but they will also be obviously out of power.