Kossacks On the March

The Kossacks have had it with Democrats pretending to be centrist in order to win elections. They’s going all out to push the party left. First, this piece in the Washington Post had this wisdom from a Dem lobbyist that outraged the Kossacks:

"The bloggers and online donors represent an important resource for the party, but they are not representative of the majority you need to win elections," said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic lobbyist who advised Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. "The trick will be to harness their energy and their money without looking like you are a captive of the activist left."

About which Kos wrote:

Here's notice, any Democrat associated with Elmendorf will be outed. The netroots can then decide for itself whether it wants to provide some of that energy and money to that candidate.

There's nothing "extreme left" with demanding Democrats act like Democrats, no matter how much these out-of-touch and self-important beltway insiders think it is.

A poll at Daily Kos asked, “Will you give money to an organization connected with Steve Elmendorf now?” 7% voted Yes, 93% voted “Not until Karl Rove marches in a peace protest.”

It will be interesting to see how much Kos’s threat hurts Elmendorf’s career.

Second, the Kossacks are pushing Democrat Senators to filibuster the vote on Judge Alito.

Politics, like economics is about gaining or losing at the margins. One of the fascinating things to be watching in the ’06 and ’08 elections is how the leftward push from internet activists affects swing voters. That’s if there is no economic or national security crisis. Such a crisis is the Democrats’ best hope for radically shifting opinion against the Republicans.