Warner Todd Huston
January 28, 2006
Leftist blogs indicate intraparty rift? Well, duh!
By Warner Todd Huston

Jimmy VandeHei is a quick study. In an Op Ed in the Washington Post this Saturday (Blogs Attack From Left) he has reached the astonishing conclusion that "liberal Web logs" and the Internet have become "a powerful political force" with the Democratic Party these days.

Where has Mr. VandeHei been?

Here is the laugh line from VandeHei's Op Ed:

"Democrats are getting an early glimpse of an intraparty rift that could complicate efforts to win back the White House: fiery liberals raising their voices on Web sites and in interest groups vs. elected officials trying to appeal to a much broader audience."

"Getting an early glimpse"? "Could complicate efforts"? Where was he when the Democratic Underground or the DailyKos was pushing Democrats to attack Bush and Republicans two elections ago? Is he just now noticing that Blogs are a political force?

To be fair, he does give a relatively correct little history of the last two elections cycles and the influence that leftist Bloggers have had on the ideological underpinnings of Democratic strategy. But it is just silly to try and makes it seem as if this is suddenly all new when it has been going on since 2001.

But VandeHei is missing the real truth of the matter where it concerns today's Democratic Party with his emphasis on Blogging. He seems to think that only the "liberal Web logs" are off the deep end politically, missing the fact that it is the very leadership of the Party itself that is to the extreme left of center. With this misconception, Mr. VandeHei shares the tin ear so common with many political commentators and journalists.

"Liberal Web logs" are not the sole driving force behind the current lunge to the extreme left that the Democrats are currently engaging in. It is but the culmination of the leftward drive that was started when the Democratic Party put forth George McGovern as their presidential candidate in 1972 rather than a contemporary impulse driven by the sudden appearance of "liberal Web logs." Perhaps this extremism appeared even earlier as Democrats ramped up to attack Barry Goldwater in 1964. (Remember the infamous daisy advertisement?)

VandeHei mentions that Kerry has bowed to the pressure of these "liberal Web logs" with his attempt to filibuster Alito but it is hard to assume that this is the case as Kerry has been making noise filled with leftist ideology for decades. And VandeHei fails to take notice of all the other supposedly mainstream leaders in the Democratic Party — many that are political power players, and not just back benchers — who are just as off the edge of reality as are those Bloggers he seems to be warning us all about. (And belatedly warning I might add)

Representative John Murtha isn't suddenly glomming onto "liberal Web logs" and their ideas with his obscene opposition to the war. Neither has Chuck Schumer been lately driven left by Bloggers. Ditto for Senator Boxer's ridiculous left leaning, or Al Gore's wild-eyed ranting, or Dick Durbin's hate filled attacks. These people, and so many like them, are considered mainstream liberals and have been the same, extreme leftists for decades.

These extremists have become the soul of the Democratic Party and have years ago created that "intraparty rift" that VandeHei has just noticed. Real center left Democrats are being driven from the Party in droves to be scooped up by eager GOP candidates and this started decades ago, long before the Internet and the DailyKos come on the scene to further alienate them.

These harsh leftists on the Internet are merely the logical result of the leftward drive that the Democratic Party has been engaged in for a long, long time. It really is the natural result of the kind of no-holds-barred political brawling that the far left has sponsored since their attacks on Goldwater that these leftist Bloggers have ended up calling their own side "flaccid" and filled with "gutless sellouts." The ever escalating hatred spoon fed to leftists as they get further involved in the political process has been inevitably turned upon their own. As each step left is taken, more is wanted. And, as their efforts meet with repeated failure among real Americans and end up on the ash heap of failed political policy, they get frustrated and push for even more extreme views. After all, they certainly cannot imagine it is they, rather than everyone else, whose ideas are wrong. Like true believers they feel it must be a lack of conviction among their Party members, of course.

So, Mr. VandeHei's warning will fall on deaf ears. We are not seeing a Democratic Party only lately coming to extreme leftism because of the efforts of "liberal Web logs." It is the Bloggers who are only lately come to the game of extremism. Hard left Democrats are happy to use these Bloggers and their rhetoric to shore up their already blatant leftist tilt.

By the way, I also find it funny that VandeHei uses the clumsy and rarely used "web logs" to name what the rest of us just call "Blogs." It makes one wonder if VandeHei is trying to sound like he is a Blog outsider, not familiar with the commonly used terminology of the Blogosphere? Does he expect that this will cement his status as a real journalist because he isn't familiar enough with such language?

In any case, Jim, I would have to say that if you are just now noticing Blogs, and the extremism so pervasive in the Democratic Party you definitely have not been paying attention, my friend.

© Warner Todd Huston

 

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Warner Todd Huston

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