On November Fourth, the Netroots Should Be More Than an Afterthought

With the obvious caveat that the outcome of any election is uncertain until voters vote, it's fair to say that the triangle of media, political establishment and the online community have come together around the view that the McCain-Palin ticket has zigzagged off course, that Barack Obama has displayed tremendous discipline and steadfastness and that his election as our 44th president is at hand, an occurrence whose import will only be fully realized from the vantage point of history. It's an axiom of elections that things can change overnight, but this coalescing of opinion is devastating to McCain's prospects.

In the final days of the campaign, the netroots, whose ranks (and influence) have swelled since 2004, will redouble their efforts, working around the clock to elect Obama and expand the Democratic majority in Congress. They will attack McCain and Palin, fact-check the press and help lift Democrats to victory in races across the country. In their role as a central conduit of political information and opinion, they will calibrate, amplify, and disseminate the messages and themes that shape people's beliefs and bolster their convictions, providing the impetus for organizing, fundraising and GOTV. They will serve as the media's validator of first and last resort, confirming or denying traction on a daily flood of stories. And on November 4, 2008, eight long years of doing battle against the excesses of the Bush presidency will come to a triumphant conclusion.

In that seminal moment, much will be celebrated. And much forgotten. One thing that shouldn't be overlooked is the tortured path to that day and the ragtag group of activists who, from the fear of knowing that America had taken a terrible turn at the dawn of a millennium, embraced a new medium and labored tirelessly, thanklessly, defending the Constitution and the rule of law. Day after day, they congregated on websites, blogs, message boards and any other online forum they could find to write, debate, argue and resist a radical administration and a lockstep Republican Party. Mocked and feared, dismissed as 'angry' and treated with disdain, they fought their opponents, fought their own party, fought the media, fought one another, all to a single end, the defense of inviolable American ideals against a brazen onslaught from a shameful and shameless administration.

When we look back at the eight years beginning with a grim night in 2000 when George W. Bush was declared the victor over Al Gore, we should give credit to those who held tough when Bush was at the height of his swagger; we should honor the 'ten percenters' who took pride in opposing Bush when his approval rating was near 90%, the media fawning over him, the likes of Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Ashcroft, Yoo, Addington, Wolfowitz, Rove and Gonzales holding sway over the nation, with Coulter, Hannity, Savage and Limbaugh spewing hate and liberals labeled traitors.

We should acknowledge that the netroots kept hope alive when our system of checks and balances was in mortal danger, kept hope alive when civil liberties were fast becoming disposable niceties. We should realize that back when Billmon and Bob Somerby and a gentle soul with a sharp pen named Steve Gilliard were required reading, when Digby was a mystery man and Firedoglake was a new blog with an intriguing name, when citizens across the country began logging on and conversing from the heart, there was no glory in political blogging. There still isn't. No one knew if blogs would become quaint artifacts. Many hoped they would. Blogging was about speaking up for America's guiding principles, liberty, justice, equality, opportunity, democracy.

In 2005, I published an essay (mostly out of frustration) arguing that the netroots, forged out of a common purpose, weren't big enough or respected enough to change people's views but could raise their voices enough to pressure the media and elected officials and thereby influence the public debate. Things have improved -- though many bloggers still feel that their voices aren't fully appreciated. I hope that on November fourth and beyond, we will look back on these online progressives as we do others who have spoken out when it was heresy to do so, their patriotism doubted, their motives questioned, words like 'treason' used to intimidate and silence them.

The 2008 election is a watershed and when my newborn daughter is old enough to understand, I'll share my pride (as fathers do) in the small part I played in a presidential race where two brilliant and dedicated Democrats, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, smashed through impenetrable barriers and changed the world. I'll tell my daughter about the despicable ways women are treated across the globe and how she should fight every day of her life for fairness and dignity. I'll talk to her about the unspeakably ugly chapter in our history that so many brave men and women sacrificed their lives to bring to an end. Then I'll tell her where, when and how I cast my vote for President Obama, about the moment a thoughtful, decent and courageous man took the oath of office, when he reclaimed the White House, changed America, and when George W. Bush receded into that place in our minds where bad nightmares reside.

I'll tell her how the triangle closed and hope returned. But I hope I don't have to tell her that the netroots never received proper credit for their lopsided, outsized role in crushing Bushism, initiating a seismic shift away from rightwing extremism and laying the groundwork for a progressive resurgence.

Follow Peter Daou on Twitter: www.twitter.com/peterdaou

Comments

[mhopgood123]

Here is to you: to all the heroes of the Netroots, to all the bloggers who have given selflessly their time to fight for what is right....t­o all those anonymous heroes of the liberal internet community ...Salud Amor y Paz !
May the future be prosperous for all of you and your families. You will sleep soundly at night knowing that the country will be safer with an Obama presidency. I will open my best bottle of wine and drink it in your honor on November 5th. Your work will never be forgotten.

[grizhead63]

Unlike any other media, the net provides a truly democratic political forum that cannot be controlled by any political party. It facilitates instant communication and action, and is even better than the traditional town hall meeting. The net is the one major factor the GOP strategists did not take into account in their campaign plans. Their candidate has never even used it and has no idea how powerful it is.

[jcwtts1]

Wait for the victory lap.

[merrylee]

Peter Daou,

Congratulations on your baby girl.

Your seminal piece - Ten Stages of a Bush Scandal - proved to be a handy template in making sense of the madness

[BrionLutz]

Obama is not the "netroots" candidate.

Mr. Daou is forgetting recent history. Edwards, not Obama, was the netroots favorite. Obama's election in the primary was in spite of Netroots/DKOS demographic, not because of them.

Netroots were anti-Obama early and often. Obama was roundly attacked on DKOS when he posted very early on and he didn't come back due to the hostility from the militantly pro-Edwards DKOS "community". Many supporters of Obama were "troll rated" off the site for defending and supporting Obama.

Obama's appeal is to the web based younger generation that uses the social networking tools of the web vs. the older generation "netroots" who (per DKOS polls) are mostly older, middle income white guys.

The DKOS/Netroots folks have certainly gotten on the Obama bandwagon but they were definitely late adopters.

[UKLiberal]

As a Brit, I have been really impressed with the role of the web and of volunteers in the Obama campaign

This

http://peterwelcheastern.blogspot.com/2008/10/obamas-volunteer-army.html

tries to list the lessons liberal democrats in the UK should learn form the campaign. Any adivc, stories, encouragement welcome!

[mredder4]

You know, I have a large problem with this kind of self-congratulatory back-patting.

If you're an activist, the first thing you should want is the success of your goals, and the last thing you should want is praise for that success. Activists shouldn't be doing what they do for recognition or glory. There shouldn't be some kind of "The netroots made Obama's presidency possible" narrative begun at any level. The satisfaction of watching Obama take the oath of office should warm the netroots, not some media story about how "vital" the netroots were.

Basically, what you're advocating is that the media and the government organizations, which are the target of the netroots' activism, stop and pay homage to the netroots' influence. WHY??? You can't be against the system and then demand to be recognized as part of the system. That's backwards thinking! It's the whole question of whether you go to Washington to change it, or if you let it change you instead.

I for one would hate to see the netroot system devolve into something that needs to be honored for something that is effectively their civic duty.

[macweenie]

Who said anything about wanting to be a part of the system?

Not to get all Confucius on you but doesn't the water flowing in a river have to flow AROUND the boulders? The boulders are a fact and the water has no other option than to go around them so just by being, the boulders act on the water. Wheter you decide to recognize their existence or not they are there, and that I believe, is Mr. Daou's point.

If Obama or any other politician decides to ignore us then they run the risk of slamming into an immoveable object that might just impede their flow.

[mredder4]

"But I hope I don't have to tell her that the netroots never received proper credit for their lopsided, outsized role in crushing Bushism, initiating a seismic shift away from rightwing extremism and laying the groundwork for a progressive resurgence. "

What does "proper credit" even mean then? This article doesn't seem to be about standard recognition; it seems to be calling for SPECIAL recognition. It sounds like the author wants something like "Oh, but special thanks to the netroots, for making ALL THIS POSSIBLE." Hogwash. Netroots may get active and get information out, but it's still voters of all shapes, sizes, and ideology who do the real work of elections. It is voters who decide whether a message, however active its participants are, has been successful.

The true power over America still lies in the center, even if the nation is voting for someone from the left this year.

[NotMcCain]

Yes, but as a less-travelled blog, I have to say the big blogs have made the big difference--Huffpo, Daily Kos, and maybe even Drudge.

The MSM now cites BLOGS as sources of news and opinion. That is still, to me, an amazing development.

Howard Dean and his supporters deserve some credit too, for understanding the political power of the internet--and getting the MSM and public to notice.

[DrPhil]

well thats all well and good but technically Bush got away with it did'nt he?

[LetMeUnderstandThis]

Please remember..­.
Do not wear any campaign paraphernalia , not candidate buttons, hats, posters, etc... YOU WILL BE TURNED AWAY, AND IT IS AGAINST THE LAW! So bring your enthusiam but leave the campaign goods at home, this is too big an election to be turned away. We want every vote to count!

Obama/Biden 08

[chrisrb]

Wonderful piece!

I'm proud to have done my own little part as a liberal activist "netroot." Here's my site:

The Democratic Activist
http://thedemocraticactivist.blogspot.com/

Blogging is a wonderful thing (Google's "Blogger" is free, and easy to use). Anyone can do it, and, combined with a small email circle (keep those email addresses from liberal organizations that contact you, etc.!), can make a difference as part of the alternative "netroots" media.

Don't complain about the media ... BE the media!

[FirstShirt]

"Mark my words," the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

[tchristin]

... and they will find out that he has steel in his spine.."

[Hopefulinfl]

Well said! In a free country, it is a free press that becomes the watchdog and sounds the alarm when the Government trounces upon our nation's freedoms. What has troubled me the most in these past eight years has been the reluctance of the press to step up and assume that responsibility.
In failing to assume those most worthy of responsibilities, the press has now abdicated their position as the watchdog. The Netroots have to step up and assume their new role. With this role comes much responsibility for it is on our shoulders that the freedom of the US and the world now rests. It is a heavy responsibility and must be used wisely. The internet is the true market place of ideas and it is here where I sincerely hope that truth and justice will be found and prevail.

Soldier On and don't stop!

[kothian1]

Obama is the best we chance we have for Progressive change...b­ut as of now, he is still only a CHANCE. Yes, an Obama administration holds great promise, but vigilance doesn't end when he's sworn into office if that day should come to pass.

[Yermammy]

Ten percenters? I was the ten percent of THAT ten percent that hate his guts. I can't look at him on the TV without thinking of a doing an Elvis Presley. I've devoted all my time to impeaching­/prosecuti­ng these two (Bush/Cheney) and regardless of what Nancy thinks, this isn't over.
We've got to get all these Fascist security bills killed (Patriot Act, FISA, Military Commissions etc.) and hold Barack's feet to the fire on GLOBAL WARMING. Ethanol is a farce and nuclear and drilling aren't going to help anytime soon. The idea of just pumping our CO2 into ground is extreme madness.
There's a SOBERING "Frontline" on PBS right now called "Heat". If the facts don't scare the piss out of you, then you're either dead, or believe every word that Bush has said for the last eight years.
OUR work on the web is just starting.
We have to get O & Joe elected. Our very survival hangs in the balance. SP welcomes the Apocalypse.