In August of 2005, Chris and I wrote 'The Emergence of the Progressive Blogosphere' in which we laid out the case for why the left-wing blogs are a new power center, and the right-wing blogs are simply the last vestiges of a top-down system.
There is an emerging social structure of the Internet which includes key differences in how conservatives and progressives use the web to communicate. For years, conservatives dominated the political Internet, with such websites as FreeRepublic.com, the Drudge Report and Newsmax. Moveon.org was one of a few notable, progressive exceptions to conservatives' online dominance. Their Internet supremacy was anchored in, and improved on, an already existing conservative infrastructure. On the whole, it reflected the top-down, coherent messaging structure that characterizes the conservative movement.Since 2002, the Dean campaign and other landmark events have caused a new world of online activism to thrive: the blogosphere. The blogosphere, and in particular the progressive blogosphere, have emerged as powerful political forces. Unlike their conservative counterparts, progressive Internet activists have not relied on an existing set of institutional relationships. They have instead forged a new constituency group, a new set of leaders, and a new forest of social relationships. The strengths and weaknesses of each blogosphere are reflected in their origins.
As far as I can tell, the right-wing blogosphere represents Republican activists who mostly live in blue areas, not the social conservative or corporate base. It's not a real constituency group, it's more of a forum for people who are already well-connected to work with each other more effectively. Redstate's sale to Eagle Publishing, a right-wing publishing house, is confirmation that the right-wing blogs slot comfortably into the existing top-down messaging system of the GOP leadership class. The growing and heterodox ecosystem of the left is fighting aggressively to increase the representation of liberals throughout the party and the press, without any institutional support from any piece of the party, and often with overt hostility. But there are millions of liberals around the country who have had no forums for influence for a long time, and who provide the backbone for what we are doing. There's a real base here.
So while it's painful and often disappointing to be in a party whose leadership is wrangling with lobbyists we don't like, we are slowly transitioning into a majority governing party, and the GOP is slowing decaying into a thoroughly corrupted party of Southern pork and racism. The war in Iraq has destroyed the idea that conservatives or Republicans are competent. They aren't. It has ruined the notion that they are strong on defense. They aren't, and they basically don't care about America's national security or values. America is much weaker today because of these people, as Christy (and others) have pointed out repeatedly.
The myth of American superiority has been punctured, most likely irreparably, by the idiocy of George Bush's policies and failures. Nations which once worked with us -- not just because we were working on issues of import to them, but also because it was in their long-term interest to do so with a nation which controlled so much of the economic and military and other resources throughout the world, as well as had its finger on the pulse of so many spheres of influence at once...all of these nations have learned to get by without having to rely on any favor from the United States whatsoever.
The Republican advantage on national security is just gone. Period. It's going to take some time for the political leadership to catch on to this, but the era of Rambo has ended. America's military limits have been revealed, and Americans are ready to try wisdom again. That's really bad for the Republicans, who rely on a reflexively paranoid and nationalistic attitude towards the rest of the world.
There's also the problem of horrific racism and corporate dominionism entrenched into the political apparatus of the right. Pachachutec and Latina Lista have been documenting the exploits of the for-profit concentration camp operator the 'Corrections Corporation of America', which is imprisoning immigrants in Texas. It's a terrible story, but it is stories like these that will increasingly dominate the brand of the GOP. For all intents and purposes, Nixon's strategy of bringing the South into the Republican tent has worked, only it has made a conservative racist white base the dominant strain in the party. As Tom Schaller documents, this isn't something that can be swept under the carpet for the Republicans anymore. A big chunk of their voters are racist and expect leaders who pander to that racism.
On the Democratic side, our party looks very different than the FDR coalition. Rather than an stubborn group of Dixiecrats controlling the committees, our most senior lawmakers are entrenched liberals from urban areas who focus on poverty and social justice. They will have to negotiate with K-Street Democrats, but that's a far cry from the overt corruption of the Tip O'Neill Congress. And among insiders, the vicious tactics of the right has provoked a real reaction against bipartisanship, though some old-timers are hanging on to the past.
I had hoped that moderate Republicans would take back their party, but that's probably not going to happen. If anything, the party is going to become more conservative and reactionary. Any attempts to distance themselves from racism, for instance, will bring a backlash from their base. Thus Trent Lott is back in a leadership position in the Senate, despite the carpings in 2002 from right-wing pundits on how the party had moved beyond racism as demonstrated by Lott's resignation. Demographic trends are increasingly going to push power to young people and minorities, and racism and militaristic incompetence isn't exactly rolling out the welcome mat for these constituencies.
So what we're seeing is a weaker America, one the conservatives have tried to wreck for their own greedy, selfish, and racist ends, but also a wiser America, one that is pushing the Republican Party back to its stronghold in the South. As liberals, it's our time. We must seize this opportunity to push back against people who set up concentration camps on our soil. We must regionalize the GOP. At the same time, we must work to bring corporate America and the military into our fold, and convince them that there is a brighter and more profitable future for them in a progressive America. I mean, it happens to be true.
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