Yesterday The Politico published dueling commentaries from MyDD’s Matt Stoller and yours truly on the Netroots’ successful campaign to kill the Fox-sponsored Democratic presidential debate in Nevada. If you get a chance, I’d encourage you to read both pieces, especially Stoller’s. It is probably the best explication of the left’s vendetta against Fox I have seen. It is also a perfect example of the fatally-flawed logic that too often fuels the Netroots’ self-defeating tactics.
I just got a chance to read Salon Editor Joan Walsh’s post-mortem on the Edwards blogger scandal, and while she comes at it from a slightly different perspective, I was struck by the thoughtful, challenging questions she raises. I was particularly interested in her accounting of Salon’s initial report that the offending Edwards bloggers had been fired — which the Edwards campaign vigorously denied — and the liberal blogosphere’s response to that news.
If the liberal blogs want to understand why so few people outside their narrow echo chamber take them seriously, and what it will take to gain the broader credibility they crave, they should look no further than their handling of the recent flap over John Edwards’ foul-mouthed blogger hires.
