I'll be on the Kojo Nnamdi Show at 1pm to discuss the emergence of the netroots and what it means for the political system. I'll be on with Patrick Ruffini of the Next Right, a very smart thinker on the other side of the divide. The Kojo Nnamdi Show is local to DC, and it was a very important part of the Donna Edwards versus Al Wynn race.
It's one of those 'where is the political system going' kind of discussions, which is something I blogged about last week at TPMCafe to 'celebrate' Moveon's ten year anniversary. The discussion was kicked off by Nation Editor Chris Hayes, and the interesting stuff (to me) was Justin Ruben and Ben Brandzel opened up the hood of the organization. It turns out that most Moveon activists were never activated before in any capacity and that the group has an elaborate volunteer structure. Meanwhile, organizing legend Marshall Ganz said it's not real organizing because it doesn't generate leadership (which he says the Obama campaign does). Labor lawyer Nathan Newman said Moveon leaders don't care about poor people, and John Stauber argues it is an anti-democratic marketing machine for the Democratic establishment. I tried to lay out a framework for understanding Moveon in the context of the rest of the professional advocacy groups that work on a national level.
Finally, I signed this letter put together by The Nation on Obama's move away from the core values that won him the primary. It's not just a group of lefties that signed it - so called 'radical centrist' Steve Clemons praised it effusively after adding his name. The aggressive turn of these left-wing organizations on the web towards a form of advocacy journalism and activism is part of the overall shift I'll be discussing on the show.
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