Lamont's Roots in the Right

The Republicans will be able to get a week's worth of smears out of Joe Lieberman's defeat to Ned Lamont yesterday.

But the seeds of Lamont's victory lay just as much in the Republican Party as the Democrats.

The Clinton-era Democratic leadership was all about mutual accommodation. Clinton loved to negotiate and fished for political advantage in devising ways to accomodate the Gingrich-era Republicans.

The Republicans first stopped negotiating with the Clinton establishment, then stripped them of their political manhood. Negotiations ended after Tom DeLay became de facto Republican leader in the House. Bush refused to give any quarter to the Democratic leadership from Day 1. Bush and Rove's policy has been to refuse accomodation, pick as many fights as possible, provide cover for right-wing smear campaigns, and carry the battle to the home states of Democratic leaders.

It was brilliant strategy. Bush completely flummoxed the Democratic leadership with their handling of Homeland Security legislation, tax cuts, education, and a variety of other issues. The Republicans then picked off weak Democratic moderates like Max Cleland and Tom Daschle to cement their majority.

Finally, the Republicans completely stripped the Democratic leadership of their dignity in the run up to the war. Establishment Democrats didn't like the invasion, but were so intimidated that most of them voted to authorize the war anyway. The Democratic leadership was so pathetic that liberal wimpiness became a standing joke on the right and a source of constant irritation for Democratic constituencies opposed to the war.

In 2004, the Democratic leadership hit bottom in a variety of ways. Democratic leaders could not even come close to matching the Republicans in fund-raising, campaign technology, and tactical manuevering. They had not agreed on a "consensus candidate" to oppose George Bush and were becoming increasingly distant from the anti-war feeling of Democratic constituents.

Enter internet liberalism.

Beginning with the Dean campaign and continuing with the Kerry campaign, the liberal blogosphere has gradually become one of the most important stakeholders in the Democratic Party.

However, much of the blogosphere's success owes to the Bush administration's and Republican leadership's continued domination of the Democratic Establishment. As long as the right-wing makes punching bags out of the Establishment Democrats, the liberal blogosphere is going to gain ground because their fundamental point, that the Democratic leadership is too weak to provide effective opposition to the Bush administration, will continue to be valid.

Lieberman would not have lost if the Republicans were not so thoroughly dominating the Democratic leadership. The Republicans created the vacuum that's now being filled by the liberal blogosphere.