You have been drinking far too much K Street Kool-Aid young man. Political rallies and other public expressions of affinity or dissent are not useless. These modes of political theatre have to be accompanied by other kinds of action in order to produce social change but to argue that they are useless is to succomb to a certain kind of slick, cynical and allegedly realistic political analysis that has played a far larger role in the demise of the Democratic Party than any rallies and demonstrations have done.

I am old enough to remember what you so-called realpolitik Democrats keep forgetting is that what chiefly separated Democrats from Republicans back in the day was not money and control of the media but PEOPLE. The Democrats understood that the key to their winning elections was in out organizing Republicans and turning out their base. This knowledge seems to have been lost sometime in the mid-1980s when Democrats began giving up organizing and turning out their base and decided to go uptown.

What you seem not to understand is that political rallies and demonstrations are a way for people on our side, although, apparently, not your side, to give voice to their concerns and issues. The Democrats, by and large, are not people who own newspapers and electronic media outlets that reach a mass audience. I am simply astonished and deeply disappointed that you have no appreciation or understanding that mass political demonstrations and rallies are a way to give people a feeling of hope and that change is possible.

The MSM doesn t pick up on liberal blogs when they ve pushed stories about Bush and the right.

Then what the hell was Kos doing all over my TV a month ago?

Bama,
whatever “passiveness” Lieberman displayed in 2000 was more likely due to the format (sitting at a table instead of at podiums) and because of Lieberman’s overcorrection after Gore was blasted for the sighing, interrupting, and lockboxing just days earlier.

Besides, it’s not like the very first sentence of coverage focused on their differences or anything…

Go read Peter Daou’s “THE TRIANGLE: Limits of Blog Power” so you know WTF you’re talking about.

Heres an example today.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny–anncoulter0707jul07,0,7865676.story

I don’t know whether you are playing dumb or genuinely dont follow online media. Important stories published by blogs frequently make it to the MSM shortly after.

So your solution is for us grass roots guys to give money to beltway bandits to spend on media?
I didn’t say this. Create your own media. Convince rich liberals of the need for a liberal media infrastructure, support good liberals on tv or in print.

Either your word is no good or you have nothing substantial to add to the discussion.
I’ve written about it a million times. Citing the civil rights marches and Vietnam for the efficacy of protest in America rings hollow when we’re almost 30 years past the mark.

When you have a chance please tell me of a political movement that was successful in electing candidates in the first few years of existence?
The conservative movement was succesful in taking over the GOP with Goldwater. Just a few years later they got a President – Nixon.

Back in the day the first demonstrations were poorly attended and not covered by the media.
These demonstrations are well attended and covered by the media, yet their effect is practically nil. Why is the answer to keep doing more of the same? Sounds like the same mindset currently running Dem politics into the ground by being me-too Republicans.

I understand your being so young makes you think history does not repeat itself.
The difference is, for all their evil, conservative leaders were smart. I see no such drive on the left, and if the only solution is to retread the 60s and 70s, we’re doomed.

Twice you have publicly stated, if you call your blog public, you would write an expanded explanation why demonstrations don’t work.

Either your word is no good or you have nothing substantial to add to the discussion.

So your solution is for us grass roots guys to give money to beltway bandits to spend on media?

When you have a chance please tell me of a political movement that was successful in electing candidates in the first few years of existence? I though so. Back in the day the first demonstrations were poorly attended and not covered by the media. Political movements build momentum over time, reach a crescendo when the underlying ideas are finally accepted as fact and change occurs.

I understand your being so young makes you think history does not repeat itself. I got news for ya 20 is a lot dumber that 40 and damn, I left 40 a long time ago.

There are many people who require face-to-face democracy. To them, protesting and public assembly are the best and most real way to affect change. To them, it is like the difference between being at FedExField and watching the Redskins on TV.

Conversely, I know a lot of people who don’t read political blogs and couldn’t be convinced to start. They either don’t commonly use computers, don’t like the incivility of comments, think they are opinion parading as news or prefer professional and/or academic opinions to those expressed here. Bloggers will never reach these people, but I would never say therefore that the political blogging / grassroots movement is ineffective.

Let’s all work together and not create unnecessary divisions. On that note, my apologies on the comment about suit-wearing. It was a cheap shot.

A lot of things work in Europe & Co. that wouldn’t work here, and vice versa. Our culture is just different. It’s no longer 1962.

First of, besides when I went to my friend’s wedding last year, I do not wear a suit. A polo shirt is dressing up for me. That said, I think blogging has done more – as little as that is – for liberals in the last few years than protesting has. People do not have the time or energy for something that is as politically futile as a protest. I want for the left to invest in media and simply word of mouth marketing of our values that would be way more effective than yet another protest of the same people with the same signs and the same puppets.

And, not that I mentioned it before, but being really really f’ing huge helps too. No pol can look at a sea of voters with out a twinge…

Not Oliver, but if you will: because the press does not give them adequate coverage. There are many reasons for this, like say, the crappy coverage the press gives just about everything that doesn’t involve the President playing “dress up”, but at least part of the problem is with the protests themselves. They have in many way become parodies of the 60’s hippies wearing weird clothes, banging drums, and bitching about every damn thing “the man” is doing wrong. The people doing this seem to be mostly people who spend most of their lives doing this (just my guess, I have no real idea – maybe they’re all stock brokers during the week). This is my own personal observation from attending some anti Iraq war rallies.

However the marches in February, before the war were better. Why? Because they were so large that the “typical protest crowd” was overshadowed by more diverse people, so it didn’t look so typically silly. These marches were still under covered in the media, and ineffective, however.

There is no reason that marches can not again become effective (as in now and in America), but it will take lots of work. The crowd must become more focused, and that goes triple for the speakers and leaders. If it is an anti Iraq war rally – no mention of Mumia or Palestein (even if you can argue it is all related – you to make a difference or not?). The energy of the crowd must also be harnessed more effectively. Encourage everyone there to write a letter to the editor about the rally, have them sign up for phone banks or campaigns, etc. It could turn the march thing around. It might not be the best way to use resources, but who knows? If that’s what you love, then try to fix it. But pretending it ain’t broke won’t help.

Can’t speak for Oliver, but if you believe that the sagging poll numbers for Bush have had nothing to do with a change from “cut and run” accusations and “stay as long as it takes” from republican members of Congress to talk about significant troop withdrawal this year. then you are kidding yourself. Murtha has just turned up the heat a notch or two.

What I think you would like to say is that protesters are a bunch of dirty, drugged-out hippies who still haven’t left the sixties whereas the smart kids are now wearing suits and writing blogs. That’s fine, but you might find on deeper inspection that some people wear suits during the week and assemble on the weekend. Heck, they might even bring their kids with them.

Again, I said the last effective American protest. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be allowed to protest, I’m just saying its not effective. Going outside and holding a sign isn’t very viable when you’ve got a job to go to and kids to take care of.