Wednesday, June 14, 2006

In Virginia, James Webb's Victory Cheers the Netroots

More evidence that the netroots are not so much about supporting liberals as they are about supporting strong challengers comes from Kos:
So we've had two three high-profile contested primaries and won the last two -- Jon Tester in Montana and Jim Webb in Virginia. That can't bode well for Joe Lieberman as he fights to fend off the challenge from Ned Lamont.
Those (like The Bull Moose) who worry that the "Deanification and Kossackification" of the Democratic Party is driving the party to the left, take note: Webb, who served as Reagan's national security advisor, is as much about reaching out to moderates as he is about opposing the war in Iraq. As for Tester, his farmer's crewcut hardly marks him as a Deaniac.
The Ned Lamont/Joe Lieberman contest is the only one Kos mentions in which the netroots are supporting the clearly more liberal candidate. My read is that this primary challenge is not so much about a liberal taking on a moderate as it is about willingness (or lack thereof) to challenge the current Republican regime.
When Markos Zuniga singled out Mark Warner and Wes Clark for mention on NBC's Countdown Monday night, he wasn't driving the Party to the left. Warner and Clark are the two contenders most mentioned for their ability to reach out to the heartland. Their popularity among the netroots comes from their willingness to forthrightly challenge George W. Bush.

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