Leftosphere

Ezra Klein makes an important, oft-overlooked point:

One of the really interesting things about the blog The Next Right is how closely it echoes liberal laments from early-2005. But where liberals were sadly marveling over the Right's physical infrastructure (Heritage, Fox News, the Olin Foundation), now conservatives are staring up at the Left's electronic infrastructure. But the complaints are much the same: They pay people to do things! They're more ruthlessly efficient! They're more tightly connected with each other! It always makes me think of an interview Bill Kristol gave to Jon Stewart, where he said something like, "don't worry Jon. The worm will turn. It always does. We look good now, but I'm here to tell you, just wait.

I actually think the Republican Party is in a position very similar to the Democratic Party circa 1995 - alienated from its own base, struggling to maintain whatever power it can, but without an agenda that really resonate with the public.  And, like the Progressives in the late 90's-early 00's, the Right is increasingly unconvinced that the Republican Party really has the ability to advance its goals. 

That said, this 2005 American Prospect story by Garance Franke-Ruta about the right wing blogosphere is an amusing time-encapsulation of Klein's point...

But unlike traditional news outlets, right-wing blogs openly shill, fund raise, plot, and organize massive activist campaigns on behalf of partisan institutions and constituencies; they also increasingly provide cover for professional operatives to conduct traditional politics by other means -- including campaigning against the established media.

And instead of taking these bloggers for the political activists they are, all too often the established press has accepted their claims of being a new form of journalism. This will have to change -- or it will prove serious journalism's undoing.

The Leftosphere is now everything she had alleged the Rightosphere to be in 2005.  And Garance Franke-Ruta now works for "the established press".

If it's true that today's District v. Heller ruling is the first time in U.S. history that the Supreme Court has has directly ruled on meaning of the Second Amendment, it also seems likely to be the last. The battle has carried on for decades in lower courts, but those cases too are likely to be cut short, if not cut off altogether.

But what about the cultural/moral argument? I noted in my previous Next Right post that the left has largely acquiesced to gun rights. They may do so grudgingly, but for all intents and purposes they've given up. Except... that's not what I found on some of the most influential leftroots blogs.

Instead, I found significant agreement with the ruling. Not just that, but matter-of-fact statements of support for an individual right that would have been unthinkable even five years ago.

The Obama campaign is setting up an online war room...

A crack team of cybernauts will form a rapid response internet “war room” to track and respond aggressively to online rumours that Barack Obama is unpatriotic and a Muslim.[...]  Jen Psaki, a spokeswomen for Mr Obama [said] “The only way to run a campaign is to respond immediately when inaccurate information is put out."

This is important.  It's not enough to focus on responding to the mainstream media, as mainstream media coverage is often just a final manifestation of stories that bubble up days, weeks or months earlier online.  If you're not monitoring and shaping information development online, you'll find yourself playing defense in the mainstream media.   And losing the battle for conventional wisdom.

The Left has gotten very good at this, setting up campaign war rooms (e.g., Clinton, Obama), permanent campaign war rooms like Think Progress, Wonk Room, TPM Muckraker, TPM Election Central and Media Matters, and war room research distribution points like Atrios and Talking Points Memo and others.   Progressive advocacy groups are also tapping into this, as well.

Meanwhile, where are the War Rooms on the Right?   Who has an effective version of this? I can't think of any serious equivalent.  This is a major strategic disadvantage.