The Gerstein Connection

by: CGG

Fri Feb 23, 2007 at 23:10:27 PM EST

Over at Pandagon, Amanda Marcotte points out Dan Gerstein's role in trying to further the divide between Democrats and their online supporters.

Melber points out that, surprise surprise, a former aide to Joe
Lieberman is heading the pack of Democrats pursing their lips and
declaring that the party needs to distance itself from its supporters
and further embrace a media environment that is hostile to Democrats
and apparently infatuated with right wingers, who may be unhinged at
times but are generally a good ratings-pulling spectacle.

I hadn't previously made the connection between what happened with the Edwards campaign, and last year's CT Senate race.  The more I think about it, the more I understand how the two are related.  Dan Gerstein and William Donahue have/had the same goal: alienate and neutralize those pesky bloggers.

It's actually in both their self interest to do so. Gerstein now competes with bloggers for employment, consulting gigs, and media air time.  Donahue, who has made a media career out of being outrageous, could find himself painfully out of style in a new media world.   It makes sense that they would do everything in their power to stop the netroots phenomenon.  The status quo must be maintained for Gerstein and Donahue to remain influential, and employed.

Of course they're fighting a losing battle. The Internet empowers citizens to take back their politics and their media.   Outside of the professionals, very few political junkies actually care what Dan Gerstein or Bill Donahue think.  Before long candidates won't care much either.  For better or worse the future political pundit class will come from the blogosphere.

When Gabe and I met Dan Gerstein in DC, he complimented CTLP and then took a swipe at our fellow bloggers by saying that every other political blog in CT was filled with hate.  I was pretty appalled at how casually he dismissed the hard work and talent of so many people in one fell swoop.  There is hatred, but it certainly isn't coming from the blogging community.  Gerstein is so blinded by this hatred that he is unable to see the value of citizens empowering themselves to participate in the political process via blogging.

Marcotte also says:

Regardless of the other issues that got attached to the entire Edwards
blogger debacle, I strongly suggest that people step back and see the
big picture, which is that right wingers are trying to create divisions
on the left, knowing that if we don't stand together, we'll hang
separately. And I caution us to resist falling for it. 

I'm a bit more optimistic.  The more I consider things from the other side, the more it seems like in the larger sense they've already lost.  Netroots activists fought hard for Marcotte and McEwan, and I have no doubt that next time they'll fight twice as hard.  Bloggers, and those who read blogs, aren't going away anytime soon.  The same can't be said of our detractors.