Screaming Penguin

The fundamental question confronting the DNC, which will pick the chairman at its Feb. 12 meeting, even resembles the basic choice facing Iowa Democrats at the outset of 2004: Do they trust Dean as a leader of the party? The behind-the-scenes anxiety about Dean probably equals the public support he has generated. But even some of his opponents grudgingly concede that the former Vermont governor is likely to win the four-year term unless key players in the party unify behind one of the alternatives. [...] Some senior Democratic operatives say unease about a Dean chairmanship is widespread among congressional leaders and many governors. But almost none of those grumbling privately have expressed their concerns publicly -- in part, some believe, because they fear crossing the ardent grass-roots, Internet-activist community still backing Dean. LA Times

I am still a big Dean fan. Frankly, I still find it amazing that a man with 8 consecutive NRA endorsements and a higher rating from Cato than our president is still a "whacky lefty". He is also the second presidential candidate to ever directly address sci-tech policy questions beyond the moralistic harumphing we saw in the last election. And the fact that he can drive a campaign free of the big money politics is a plus, not a minus. I do not, however, want to jump on the "SIGs are Bad" meme. We are all memembers of SIGs, or should be. The Sierra Club, the NAACP, the AFL-CIO and the NEA are not "evil". They represent the interests of the people that make up our party. Now, it is true the Democrats have a harder time of it than the GOP because the Teamsters and the Sierra Club and ACT-UP don't mesh together nearly as well as the 700 Club, the Club for Growth and the American Enterprise Institute. Democratic SIGs more than occasionally have opposing interests, but that doesn't mean we should discount those interests. What we should fear, however, is expansion of the corporate oligopolies into the party. The BSA and the MPAA swing as much dick as the Sierra Club, and that should be cause for concern. Whatever you many think of their politics, the expansive nature of the Sierra Club or ACT-UP means something. They are, in their eyes at least, acting for the good of everyone. The BSA and the MPAA are in it for themselves, exclusively. Again, agree or disagree with the policies advanced, that is a sizable difference in motivations. I am certainly happy to see the "Geek Voice" find a place in politics. I think blogs represent the Internet living up to that public forum promise that we all talked about in the early 90's. That doesn't mean that there isn't a place for the LATimes in the media space or the AARP in the political space.