Party crashing welcome

When people started talking about netroots, I thought it was something you put in salad. You know, wash and drain, boil until tender and then add a little salt, a touch of garlic, yada, yada, yada.

But if you are a political activist, chances are you know it means using the Internet to win elections and influence public policy.

There are those who think netroots is the next big thing in Democratic Party politics -- adding a vitality to a hidebound institution, just as the McGovernites reinvigorated Democrats in the early '70s and Pat Robertson's folks gave new energy to Republicans in the late '80s.

Two of the netroot kings, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga and Jerome Armstrong, stopped by the other day to talk about their revolution and promote their new book, "Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics."

Moulitsas, who lives in Berkeley, Calif., is the founder of The Daily Kos (www.dailykos.com), which is the most visited political blog in the world -- 3.8 million visits last week. A blog, for those of the typewriter generation, is short for web log, a journal or newsletter published on the Internet that is frequently updated, often contains links to other sites and provides ways for people to provide comments.

The Daily Kos is sort of the left's version of Rush Limbaugh, a vehicle that provides red meat to activists, strongly criticizing the war in Iraq and Bush administration policies.

Armstrong, who lives in Alexandria, Va., was one of the Internet brains behind Howard Dean's presidential campaign.

Their view is that the Democratic Party has become too reliant on corporate contributions, too self-satisfied and too dependent on a few tired Beltway strategists.

Their underlying thesis is that the country needs "an authentic and populist democratic movement to crash the gate and save our nation."

Democrats need better ideas and better training, and they need to challenge Republicans everywhere, they argue. The Internet warriors also challenge the media, which they think has been too soft in its coverage of the Bush administration.

"The Internet can reorganize the Democratic Party from the ground up," Armstrong said. "The Democratic Party is no longer a national party. In most of the nation, people have no connection to the party whatsoever."

Blogging could be a powerful tool in the midterm elections, where voter turnout is traditionally depressed and a focused minority can have a large effect.

Politicians are listening. Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Miller of Raleigh contributes a blog to The Daily Kos and introduced Moulitsas when he appeared at Raleigh's Quail Ridge Books recently -- for which Miller has been attacked by Republicans.

North Carolina Democratic Chairman Jerry Meek is held up as a model for the new netroot politics -- an outsider crashing the gate of the party establishment.

"We don't see this as ideological," Moulitsas said. "It's really insider/outsider. It's a cabal of insiders that have controlled the process in pretty much every state and in D.C. There is a lot talent and energy and experience that is outside that that can be tapped."