Has anyone seen
this diary over at Red State?
Apparently, according to the diarist, the Democratic party is on the verge of a civil war, thanks to Harry Reid, Howard Dean, Nancy Pilosi, the DLC and Daily Kos.
A few snippets after the jump.
The diarist begins by mentioning the potential for Democrats to "make a significant dent" in the majority in the upcoming elections. But despite this, apparently he believes that the Democrats are at a boiling point:
Various people on Capitol Hill tell me that the Democrats are struggling to keep their internal disputes from boiling over. They all lay the blame at Howard Dean and the Democrat leadership on Capitol Hill failing to get along. Right now, individuals loyal to Howard Dean are compiling dossiers on embattled Senate minority leader Harry Reid and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi. Couple these potential trouble spots with the pending William Jefferson plea bargain, Democrat netroots leader Kos' perceived selling out to the establishment through his failure to engage the DLC and failure to back Hackett in Ohio, and the failure of the minority to rally around one set of talking points and you have the a higher chance of a Democrat civil war than an Iraqi civil war.
More on Harry Reid and Howard Dean:
Howard Dean has compiled a solid file on the corruption of Harry Reid. For years Reid has operated as the quintessential back room politician, trading favors and legislation for money and choice positions for his children at top firms with high salaries. Reid's ties to Jack Abramoff are more extensive than some of the Republicans allegedly tied to Abramoff. Dean himself said that any Democrat doing favors for Abramoff's clients would be a "big problem." He knew before he said it that Reid had done so.
And more on Kos:
It has not gone unnoticed that, after condemning Steve Elmendorf for saying that the netroots energy needs to be harnessed for money without looking captive to them, Kos is being accused of doing that. He abandoned Paul Hackett in favor of the establishment's pick and now seems ready to ignore those Democrats who sold out the netroots base by refusing to filibuster Samuel Alito. In addition to these alleged sins, Kos apparently has gone soft on the moderate Democrat Leadership Coalition. He had intended to wage war against the DLC, but backed down. Some are suggesting that he backed down under establishment pressure, an establishment of which he is increasingly a part.
The netroots and establishment have gone down divergent paths, with the establishment drawing Kos into the fold. With Dean loyal to the base, the party chairman condemned the treatment of Paul Hackett and his withdrawal from the Ohio Senate race. Dean railed against heavy handed tactics employed by Chuck Schumer to get Hackett out. Kos allied himself with Schumer and the establishment over netroots backed Paul Hackett. This put him, for the first time of any significance, against the netroots base and Howard Dean.
The conclusion:
Democrats who were once assured of their 2006 strategy are starting to be less sure. Several prominent Democrats, seeing that the Republicans in Congress are still twiddling their thumbs over reform are ready to show Democrat competent, and in the process are willing to take a few of their own leadership's scalps. The nuclear bonds are getting weaker and weaker. The only question now is whether the bond will fully break down before or after November.