Wow, what a rollercoaster ride this night has been.
I would compare this night to the Senate race of 2004 where John Thune (R-SD) beat out Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) in his bid for re-election. I'm from South Dakota. I watched that Senate race with the same trepidation, and constantly clicked the refresh button to get the latest results (and I'm sure my blood pressure was about the same for both races). The obvious difference, of course, is that I'm far, far happier with the outcome tonight. Liberal bloggers have been pointed at, laughed at, and ridiculed over the course of the past couple of years, but all of that will end tonight.
So let it be said: I am ecstatic (beyond words) at Lamont's victory tonight, but I've also grown extremely weary of the mainstream media's treatment of the blogosphere and the netroots movement as a whole. More below the fold.
In particular, I'm fed up with the netroots movement being portrayed as a bunch of left-wing extremists that are out of touch with "regular Americans". I'm tired of the accusations that we're propping up candidates that are so far left that they do not represent the viewpoints or interests of the American people. To illustrate, I would refer you to the latest results of a number of different polls on the war in Iraq:
ABC News/Washington Post Poll. Aug. 3-6, 2006
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bush is handling the situation in Iraq?
Approve: 36%
Disapprove: 62%
Unsure: 2%
CBS News/New York Times Poll. July 21-25, 2006
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bush is handling the situation in Iraq?
Approve: 32%
Disapprove: 62%
Unsure: 6%
USA Today/Gallup Poll. July 21-23, 2006
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bush is handling the situation in Iraq?
Approve: 35%
Disapprove: 62%
Unsure: 3%
None of this, of course, will prevent the conservative pundits from portraying Daily Kos and its counterparts in the liberal blogosphere as political outliers. They'll say that we're extreme, hateful, and well outside of the acceptable boundaries of normal American political discourse. But none of that will change this basic observation: If Ned Lamont is an "extremist" for his views on Iraq, then so are two-thirds of the American people.
"A Nation of Extremists!" I can see the front page of Time already.
We must be prepared for the inevitable salvo on the netroots movement from the extreme right. We must counter their propaganda and accusations with facts; most notably, with facts that show that ordinary Americans are on our side. Earlier tonight, Chris Matthews asked Joe Lieberman if he thought that the role of Senator was to represent the opinions of his constituents, or to represent his own particular opinions, disregarding (if necessary) those of his constituents. How do you think Lieberman answered?
(No fair peeking, though peeking will hardly be required.)
I am so proud of each and every one of you. I am humbled to be a part of this people-powered movement. The message that we (and let's not forget who we're really talking about here, which is the primary voters in Connecticut) have sent tonight is that the opinions of the American people still matter. There may be 63 lobbyists for every Congresscritter in Washington, but ultimately, we still cast the votes. We still kick our representatives to the curb when they deserve it. If we can interpolate the national public opinion polls and project them upon the state of Connecticut, then it's fair to say that Joe's constituents have sent him a very powerful message tonight.
Finally, there's been a lot of accusations involving the motivations of the netroots community. Some people (i.e., Bill O'Reilly) have even accused us of anti-Semitism as a result of our campaign against Lieberman. This is yet another thing that I'm fed up with. I've never met Joe Lieberman, but he seems (to me) to be a thoroughly decent human being, albeit one with some political views that I disagree with. I would love to sit down to dinner with Joe or play a round of golf with him. However, none of this changes the basic fact that he is on the wrong side of a political issue that, like it or not, has become a cornerstone of modern American politics.
Good on you, Daily Kos. Ya done good.