Barack Obama won tonight, and I take it as a lesson for the blogosphere/netroots, because he staked his approach on something that the more partisan amongst us have scoffed at for a few years. He convinced his opponents to give him power.
That's exactly what Edwards is against in 2008 (curiously, as he was not in 2004), and it goes counter to what many of the most visible of us have said on our front pages. That you can't expect your enemies to work with you. That you have to fight and oppose.
But Kucinich, Richardson, Biden... all were happy to make arrangements with Obama regarding their second-choice numbers, either directly or through implication. And the indication is that Obama's approach might work with Republicans, too, given his crossover appeal.
It's central to Barack's beliefs, too, as described in that youtube clip I saw on a diary earlier today, of Barack describing how being principled has an effect. (I'll include the link here if someone points me to it.)
I've gone back and forth over the years about my philosophies about partisanship.
I knew we had to fight the Republicans because they, with Bush as their leader (and this was very much a Bush quality), were happy to dishonorably "compromise" when they were in power. Take everything they could and give nothing back. Bush's speeches upon re-election about giving Democrats opportunity to be bipartisan by "working with him" (giving him everything he wanted).
But I felt there was a split in this community on whether the need to fight was something we needed to do permanently, or if it were merely a needed reaction to restore a balance point, after which a uniting approach would be a better way to go.
It's two opposing philosophies, and it was basically Barack Obama versus the progressive netroots on that score, most of whom had bought into the fight-until-the-end approach. And then it was Edwards taking up their mantle.
So now I'm seeing the three candidates in this way. Clinton as the old "pre-partisan" approach - triangulation; giving away Democratic power in favor of increasing personal power. Edwards as the partisan approach of the last few years; fighting to win and destroy opposition. Barack Obama as the "post-partisan" approach, seeking to unite from a principled position steeped in (hopefully) Democratic principles.
I'll be hopeful that Barack Obama lives up to that and isn't a Lieberman in Kennedy's clothing. And I'll remain hopeful that Edwards stays in the race in case there are stumbles or illuminations over the next few weeks. But for now, congratulations to Barack.
Update: Apparently not clear, but I'm a John Edwards supporter. I hope he does well in New Hampshire and finds a path to the nomination, but I also hope he starts going more positive. He needs more allies.
Update: I see the point that many are making. That Biden/Richardson/Kucinich didn't actually have power to give up, that they weren't really enemies. That's beside the point. They had the choice to go the Dodd route, but instead they expressed alignment with Barack to various degrees. They didn't have to do that. And they could have expressed it in different directions, but all went for Barack.