Has DailyKos been a failure? Catchy opening sentence for a diary, but does it make any sense?
If judged in personal terms, obviously kos has succeeded--some money, some fame, some power, a lot of hate mail. Major league Democrats seem to go out of their way to attend functions and write diaries here--so they must believe there are votes and dollars to be gleaned on these "pages." If, however, kos gets judged on results, the success rate is less obvious. Please continue reading before you troll (hide) rate me.
Has the country changed direction as a result of this site--or have the names and titles changed more than the policy? It is definitely true that the Democratic party has gone from clear cut minority status to the majority. Not only on the national level, but even in formerly deep red states-- Dems have regained seats and sway. The party's coffers are full with much of the money coming from this site and kos copycats. The problem is that the newly elected Democrats are not necessarily progressive--or very forceful.
So the question is--Do kossacks want Democrats or do they want liberals? The site's mission is clear--Democrats, but is electing a DINO a victory? Was money sent to Baucus and good investment? Conrad? Nelson? In the very big picture, these guys are better than the scum we could have had--except, they are also gumming up the works. They are sort of Rove's little helpers--when the going gets tough, they go on FOX. Baucus' last bill has earned hatred from everybody except the insurers themselves--a win/win for them--a disaster for us.
So, back to the original question about failure, is this site about policy change? If so, we --kos--have not fared too well. Iraqistan is following the Bush guidelines--or worse. Gates is a Bush holdover for god's sake. In economics--Geithner is also a Bush/ Goldman guy. The banks have made out well--Main Street continues to default and get foreclosed upon. Don't ask, don't tell should have been overturned by the commander-in-chief--simple decree would have sufficed--hasn't happened. I gather things are getting better in New Orleans--and for that we should be proud. I also gather we are not going to indict Bushco for unconstitutional reach and lies to congress, not much to be proud of there. Precedent shows impeachment for a blow job was acceptable grounds--hard to figure out the calculus of this--even though this site has been fairly vocal in its call for justice.
DKos is not a failure--it's power is very new, its resources are growing, but its mission might need tweaking. Drop the support for Dems--insert support for liberals. There's no worry that Republicans might get support with such a change--and some DINOS might hear footsteps. Setting up a group to fight in the primaries is a good step--expanding that to working against cretin Democrats even in a general election is necessary. You don't change the course of a nation by pussy footing around. Sometimes a little hurt leads to a better outcome.