Ezra Klein at the American Prospect has an interesting article on the "netroots" and the Ohio Senate primary in the Prospect's December issue. Whatever your preference may be, it's worth a read, if for no other reason than that it's obvious how much of the research for the article took place on these pages.
I would link to the piece, but it's a pay-only deal. I've taken the trouble to transcribe a few choice excerpts.
On the role of bloggers in the political sphere:
Five years back, few cared which way the netroots swung. A loosely connected confederation of hyper-partisan activists, they were considered the 21st-century equivalent of that weird guy who attends every city-council meeting and can barely contain himself until the floor opens for questions. But over the course of the 2004 cycle, the netroots funneled tens of millions of dollars to various candidates, sometimes single-handedly making quixotic candidacies in unfriendly disctricts financially viable.
On Sherrod Brown, and the surprising pro-Hackett monolith:
There was little reason to expect their [activist bloggers] involvement in this contest. Brown is arguably the most prominent elected Democrat in Ohio. More imporant to the stereotypical netroots participant, he's an unabashed liberal. Earlier this year, he led the fight to reject the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), rendering a Republican president's trade deal nearly unable to clear the Republican-controlled Congress -- no mean feat coming, as it did, months before Ronnie Earle pried apart Tom DeLay's hammerlock on the House. That's par for the course with Brown, one of the House's most effective, articulate spokesmen for progressive causes. A Cleveland Democrat, Brown is pro-gay marriage, pro-gun control, pro-labor, pro-choice, pro-universal health care -- and unabashedly active on all these fronts, Ohio's reddish tinge be damned...In short, he's exactly the sort of Democrat that progressives are constantly complaining the party hasn't enough of.
On Paul Hackett:
Hackett, by contrast, is a tough-talking Marine Major who returned from Iraq last year and promptly found himself the object of the liberal blogosphere's heated fascination...Hackett lost the election, but the newcomer's ability to turn an expected coronation in a crimson district into a nail-biter with a 4-percent margin of victory established him as one of the party's rising stars...Online, Hackett -- a proud populist who didn't support withdrawal from Iraq until a month ago and whose social tolerance is couched in anti-government, "leave 'em alone" language that extends as surely to guns as to gays, quickly established a clear lead.
On the netroots apparent eagerness to forgive idealogical differences for a marketable commodity:
The reality of this was best expressed to me by Bob Brigham, an outspoken Hackett supporter, prominent blogger, and key Hackett adviser during the special election campaign. When I asked him about Hackett's reversal, now favoring withdrawal from Iraq, Brigham mocked the argument as 'policy bullshit!' What matters, in other words, is not the policy but the image. And if Hackett appeared a critic of the war, in this age of media candidacies, that -- not his policy preferences on the issue -- is what counts.
On the Blog-As-Interest-Group phenomenon:
Moreover, Hackett is a friend of the blogs. In our conversation, he told me, 'I just like them. I'm not afraid.' It's a sentiment that explains blogger Lindsay Beyerstein's oft-quoted argument for Hackett: 'When you get down to the brass tacks, Hackett is an invaluable ally -- he loves the blogosphere, understands how to harness the power of the blogosphere, and perhaps most importantly, he owes the blogosphere.'...The netroots are behaving as an interest group of sorts, supporting not the candidate with the most ideological overlap but the candidate most likely to give them the keys to the congressional washroom. And that's fine. But the question remains, assuming they can help elect Hackett and others like him, what will they demand in return? It's all well and good to have your calls answered, but is the point really just to chat
In Conclusion:
Blogs are getttng ever more powerful. As fund-raisers, as kingmakers, and as opinion leaders, they're being taken seriously. But at some point Democrats will win, and the netroots, after the victory glow wears off, wil have a very tough question to answer: What, exactly, do they believe? And, more importantly, what do they want?