I am at best an observer at Kos, with too little time to write. But Gov. Howard Dean is a personal hero, and he's taken his lumps here and elsewhere. Mostly elsewhere, thank you.
Gov. Dean's principal contribution is paradigmatic in nature; his fifty state strategy has the long term goal of 'converting the converted', that is, winning back the folks we've lost over the past thirty years. You don't do this strictly through the electoral process. Winning elections is simply the measure of your success. And while you get your grades every two years, I think Gov. Dean would agree that the real work occurs in between.
At least this was the sense I got listening to him talk Wednesday night at a little victory celebration in D.C. with Democracy Bond holders. It was pleasing to hear him discuss the long term nature of his plan, and explain that the talk of a conflict with Rahm and Chuck was largely a media invention, because the story was not as interesting without that angle. Or maybe he had to say that, but he certainly doesn't have the look of a man who takes his critics too seriously.
The other phrase I've heard him use in this regard is 'preaching to the choir'; the most effective response often is to wade into the opposition camp armed with good arguments, calm conviction, the ability to listen and a proper personal example to back it all up. The fifty state strategy seems to hold this as a core value, that is, to get out there through your state organization and persuasively encounter those independents, disaffected Republicans, "value" voters, evangelicals - heck, the whole lot of 'em, - and bring them home so they stay for the long term. I think that's what his investments around the country are supposed to yield. I think that is what progressives are supposed to do, right up to their personal discomfort level, and then a bit beyond that.
So in between blogging, find yourself a disbeliever, engage, convert, and then hang another pelt with pride. There's a full two years until the next report card!