A few thoughts on the Restoration discussion going on in the Rec list.
Although I have been a consistent reader for three or four years, I have not often contributed writing on DKos. There have been times that due to events in the news or perhaps my mood, I have read DKos many times a day, my perusals exceeding the bounds of the Rec list. At other times, like now, I have only checked in once in the morning to read the Daily Pundit Roundup.
I do not pretend to be an expert on DKos. Over the years, I have read and enjoyed nyceve's diaries. I have been around enough to be aware of nyceve's stature in the community, and I respect that stature very much. People with liberal political beliefs, like me, owe a debt of gratitude to people like nyceve who spend their time and energy in service of what we believe is right.
I want to commend Yamaneko2's diary currently on the rec list: a well considered and intellectual piece of writing. I have to say, it is one of the more thoughtful diaries I have seen on the rec list recently.
I probably have less currency than both of you, but I am going to throw my two cents in:
It is my analysis that election of Barack Obama probably changed DKos more than any other single event in the history of the site. This is especially true if you consider the long campaign as a part of the same continuum. When Obama was elected, for the first time in the existence of the site, there a Democrat president in office (wikipedia says DKos was started in 2002). A Democrat president overwhelmingly supported by the DKos community; a president whose initial primary victory must be in large part attributed to the organization and work of members of this community.
There was DKos pre-Obama and there is DKos post-Obama. The nomination and eventual election of Obama was in many ways attributable to the left-wing blog/internet phenomenon of which DKos is the biggest and most influential member. The so-called Netroots. When Obama was elected, DKos went from a grass-roots forum functioning as mouthpiece for disenfranchised liberals to a mouthpiece for the ideas that put a president in power. This is the conversation of outsider to insider. This is the Rolling Stones transition referenced in Yamaneko2's diary.
The transition from out-of-power to in-power and back again is a moment of metamorphosis in the development of any ideological movement. While DKos itself is not the movement, it is the delivery vehicle for the movement. I'm sure some will read this and say, "not me, I don't identify with Obama's policies, he doesn't represent my brand of liberalism, progressivism, etc... Dkos belongs to no man!!" Fine - point taken. But do you really deny that Obama's election confers a certain gravitas to the rantings and ravings here at DKos?
Perhaps I am incorrect in making this connection, but it seems to me that an implied theme in nyceve's diary about restoring DKos, is that the site has become more moderate. Who knows the reasons, maybe the site's increased notoriety attracted more people with more diverse views. Maybe within the liberal blogosphere, the election of Obama was victory for a slightly more centrist wing of the movement. I really don't know and its only tangentially relevant.
I guess my point comes down to this (I suppose in agreement with Yamaneko2's view): in 2010 DKos has the most political influence it has ever had. Wasn't that the whole point in the first place, to influence the national political discourse?
I don't know. I'm sure some of the old hands (and new ones too) will probably disagree with me. I know you wont hesitate to point out how. Have at it.