This is a bit of rambling about
the importance of knowing who to lean on, and how to lean on them, in order to drive home the idea that the netroots are a force to be reckoned with...
Have you checked out Maura in VA's diaries (first one, second one) about John Cosgrove and his attempt to criminalize failure to report a miscarriage? Holy Mackerel. The 2005-1-11 2:29:21 update particularly fascinating. You can almost see the stains on the poor man's trousers. Go Maura!
And then there's Josh Marshall. He's forging tirelesssly ahead with the Fainthearted Faction project and carrying on with the Conscience Caucus project. Whaddaya wanna bet there are several congresscritters already experiencing a mild unease about that harmless-looking snowball as it starts rolling slowly down the steep mountainside of Social Security policy toward their offices?
A bit more mo' to make your day...
And how about that flurry of FOIA requests, eh? That's probably the topic for some nervous discussions in DC today. The Armstrong Williams scandal could still very well turn into a lose-lose for the White House. They'll stonewall as long as they can, but if we hit hard enough and stay with it for a while, they'll eventually either have to attack a black man in an effort to save whichever (presumably white) GOP-appointed Associate Assistant Vice Undersecretary of Education authorized his contract, or else they'll have to throw the (presumably male) Undersecretary himself overboard.
If they do get backed into a corner they'll probably go with option #1, which is fine with the base, but bad for GOP push to seduce/suppress black voters. And make no mistake, undermining black support for Dems is a major aspect of GOP electoral strategy nowadays. But even if they switch gears and choose option #2, it's bad for their morale, because sacrificing people when they haven't done anything wrong makes everybody else wonder whether they will be sacrificed when the time comes. Marines, you will note, never leave anyone behind.
Feel like a big fish yet?
The blogosphere is big enough to be scary now. The left blogosphere/netroots may not be organized enough to reliably intimidate big-name wurlitzer types, but everybody's figured out that it's pretty powerful, and it has clearly gotten scary enough to make leaners think twice when they run afoul of it. Now we actually accomplish things by contacting the right people and letting them know that we're watching. We're not as scary as Team Bush. Hopefully we'll never be. But we're scary enough, and there's a hell of a lot more of us, so we can twist a lot more arms at once.
Blogosphere/netroots power cuts both ways of course; there's Lott and Cosgrove, and there's also rathergate. But a good strategy lets you make losses work in your favor. Rathergate can still be coopted into underscoring the power of the netroots.
Pick on somebody yer own size!
Check out this diary by jsmckay. 5000 letters like that to [Viacom President] Sumner Redstone might irritate him, but he's not vulnerable. Redstone genuinely doesn't give a fuck what we think, because he knows we can't hurt him and appeals to his conscience are unlikely to have any effect. At absolute worst we could (conceivably) hurt Viacom enough to force him to step down, but it'll take a hell of a lot more than 5000 of us. We're basically not organized enough to take him on.
Now imagine a mere 500 letters (phrased a little more politely of course!) to whoever it is that's replacing Mary Mapes at CBS, or 1000 to [CBS News President] Andy Heyward, letting them know that we're paying attention. Think they'd be more receptive? Think we can effect their decisions? You betcha. Choosing the right person is important. So...
1. Target outliers. Opportunistically target people who can be cleanly cut out of the herd, try to isolate them, and stay with them until they fold.
Image: Think of yourself as a predator and the GOP as a huge herd of juicy delicious prey. Don't target the ones in the middle. Pick out the isolated ones at the edges. If you go for the protected ones you'll just get stomped on.
Examples: Right now, Williams is vulnerable on payola but Novak is not vulnerable on Plame. Margaret Spellings will soon be vulnerable on vouchers but Donald Rumsfeld is no longer vulnerable on armored vehicles.
2. Target an influential. Don't target the bottom or the top of the pyramid, and avoid "designated" flak-catchers (like press secretaries) because their job is to take up your time and wear you out. Go for people high enough up to make decisions but low enough to suffer when things go wrong. Make them question their commitment, and make it known that they are either at your mercy or someone else's mercy, but either way they're screwed. Make them choose.
Image: Think of yourself as a prosecutor and the GOP as a drug cartel. There's no point wasting a lot of effort on junkies, but you can't go for the big fish either (the importers and bosses) until you've isolated some of the smaller fish (the distributors) and turned them.
Examples: DeLay and Craddick are not vulnerable but the PR departments at Sears and Cracker Barrel are.
3. Be calm and confident. Don't get all wound up, because nothing says "uncertainty" like a spluttering rage. You're simply letting Arlen Specter know that you're sure he's going to do the right thing, because you and a bunch of other calm, confident netizens just had this nice little friendly chat with him.
Image: Think of yourself as an enforcer for the netroots Mafia (though of course there's really no such thing), and the GOP as dime store owners. There's no Mafia, but there does appear to be some sort of natural law, because whoever does the right thing eventually thrives (CostCo), while whoever doesn't do the right thing eventually suffers (Sinclair). But that's just a coincidence and this is just a friendly reminder.
Examples: Newspaper editors are vulnerable because they have a lot to lose. Think Tank directors aren't vulnerable because they get paid by the GOP.
4. Reward good behavior, but not too much, and not in tangible ways. Praise, small rewards, and suggestions that there will be larger rewards later are best. This is important because people whom you reward in obvious and immediate ways are harder to motivate later. Instead, reward them with a pat on the head and a reminder that you can reward them further whenever you feel like it.
Image: Think of yourself as a clever parent and the GOP as a cranky child who's just managed to sit still long enough to get their hair cut. "That was good, sweetie, I'm very very proud of you! And I'm sure Santa was watching to see what you did."
Examples are left as an exercise for the reader.
Look, you have some real power now. You need to use it carefully, but you do need to use it. Go... Half of winning is showing up...