Despite what this
little pissant at TNR says, netroots pushed elections are very much about ideology. If you don't understand here it is in small chunks: in order to advance our ideology, we have to win first. And part of doing that means fighting on a bigger battlefield.
So, it's not just about winning. The winning is means to an ideological end. But in order to get there, we have to grant the point: we're not winning many elections.
What I think on the flip...
Here's my observation: the netroots elections seem to focus less on the candidate we're for, and less on who it's against. We were looking for someone to get rid of Liebermann and Cuellar, we're not really all wet for these people first. We fall in love later (sorta how we got all pro-Kerry after the primaries).
I think the blogs can fairly take some credit for getting Dean in charge of the DNC, but to take any credit for Obama is only fair if you were giving Ryan too many aphrodesiacs. The fact is, the losing record is piling up.
One of the best aspects of Crashing The Gate was its pointing out that we don't have a machine for growing our prosepcts. I think these results are case in point.
I've been reading this site for a long time now, and I'm frankly disturbed with the Orthodoxy that's grown up. (One diarist who quesitoned the efficacy of the netroot's effort got the standard procedural complaints about his diary not complying with the 2006 Revised Diary Code Section 2435.1, etc.) I'm actually sure I'll get quite a few flames from this post because I made an observation that seems to call in question the judgment of the group. I'm not. I'm trying to point something out that we can holpefully use to improve the movement. (In case you missed it: we need to kick the grooming and drafting of good candidates into high gear and find them places to run, and maybe admit the symbolic nature of some of these "netroots endorsed" campagins)
I'm not indicting the whole system. I am blown away with the improvements in progressive organizing in the last 6 years. It gives me heart. But in order to stay progressive and not just copy the Republican machine, we need to be scientific and learn from our losses. Otherwise, you'll find these pet projects don't bring in the donations they used to.