I ask that question because I can't figure out any other explanation for the ridiculously space-wasting design of the new site. I realise that you are trying to cram more features into the header, but there's no reason at all that there has to be all that wasted white space. I'm guessing somebody somewhere told you "more white space is better" or something, but that's only true for advertising, not for constantly-updating editorial content.
Plus on top of that, the default font size is now bigger. So not only do you have a lot of wasted space in between the text (especially in that menu bar, wtf is up with that? It's literally taking up 3-4 times as screen space as it requires to serve its function) but the body copy itself is also bigger. As has been pointed out by other diarists, the net effect of all these things is to push the actual content on the front page to the bottom or even onto the second "page" down in the browser window. I am on a Mac with a big monitor and even I can't stand how little of the good content shows up when I first land on the site.
If you really need to cram so many things at the top of the page (also, what's up with the extra bar that says Daily Kos right above where it already says Daily Kos? Can you not see how awkward that looks?) then please consider embedding the multiple features into something like a Megamenu (such as http://www.nof.org/ ) so that they don't force so much other content further down the page.
Given all these changes, though, I seriously wonder if you think your readership is getting older and having a harder time reading the site, because why else would you both add tons more white space, make the menu links bigger, and make all the body text bigger, when nobody seems to have been complaining about the size it has been on the current site?
I am all for a new design, and all for your ideas about community tools and such, but the site still has to be something people want to visit, and right now I really don't like looking at the new site, or having to do extra work just to read the opening paragraph of the front page story.
Edit: to clarify, I'm not saying it's wrong to want viewers of any age, nor to create an accessible web site for those with visual impairments. The issue is that unless that is the only aim of the new site design, then it is wasting a whole lot of screen real estate for no reason. First, the existing font size is actually sufficient for all but the most visually limited people who can still actually read a computer screen without special considerations, and second, you can achieve better results with alternative CSS for viewers that require it than with just trying to make the font bigger for everyone.