I'm not knocking these guys. There the kind of "centrist" I can handle even if I don't agree with them on many issues. Their contribution is enormous.
They are a bit iconoclastic in their own way. They don't stick to strict doctrinaire definition. They may have a few idiosyncratic leftie thoughts here and there that sound more like personal eccentricity than anything philosophic. But they are not left-wing; not by any means.
I'm not posting this to either attack or defend Kos (Markos Moulitsas Zuniga). He certainly does not however share my personal political convictions. I'm just pointing out that he is not by any means left-wing and is at most only moderately liberal. His complaints with the DLC are strictly strategic and tactical - not ideological. On philosophy he is probably one notch to the left of the DLC. Peter Beinart wrote a glowing review of their book, Crashing The Gate which he highlights at the top of his frontpage:
--an insightful guide to how the Democratic Party can retake power -- Peter Beinart, NY Times
Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1931498997/qid=1150209528/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-1846545-3744063?s=books&v=glance&n=283155article from Washington Monthly:
link:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0601.wallace-wells.html"Kos Call
For America's number one liberal blogger
politics is like sports: It's all about winning.
By Benjamin Wallace-Wells
snip:"The conventional wisdom is that a Democratic Party in which Moulitsas calls the shots would cater to every whim of its liberal base. But though he can match Michael Moore for shrillness, the most salient thing about Moulitsas's politics is not where he falls on the left-right spectrum (he's actually not very far left). It's his relentless competitiveness, founded not on any particular set of political principles, but on an obsession with tactics —and in particular, with the tactics of a besieged minority, struggling for survival: stand up for your principles, stay united, and never back down from a fight. “They want to make me into the latest Jesse Jackson, but I'm not ideological at all,” Moulitsas told me, “I'm just all about winning.” "
snip"Simon Rosenberg, the president of the centrist New Democratic Network (NDN), says that “frankly I don't think there's anyone who's had the potential to revolutionize the Democratic Party that Markos does.” This great faith has put Moulitsas—an extremely smart, irascible, self-contradictory, often petty, always difficult, non-practicing attorney and web programmer with no real political experience—in the position of trying to understand, on the fly, what real power is and how it might be exercised, thrust him into a flailing, wild-eyed and bold solitary venture, trying to turn a website into a movement."
snip;"He went after the Democratic consultant hierarchy for its refusal to innovate, and the party establishment for providing a “gravy train” for consultants who keep losing races. He attacked NARAL after the abortion rights organization endorsed pro-choice Republican senator Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) over his predicted challenger, a pro-life Democrat. He has also argued, along with others, that to win back red states, Democrats should avoid talking about gun-control—advice the party has largely taken, with some initial success."
snip:"Moulitsas, for his part, had spent the previous few months focused on taking on the liberal interest groups, urging Democrats to run more pro-life candidates, and to contest rural contests with rural values—all long-held tenets of the DLC. So Moulitsas's beef with the group wasn't over ideology, it was, predictably, over tactics" "
link to full article:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0601.wallace-wells.html